My guest this week is Dr. Tasha Brown, and it is a good one for anyone loving and supporting dysregulated teens! 

Dr. Brown starts off today explaining how she found her way to working with children with significant behavioral problems, and I ask about accommodations and if people ever view accommodations as enabling. We get into how to handle low distress tolerance, high reactivity, big emotions, and oppositional defiant disorder in adolescents. I bring up why some kids are more emotional than others, and Dr. Brown explains how we can dig deeper into what’s going on. We talk about global trauma & creating safety in our relationship. Dr. Brown reminds us how hard it is to be a teenager and why we need to come in with patience & empathy. She also shares her advice on starting conversations in neutral, collaborating with your teen, discussing coping strategies, and paying attention to positive behaviors. We end with a broad strokes chat on understanding neurodiversity in your teen, especially ADHD, and if we should share our children’s diagnoses with them.  

Takeaways from the show

• What are accommodations? Are accommodations just enabling? 
• Teaching teens to advocate for themselves
• Distress tolerance and reactivity
• Typical child development challenges versus oppositional defiant disorder
• Patience & empathy for our teens!
• Modeling regulation 
• Prioritizing special time & connection 
• Starting conversations neutrally & staying collaborative 
• Discussing coping strategies with teens
• The more attention given to a behavior, the more the behavior will increase 
• Understanding neurodiversity, especially ADHD in your teen 
• Should we tell children about their diagnoses?

For more show notes, including transcripts, visit our website here.

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