Complicated Kids

You can understand why your child is struggling and still be completely triggered by it. In this episode, I'm joined by Jacqi Trombley, a licensed clinical social worker, trauma specialist, and Level 2 trained IFS therapist, for a conversation about Internal Family Systems. Internal Family Systems, or IFS, is a therapy model that helps us understand the different parts inside us. Not in a "there i...

Screens are not going anywhere, which means our kids need more than rules. They need guidance. I'll be honest. This is one of those topics where people tend to have feelings. Big ones. And fair enough. Screens can be a mess. They can also be useful, regulating, connecting, necessary, and sometimes genuinely helpful, especially for neurodivergent kids. So I was glad to have this conversation with L...

Brain mapping is not about making a complicated brain average. It is about understanding what the brain is doing. In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Andrew Hill, a cognitive neuroscientist, brain mapping expert, founder of Peak Brain Institute, and author of Gifted & Tortured . And yes, we go right into the brain. Andrew talks about brain mapping, quantitative EEG, neurofeedback, and how certain p...

You do not have to be afraid of big emotions, but you do need a way to meet them. In this episode, I talk with Elizabeth Sautter about what actually helps in those moments when a child's feelings get big. Elizabeth walks us through her ABCs of big emotions framework: first assess and get curious, then balance the brain, and then move toward connection and collaboration. We talk about why behavior...

If a child is struggling to learn to read, waiting rarely makes that easier. In this episode, I talk with Faye Bankler Casell about what parents need to know when early reading is not coming together the way it should. Faye explains why reading instruction in schools can feel like a lottery system, why so many children are still being missed until third or fourth grade, and why first grade is such...

When a teen is in crisis, the behavior is not the whole message. In this conversation, I talk with Katie May about what she calls "fire feelers," kids and teens who are biologically sensitive, highly reactive, and slow to return to baseline once emotions get big. Katie explains how these kids often grow up hearing some version of "you're fine" when they are very much not fine, and how that repeate...

The shoes, backpacks, grades, and meltdowns are not the whole story. They never were. This one gave me a reason to pause and reflect. I originally thought I would do something special for episode 150, and then life happened. So here we are at episode 155, and honestly, the double fives feel like a good enough reason to pause and look back. There is no guest today. It's just me reflecting on what I...

If your child is escalating and you are escalating too, that is not a discipline problem. It is a nervous system moment. In this conversation, I talk with Eva Crawford, LCSW-C, about what somatic work actually means and why it matters so much for parents of neurodivergent kids. Eva explains how many of us are not noticing what is happening in our own bodies until we are already fully triggered, an...

You cannot teach executive function by controlling a child harder. Executive function is not just about planners, homework, and getting organized. It is about self-awareness, self-regulation, and being able to take the next step toward a goal, even when something feels hard. In this episode, I talk with Sean McCormick, founder of Executive Function Specialists, about what actually helps kids build...

Sometimes a grade becomes the whole story. A child gets a low score, forgets an assignment, melts down over homework, or seems unmotivated, and suddenly everyone is focused on performance. But in this conversation, Dr. Linda Silbert brings us back to something much more important: a struggling child is still a whole child. Grades may show that something is wrong, but they do not explain why. Gabri...

A child can need support and still have too much support. In this conversation, I talk with Casey Joseph, special educator and founder of Casey's Special Education Services, about what happens when families get handed a long list of recommendations and start trying to do all of it at once. Casey shares why "more" is not always the best answer for neurodivergent kids, especially when services start...

The jump from high school to college is bigger than most families realize. In this conversation, I talk with Dr. Tara Williams about what neurodivergent students really need as they prepare for college and why so many of them struggle in that transition. We unpack the shift from high school supports to college systems, where students are suddenly expected to manage accommodations, communicate with...

A child can be brilliant and struggling at the exact same time. In this conversation, I talk with Julie Skolnick about what it really means to be twice exceptional, or as she so beautifully puts it, gifted and distractible. Julie explains why giftedness is often the misunderstood part of the profile, not the diagnosable challenges beside it. We unpack her three-layer cake of giftedness: asynchrono...

When one child needs the most, another child often learns to disappear. In this conversation, I talk with licensed clinical social worker Bari Turkheimer about the siblings we don't talk about enough: non-autistic kids growing up alongside an autistic sibling. Bari explains why siblings can feel isolated, why the "easy kid" label can be misleading, and how autism psychoeducation can give siblings...

Hard conversations do not have to fry your child's nervous system or yours. In this episode, I sit down with psychologist and clinical director Dr. Jaclyn Halpern from Playful Therapy Connections to talk about how to support sensitive and neurodivergent kids when hard things are happening at home or in the world. We walk through what to do when your child brings you a big, scary question, why you...

A nervous-system-level reframe on raising neurodivergent teens without burning yourself out. When you're parenting a neurodivergent teen, it can feel like everyone is looking at your child and nobody is looking at what is happening to you. Your nervous system is on high alert, school feels confusing, and the stakes feel sky high. In this conversation, I'm talking with former special education teac...

Regulation starts with you, not your child. In this conversation, I talk with Lisa Candera, single mom of a now-adult son with autism, profound OCD, and anxiety, about what it actually means to "regulate yourself first." Lisa shares how a long stretch of crisis during the pandemic pushed her to the edge and forced her to find ways to stay grounded in the middle of 911 calls, hospitalizations, and...

When professionals disagree, school minimizes, and your gut is screaming that something is off, your perspective on your child matters more than any report. If you're raising a high-masking, high-achieving neurodivergent kid, you may be living a split-screen life: "She's doing great here" from school, and daily meltdowns, shutdowns, or refusals at home. It's disorienting and it can make you doubt...

ADHD is not a motivation problem. It is a skills and systems problem. Parenting a child with ADHD and executive function challenges can feel like living inside a never-ending loop of forgotten water bottles, missing homework, and mornings that go off the rails. It is easy to assume kids are not listening, not trying, or do not care. In this conversation, Gabriele and ADHD expert and parent coach C...

Teens are not broken. The systems around them are. In this conversation, social worker, researcher, and educator Dr. Will Dobud joins me to zoom out from individual teen "problems" and look at the bigger picture of youth mental health. We talk about what he calls "planet mental health," where there are more therapists, diagnoses, and medications than ever, yet kids are still struggling. Will walks...

Kids feel more than they hear. They notice more than they can say. In this conversation, therapist and mom of two neurodivergent kids, Lisa Kays, joins me to explore why your child seems fine until you finally try to read, listen to a podcast, or focus on something for yourself. We talk about the invisible "container" parents hold with their attention, how kids sense when we mentally leave the roo...

Sensory is not an extra layer. It is the ground your child is standing on. In this conversation, occupational therapist Cindy Duffy and Secret Genius Project founder Donna Redman join me to explore behavior through a sensory lens. Donna shares her research into our connection with art, science, and nature, and how we first meet the world through our senses. Cindy explains why she has always viewed...

Behavior is never just behavior. In this conversation, holistic academic support coach Elyse Dworin joins me to look underneath school struggles, homework battles, and "I don't feel well" complaints through a whole-child lens. We talk about behavior as a symptom, not a character flaw, and explore how challenges with executive function, overwhelm, social stress, or undiagnosed needs can show up as...

Some families are living on an emotional rollercoaster. One minute everyone seems fine. The next, it feels like the wheels are coming off. In this episode of Complicated Kids , I sit down with Dr. Kate Lund, a licensed clinical psychologist, resilience expert, and twin mom, to talk about resilience as a way of living rather than a trait you either have or do not have. Instead of seeing resilience...

Some kids are labeled "autistic" when their bodies are actually screaming for help. In this episode of Complicated Kids , I sit down with Dr. Jodie Dashore, an internationally recognized integrative practitioner and clinical herbalist, to talk about the kids who don't fit neatly into "just autism." These are the kids with paralysis, bone pain, rashes, fevers, breathing issues, crushing anxiety, or...