This is part two in a three-part series with guests Michelle and Emiliano, whose 10-year-old daughter struggles with severe anxiety. In this session, Leslie reviews the skills from session one to figure out what did and didn’t work to help manage Willow’s anxiety. In this episode, we look at the relationship between parents’ behaviors and the unintended consequences that impact their children and can contribute to things like separation anxiety. Toward the end of this session Leslie “hits a nerve”  In other words, she asks some tough questions about the impact of parents’ well-intended actions.  Listen as Michelle and Emiliano show us their vulnerability and model what growing as parents can look like.

We live in a society where we expect immediate results. Many parents have the same expectation about raising children.  Spoiler alert: parenting is a long-term investment process.  In this session Michelle and Emiliano share that some of the skills they used had immediate results — that feels good to all parents.  And some skills didn’t get immediate results — that’s the hard part.  Hang in there. Have faith in the process. Certain skills don’t show immediate change but under the surface, they are making an impact and will have long-term positive results

To learn more: 

• Dialectics:  What is it? And A How-to-Guide
• Handout on Breathing Mindfulness Exercises

Book References:

• Our Children Will Raise Us Edited by Eden Steinberg — A compilation of Essays
• Don’t Shoot The Dog by Karen Pryor —  This is a good resource for understanding behaviorism 

For a full transcript of this episode and more information about the host visit https://lesliecohenrubury.com/podcast/. You can also follow Leslie’s work on Facebook and Instagram.  Join the conversation with your own questions and parenting experiences in the Is My Child a Monster? Facebook parenting community.

Credits: Is My Child a Monster? is produced by Alletta Cooper, Dale Rubury, and Leslie Cohen-Rubury. Theme music is by L-Ray Music. Public relations is handled by Tink Media. Graphics and website design by Brien O'Reilly.  Transcriptions by Eric Rubury. A special thanks to everyone who contributes their wisdom and support to make this possible.