How to Parent Strong-Willed Kids Without Power Struggles

The PedsDocTalk Podcast

Dr. Mona Amin

Medicine, Health & Fitness, Kids & Family, Parenting

5 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Do you have a strong-willed child? How do you know you have one? Are you approaching their behavior in a positive way? I have recorded a solo episode about strong-willed children and power struggles and I always enjoy it when I can chat with fellow parenting coaches about it. I welcome back Zack Kasabo who is a certified school counselor and parent coach. He was on the show before talking about how to encourage positive behaviors in kids without enabling them. We discuss: Misconceptions about strong-willed children and parenting strong-willed children The power of “mutual submission" The number one rule when addressing strong-willed children To connect with Zack Kasabo follow him on Instagram @coachkasabo, check out all his resources at https://coachkasabo.info/ We’d like to know who is listening! Please fill out our Listener Survey to help us improve the show and learn about you! 00:00 – Modeling Cooperation00:22 – Intro: Parenting Strong-Willed Kids00:50 – Meet Zack Kasabo02:28 – What Makes a Child Strong-Willed?05:00 – Reframing Strong-Willed as a Strength06:45 – The Problem with Labels08:18 – Parenting Starts with You09:44 – Breaking Generational Patterns12:11 – Power Struggle Example: Clean Your Room14:10 – Why Lectures Don’t Work17:27 – Teaching Through Experience20:21 – Start Before Grade School22:02 – Don’t Ignore “Normal” Behavior23:05 – Final Tips & Where to Find Zac24:11 – Encouragement for Parents Our podcasts are also now on YouTube. If you prefer a video podcast with closed captioning, check us out there and subscribe to PedsDocTalk. We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on the PedsDocTalk Podcast Sponsorships page of the website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	There's this principle that I'm a big believer and that I coach my clients on.
0:04.8	It's called mutual submission.
0:07.1	And again, just to reiterate, it's you are modeling cooperation and consideration so that
0:12.1	your child internalizes that model and those experiences.
0:16.3	And on the back end, they reciprocate and give those qualities back to you.
0:21.6	Welcome to the Peds Doc Talk podcast.
0:24.1	It's me, Dr. Mona, your trusted pediatrician, confidant, and mom friend here to support you
0:28.6	through every twist and turn of parenting.
0:31.1	Whether you're raising a spicy toddler, a headstrong grade schooler, or a future lawyer
0:35.8	who's already arguing bedtime like it's a courtroom
0:38.0	trial. This episode is for you. We're diving into the world of strong-willed children, how to parent them
0:44.2	with confidence, how to avoid those exhausting power struggles, and how to set boundaries that are loving
0:48.5	and not rigid. I'm joined by Zach Kassabo, certified school counselor and parent coach, and one of my favorite
0:54.6	guests to talk all things behavior. One of the reasons I love chatting with Zach is that like me,
0:59.4	he sees how often parents feel stuck between parenting, quote, styles, especially when
1:03.8	gentle parenting quietly slides into permissive parenting. He knows what it looks like when things
1:09.0	start to unravel and he brings so much wisdom around loving boundaries, self-reflection and real life strategies for all children,
1:15.8	including your strong-willed child. And hey, before we get into it, if you've been learning
1:19.6	from the show, please hit that subscribe button and download episodes. It might seem small,
1:24.8	but those clicks help us grow and bring you more expert conversations like this one.
1:29.0	All right. Let's get into it.
1:36.4	Thank you so much for coming back on the show again, Zach.
	...

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