When I met my husband at a work conference in 2013, it was love at first sight. That chance meeting eventually led me to call the beautiful twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago home. At the time, I was building my career in Atlanta as a media consultant working with NFL and NBA players. I…
Many parents assume that if they’re close to their child, their child will naturally open up to them. But after years of working with families and studying more than 200 parent-child relationships, I’ve found that closeness alone doesn’t always mean children will feel safe opening up. Children are more likely to open up when they…
Uncertainty can feel scary, whether you’re a child or an adult. But in situations where you might not have control over an outcome, you can still help yourself and those around you feel more at ease with an unknown, just by how you describe a situation, according to Dr. Becky Kennedy, clinical psychologist and founder…
Even if you never plan to wrestle a toddler before bedtime, we could all use a little fun-dad energy. There’s a reason the stereotype exists: Dads spend a lot of time playing with their children, and they tend to enjoy it. In fact, dads report feeling happier when interacting with their kids than during most…
No one is born with perfect people skills. Kids learn people skills — including communication, emotional intelligence, boundary setting, and empathy — by watching their trusted adults and practicing in real-life scenarios in safe environments. As a certified child life specialist and licensed therapist who has supported thousands of kids and families, I’ve seen these…
One of the most rewarding things about being a parent is watching your kid grow from a child into an independent adult. But it can also be one of the hardest transitions. Every parent hopes their adult child will still want to call, still want to come home, and still choose to let them in….
As a kid, I moved around a lot. I was born in California, but I’ve lived in Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia, Montana and Oklahoma. I never had the chance to call anywhere “home” for too long. So if you’d told me back then that I’d end up in China, I would’ve laughed. I visited…
For students, the anxiety of over-stressing about an upcoming test or project can hurt their academic performance, research shows. When parents help their kids learn to manage that stress, sometimes referred to as “test anxiety,” their results can improve — and their healthier mindset gives them a better shot at growing into successful, well-balanced adults,…
Parents today try to raise their children for good grades, perfect behavior and high achievement. We want them to do well and be able to handle challenges in life. But research shows that confidence and resilience stem from a child’s ability to feel safe being fully themselves. In my work of studying over 200 kids,…
Anyone who’s spent time around Gen Z — or watched news stories about them — has heard the stereotypes: They are more anxious, fragile, and coddled than previous generations. As a developmental psychologist at Harvard, I study the experience of growing up across generations and I’ve heard every variation on this theme. To be sure,…
