Note: This episode was recorded before the news broke about Monday’s shooting at Michigan State University. But despite that, we talk extensively about gun violence in this episode, because any conversation about mental health, particularly the mental health of young people, necessarily includes discussing gun violence.

The news has felt even harder than usual lately, between the earthquake in Turkey, the train disaster in Ohio, threats to reproductive freedom, our ongoing epidemic of gun violence, and more. This month, we’ve been talking about young people and how we can support them… and one key piece of that puzzle is supporting their mental health.

We’re joined by one of our favorite therapists (and favorite mother-in-laws) Debby Paris to talk about how we can talk to our kids in age-appropriate ways about what they’re seeing in the news and in their schools. Then Amanda sits down for a chat with one of our OTHER favorite therapists, Dr. Andrea Bonior of the podcast “Baggage Check”! Andrea and Amanda chat about how young people are feeling (not great!), how we can support them, and how we can protect our own mental health as moms.

Finally, Amanda and Jasmine raise a glass to secret admirers, organizing a legislative retreat, and to the SuperBowl (okay, mostly to Rihanna) in this episode’s “Toast to Joy.”

Earlier this week, we hosted a conversation with Rachel Vindman and Shannon Watts of Moms Demand Action. They talked about the power of moms to effect change on gun violence prevention. If you're feeling overwhelmed and want to know what you can do, we encourage you to check out that conversation on Red Wine and Blue's YouTube channel: https://go.redwine.blue/sw2.

For a transcript of this episode, please email comms@redwine.blue.

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Even Grown-Ups Get Afraid (with Dr. Andrea Bonior and Deb Paris)