Leigh & Pierre Part 3 of 3: When Your Kid is Having a Meltdown

This episode is the third and final session with Leigh and Pierre whose nearly 5-year-old daughter Jean has big emotional reactions. Leslie explores how her big emotions and reactions part of a bigger picture of anxiety, perfectionism, and discomfort with vulnerability - things so many children struggle with.  And it's no surprise that Leigh and Pierre have their own history and journeys with anxiety and vulnerability.  Leslie talks about ways to manage anxiety in the day to day as well as in heightened emotional states for both parents and children. Leslie also recommends teaching mindfulness at an early age because you can’t “control” those big emotional reactions in your child but with mindfulness, you can control how you and your child respond to them. 

Time Stamps

• 3:30 Step one when facing challenging situations - make a list, visualize it, and carry it with you.   “Take anxiety with you when you travel” metaphorically. 
• When you get new information from an evaluation
• 9:53 Strategies to use when your child is having really big reactions
  • Using a change in temperature to help calm your child 
• 11:25 Teach your child the TIPP Skills from DIalectic Behavior Therapy - TIPP Skill
• 12:25 When do you teach the skills to your child
• 13:28 How do we  know if somethings not working - what does success  look like when you're teaching skills to your child  
• 15:20 Mindful awareness of anxiety/discomfort
  • Observe and describe
  • Choose what you want to be mindful to
  • Radical Acceptance: “it is what it is”
  • Self-talk and Encouragement
• 19:27 Teaching mindfulness to our even if there’s nothing wrong - expose them to the concept of mindfulness at an early age so they can grow into - use it the word itself
• 21:55 Mindfulness exercises as a family connection and togetherness
• 24:30 Dealing with your child’s big reactions in public - be compassionate with yourself
• 26:37 The Power of Vulnerability - Learning to deal with the discomfort of the moment
• 28:32 What a child needs from their parent 

Resources:  

• “Packing Anxiety with You” video
• Victor Frankle Quote Image 
• Leslie’s Handout on Breathing Mindfulness Exercises
• Video Bubble Bounce! Mindfulness for Children - a practical video to teach and practice your mindfulness skills
• "The Diving Reflex" video demonstrating one of the TIPP Skills - T: temperature change activating the diving reflex to help you calm down
• Handout explaining TIPP Skills from Dialectic Behavior Therapy

Leslie-ism: Take a breath, take a pause and pay attention to what happens.

For a full transcript of this episode and more information about the host visit https://lesliecohenrubury.com/podcasts/ . You can also follow Leslie’s work on Facebook and