Flusterclux With Lynn Lyons: For Parents Who Worry

We're ready to kick off summer! But family worries unfortunately don't always take a vacation. So, today, we reshare our episode on summer camp and separation anxiety. You'll find this episode's advice relevant for a variety of situations, from new day camps, to sending kids off to college in the fall. How can we best prepare our kids to leave home for somewhere new? How can we manage our worry wh...

So Lynn fell on a staircase and broke her back in two places recently. She will make a full recovery, but how did she manage in a crisis? Did she go catastrophic? Hello, uncertainty! How did our resident anxiety expert manage a real life flustercluck under pressure and what does she want to share from this? For the Season 1 episode that Robin references, please click here. VISIT OUR SPONSORS FOR S...

In this consultation with a listener's family, Lynn talks to a mom, dad, and their high school junior who would enjoy staying in his room most of the summer. Lynn helps identify the skill most teens need to strengthen — the skill of doing something you don't really want to do (and how it applies to getting a first job, applying to college, or completing schoolwork). Most parents will find this a v...

When we remember that anxiety demands certainty and is a creator of doubt, it makes sense that decision-making can become a problem. What if I make the wrong choice? How do I decide between two good options? How will I know I’m choosing correctly? In this episode, we talk worry, decisions, and the skills we can teach our kids to keep them moving, whether they are picking out which t-shirt to wear...

In Part 2 of our discussion on loneliness, we focus on adults. Making friends in adulthood feels risky. If you are at all anxious or introverted, vulnerability and rejection hardly seem worth it. But connection is possible once we dispel some limiting beliefs.  VISIT OUR SPONSORS FOR SPECIAL OFFERS JUST FOR YOU Now’s the time to try Earth Breeze and save 40%! Go to earthbreeze.com/flusterclux to g...

Loneliness is a deep longing for connection that you can’t find and is more prevalent in young people than old. In this first of a two-part discussion, we address the painful and prevalent disconnection in our children and what matters as we help them with relationships.  VISIT OUR SPONSORS FOR SPECIAL OFFERS JUST FOR YOU Now’s the time to try Earth Breeze and save 40%! Go to earthbreeze.com/flust...

School avoidance is not new but parents and schools report more frequent and intense struggles. Did the pandemic make it worse? Are there risk factors that parents need to pay attention to? This week: what can parents do when their child avoids school?  VISIT OUR SPONSORS FOR SPECIAL OFFERS JUST FOR YOU Now’s the time to try Earth Breeze and save 40%! Go to earthbreeze.com/flusterclux to get start...

On this In Session episode, Lynn talks to a mom who is beginning to recognize patterns of rigidity and anxiety in her 9yo daughter and, more importantly, the ways both she and her husband react to uncertainty and judgement in themselves and others. When the goals of being right and being perfect are modeled, children often react with shut downs or freak outs when they themselves fall short. How do...

In this episode we answer listener questions from three different families with five year olds about handling big emotions and fears. Rigidity, disappointment, tantrums, new schools…issues that most parents of all kids will encounter! And, we have a conversation on those red flags that might lead you to consider a new therapist. VISIT OUR SPONSORS FOR SPECIAL OFFERS JUST FOR YOU Join Thrive Market...

Don’t we all want to raise problem-solvers? Today we are recasting one of our most popular episodes in which we break down specific steps that parents can put into practice.  We must give our kids the practice of creating solutions and not fixing things for them. This episode also wraps up the third of a previously-released three-part series on the principal skills that children need for a strong...

Positive connection is the goal, but is there such a thing as too connected? Yup, and it’s called enmeshment. In this episode, Lynn and Robin talk privacy, autonomy, and boundaries. If your goal is to be “best friends” with your child, have a listen.  VISIT OUR SPONSORS FOR SPECIAL OFFERS JUST FOR YOU Join Thrive Market today and get 30% off your first order and a $60 dollar gift while helping a f...

We want our teens to be able to talk openly about their struggles, but in this listener question, a mom struggles with her daughter’s ability to manage a peer’s demand for accommodation. When anxiety becomes identity, what’s an empathic but worn-out friend to do? VISIT OUR SPONSORS FOR SPECIAL OFFERS JUST FOR YOU Join Thrive Market today and get 30% off your first order and a $60 dollar gift while...

In this episode Lynn answers listener questions for families dealing with OCD patterns in their kids, including when and if to start medication in addition to therapy, how to handle compulsive apologizing, and the key to applying the overall anxiety management strategies we discuss in a consistent way.  VISIT OUR SPONSORS FOR SPECIAL OFFERS JUST FOR YOU Join Thrive Market today and get 30% off you...

When things don’t go the way we plan or hope, powerful feelings show up. Disappointment is common, and the smaller you are, the bigger it feels. How do we help our children learn to manage this emotion as they mature? In this episode, we talk about intercepting the most challenging (and annoying) disappointment reactions, like blaming, whining and sulking, and what to model instead. BUY LYNN'S NEW...

The recent ABC-TV show The Parent Test has sparked much discussion, so Robin and Lynn (skeptically) decided to dive in. In each episode, parents with different “styles” of parenting are given challenges to complete with their children, and then other parents sit in judgment. What did we think? Was it awful? Exploitative? Or surprisingly enjoyable? BUY LYNN'S NEW BOOK, THE ANXIETY AUDIT Lynn's four...

We asked our podcast listeners to share embarrassing stories and, boy, did they deliver. Humiliating moments happen to everyone, but as you’ll notice with the stories we share, often feel so much more devastating to tweens and teens. Avoiding embarrassment isn’t possible, but helping your kids get through it with empathy and humor is. BUY LYNN'S NEW BOOK, THE ANXIETY AUDIT Lynn's fourth book focus...

Does you child freak out when it’s time for a shot? Or a blood draw? A strep test? And what about more extensive treatments? We’ve been getting many questions about how to approach this common and powerful fear. In this episode, Lynn the Fainter describes how to use breathing, disconnection, and the amazing power of the imagination to help kids and parents handle the unpleasantness and sometimes d...

Worries that show up at night seem to hold special power. They are discussed, analyzed, and often treated as a “going to sleep issue” instead of anxiety that happens to show up at bedtime. It’s understandable. Problems at bedtime are magnified by parents’ urgency to make sleep happen, our own lack of reserves at the end of the day or the middle of the night, and the material that the dark of night...

This is a juicy episode— and a really important one for all concerned about the mental health trends with our teens. After over thirty years in the mental health field, Lynn addresses very directly her concerns about the messages teens are receiving, and articulating, about their mental health. It's time to be candid about toxic trends, misinformation, and where our teens are heading. Can we shift...

Worry is a part of parenting and can help us plan ahead and problem solve. But when it becomes more constant, you may get stuck in a pattern of rehearsing for catastrophic patterns that aren't happening. In this episode, we break down the difference between worry that helps and worry that haunts. BUY LYNN'S NEW BOOK, THE ANXIETY AUDIT Lynn's fourth book focus on adults and their anxiety. Buy your...

We previously detailed the parenting phrases we hate (and why you should considering dropping them.) In this week’s episode, we head in the other direction: the parenting phrases we love, how they help with emotional management, and why every parent needs to have a few in your back pocket, ready to use when needed. These help for your kids whether they are 3 or 33. BUY LYNN'S NEW BOOK, THE ANXIETY...

Habits can be good and bad, hard to start and even more challenging to break. Our brains like them and they often serve a purpose to self-soothe. To begin the new year, we dive into habits: how to break the bad ones and develop the good ones, and what to flexibly model for our kids.  BUY LYNN’S NEW BOOK, THE ANXIETY AUDIT Lynn’s fourth book focus on adults and their anxiety. Buy your copy of The A...

For some families, holidays bring out their toughest dynamics. How do divorced parents manage a blended holiday putting their kids first? What if you have a house of angry teenagers with one of them recently in crisis? Is it possible to enjoy your holiday at home when all they want to do is fight?  BUY LYNN’S NEW BOOK, THE ANXIETY AUDIT Lynn’s fourth book focus on adults and their anxiety. Buy you...

Many listeners have asked for an episode that talks directly to teens. Here it is. With many high schoolers dealing with unhealthy stress, and worn out college students returning home for break, Lynn offers some concrete advice. There are myths to be busted, emotions to be managed, and skills to be built. Parents, you might want to listen in, too.  BUY LYNN’S NEW BOOK, THE ANXIETY AUDIT Lynn’s fou...

Your child won’t give away any old clothes, even though they are 3 sizes too small. Your daughter saves gum wrappers and broken crayons and stashes them under her bed. Are they hoarders? Or collectors? Is it OCD? In this episode, we talk about hoarding: what it is, what it means, and what to do.  BUY LYNN’S NEW BOOK, THE ANXIETY AUDIT Lynn’s fourth book focus on adults and their anxiety. Buy your...