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CLEANING UP YOUR MENTAL MESS with Dr. Caroline Leaf

Podcast 493: Teaching kids how to understand & navigate emotions, feelings & thoughts

CLEANING UP YOUR MENTAL MESS with Dr. Caroline Leaf

Dr. Caroline Leaf

Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.63.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 June 2023

⏱️ 47 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Pre-order my new book HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD CLEAN UP THEIR MENTAL MESS here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mentallyresilientkids.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

+Pre-order before August 8 to get access to bonus content!


SHOW DESCRIPTION: In this podcast I talk to Oyindamola, a concerned parent, about her preschooler’s emotional reactions and how to help him manage how he feels in the moment. This is part of a series I am doing on questions you submitted for my new book on children’s mental health.

This was Oyindamola’s question:

“Why does my preschooler (4 years and 5 months) tend to cry at a range of issues which seem understandable e.g. stubbing his toe or spilling a meal to others less so such as, his nanny leaving before he could say bye, water touching his face during a shower (despite the fact this is part of the process every morning)? It could be said that these examples have in common a perceived lack of agency but they seem to vary in magnitude quite a lot. We try various things: listening to the issue in his own words, asking him to take deep breaths, acknowledging his feelings, and asking him to proffer solutions but sometimes it just doesn't seem to work.”


Read the blog here: https://drleaf.com/blogs/news/teaching-kids-how-to-understand-navigate-emotions-feelings-thoughts


Sign up to Patreon to get access to full AD-FREE episodes, exclusive downloads, live Q&As, and more: https://www.patreon.com/drcarolineleaf



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EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

2:40 Helping a preschooler navigate intense emotional reactions

4:33 The importance of teaching your child to tell their own story & communicate how they feel

5:20 Children understand a lot more than we give them credit for!

7:10 Messy parenting is normal & okay!

9:00, 38:44 How to use mind management to help your child manage their thoughts & emotions




ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

-Get my new book Cleaning up Your Mental Mess here: https://www.cleaningupyourmentalmess.com

-Get a free Cleaning up Your Mental Mess workbook when you subscribe to my weekly email at drleaf.com!

- Visit my website at https://drleaf.com for more free resources

-Instagram: @drcarolineleaf: https://www.instagram.com/drcarolineleaf/-

-Facebook: Dr. Caroline Leaf: https://www.facebook.com/drleaf

-Twitter: @drcarolineleaf: https://twitter.com/DrCarolineLeaf

-Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/drcarolineleaf


*DISCLAIMER: This podcast and blog are for educational purposes only and are not intended as medical advice. We always encourage each person to make the decision that seems best for their situation with the guidance of a medical professional.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hi, I'm Dr Caroline Leif and welcome to my podcast, Cleaning Up the Mental Mass.

0:10.6

Recently I asked you to submit your questions about parenting and children's mental health

0:14.6

and we had such great questions.

0:16.4

In fact it was really hard selecting which ones to choose because there were such great

0:20.5

questions.

0:21.5

Well in this episode I have a Yinder Mola joining me and her question that she submitted

0:26.4

was, why does my preschooler, all years and

0:29.9

five months tend to cry at a range of issues which seem understandable like for example

0:34.2

stabbing his toe or spilling a meal.

0:36.4

To others, less so as such as his nanny leaving before he could say goodbye or water touching

0:40.7

his face during a shower, despite the fact that this is part of his process every morning.

0:45.6

It could be that these examples have something in common about a perceived lack of agency,

0:50.4

but they seem to vary and magnitude quite a lot.

0:52.6

We try various things like listening to the issue and his own words asking him to take

0:56.9

deep breaths acknowledging his feelings and asking him to proper solutions but sometimes

1:01.2

it just doesn't seem to work.

1:03.3

Such an excellent question and we're going to dive in but just before we do, I'm sure

1:07.1

by now you all realize I have a new book coming out called How to Help Your Child Clean Up

1:11.8

the Mental Mass, a guide to building resilience and managing mental health.

1:16.6

This is a step by step guide that I needed when I was a young mother with a lot of four

1:21.5

children.

1:22.5

It really shows you how to handle situations like I've just described in that you'll hear

...

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