Be a Problem Solver Podcast

What is the point of social media? Is it to connect with others? Is it a comparison trap? Is it a marketing tool? Is it actually social? These are the questions that we're answering on today's podcast - is social media an effective social tool for your child or teen?! We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Ne...

Transitioning back to the school year has been delightful and exciting for some, and very hard on some tweens and teens. If you think about it, the last time your high school freshman completed a typical school year, they were in 6th grade - eek! We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressin...

It's almost inevitable that when your child may engage in inappropriate behavior online. And it's ok. But the way we deal with these situations may make or break how your child feels about these mistakes! We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressing social media use, teenage transitions, o...

Long-distance friendships and relationships are becoming the norm these days with the increased use in social media and gaming communities available online. So what does this mean for our kids' social development? We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressing social media use, teenage trans...

We've put together a free resource to help you figure out what tools may be best for monitoring your child's activity online, including social media monitoring apps, phone alternatives, watches and routers! We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressing social media use, teenage transitions,...

Media mindfulness is so critical for tweens and teens - but what is it? In this episode we dive into how we can be more mindful of our teens and tweens emotional investment in social media.  We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressing social media use, teenage transitions, or essential wo...

Join us to walk through of a visualization exercise to help Cory plan an activity (taking our kids to the pool)!  We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressing social media use, teenage transitions, or essential workplace skills with your child? Check out our online services here: https://b...

More and more research points to the internet as leading to depression and anxiety for teens - but some research also suggests that building these online relationships can actually serve as a training ground for in-person relationships! We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressing social m...

The internet has come so far in our parenting lifetime - so where does it go from here? Today we are talking about how less is more when it comes to the future of online social interactions.  We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressing social media use, teenage transitions, or essential w...

Ugh. Online public shaming is a real thing, unfortunately. This week I'm sharing how I got burned and the effects it had on my mental health for weeks afterward.  We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressing social media use, teenage transitions, or essential workplace skills with your chi...

This week we dive into some important executive functioning skills like impulse control, perspective taking and self-regulation - and explore why they are so important for our tweens and teens on social media! We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressing social media use, teenage transitio...

Have you ever received advice from a professional and it takes all your willpower not to roll your eyes - because you've already tried that strategy? That is exactly how it feels sometimes. Today we talk about how we can shift our perspective and try strategies in a new light! We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital...

We talk often about executive functioning challenges, but how do you know if these actually apply to you or your kid? This week we are talking about what to look out for, and how you know if it's a problem.  We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressing social media use, teenage transitions...

The #1 Google search when you type in teens and social media is: How to get your teen off of social media. But is that the best thing to do right now? We talk about alternatives to ditching social media completely for your tweens and teens! We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressing soci...

Shame is pervasive. It gets into the crevices of our lives and sits there, just waiting. On this episode, we discuss how these shame triggers pop up and why they are so important in helping to shape our tweens and teens~ We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressing social media use, teenag...

Spending screen-free time with your tween or teen without an agenda may seem like a tall order. But what if there activities that you both actually wanted to do together? This week we talk about the screen-free activities that will help build your relationship, without the pressure or expectation of "work." We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents ra...

Co-regulation is a term that we have been using a lot more of in the parenting world. Why? Because we want both kids AND parents to be calm and cool when conflict or challenges arise. Find out if you are co-regulating on the reg (pun intended!).  We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressin...

Ahhhh, sibling rivalry and conflict. We get asked questions about this all the time. The truth is that figuring out a solution to sibling conflict is actually rooted in the motive for the action. We explore these motives on today's episode! We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressing soci...

There's more to improv comedy than laughs. In fact, the skills behind improv comedy are useful in many social situations. Teaching these skills can help our students increase their flexibility. Find out how we do it, in this episode! We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital world. Need more help addressing social medi...

Have you ever seen an improv comedy show? Wondered how those actors do it? Well it really does take practice, just like navigating the social world. Which is exactly why we use improv comedy skills and practice in our therapy. Tune into this episode to find out how we do it! We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to help parents raise decent humans in a digital wo...

Do your kids advocate for themselves? In fact, are they in-tune enough with what they want and need that they could make a case for these requests? That's why we are exploring self-advocacy today. Instead of just teaching social skills, we are going beyond and teaching self-advocacy skills so that kids can start asking for their own needs. We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Service...

The neurodiversity movement from person-first language to identity-first language and treatment is SO important. Autistic people and ADHD-ers don't like the use of person-first language, so why are we still using it? Should we be accommodating people with all kinds of neurodiverse backgrounds or should they shift to "typical" society? Phew. It's a lot to take in. Let's explore! We are so glad you'...

We are talking again about some of the mental health trends we've been seeing lately and some great ideas for increasing mental health outlets in our kids and teens! We reference this excellent article about increasing mental health systems in schools: Ojio, Y ,  Mori, R ,  Matsumoto, K , et al.  Innovative approach to adolescent mental health in Japan: School‐based education about mental health l...

This week Kate is exploring social skills both online and offline, and how they affect our tweens and teens self-worth. Have you ever felt personally victimized by comments on social media platforms, or even in person? This is something that our teens experience every day. We are exploring the findings from this article:   Resnik, F., & Bellmore, A. (2019). Connecting online and offline social ski...

It is no surprise that virtual learning has been hard. But also, what has it shown us about the education system? How can we ask questions about what we DO WANT in an education system? Perhaps we will look back at this generation and they will be the ones that finally change the system as the result of their experience. We are so glad you're here! At Be a Problem Solver Services, our goal is to he...