Is My Child A Monster? A Parenting Therapy Podcast

Is My Child A Monster? is on break, but we’re looking for guests for season two! So this between season bonus episode is a conversation between Leslie and her producer, Alletta Cooper about what happens behind the scenes making the podcast. They discuss what it’s like to be a guest on the podcast as well as what types of parenting questions and concerns they’re hoping parents and caregivers bring...

We’re between seasons right now, but for those of you who joined us later in the season we wanted to revisit this earlier episode about when children are afraid to do new things with my parent guests Michelle and Emiliano. This is a common topic for many caregivers.  If you’ve heard it before I invite you to re-listen, as a way to reinforce new skills. And you might hear something you didn’t hear...

This episode is a change in our typical format where parents share their struggles and challenges in therapy sessions recorded live.  This is a conversation between Leslie and her daughter, Dale. It focuses on the topic of raising a responsible child versus an obedient child.  We all want children who listen to us. But it's not as simple as telling our children what to do, and expecting them...

This is part 3 of the 3 part series with Alice.  She's a recently divorced mother of two boys, Dan, who's nine, and Jake, who's six. In the first two sessions, Alice and Leslie focus a lot on her anxieties about her children, and her parenting perfectionism. It's so hard to raise kids, especially after a big life change, like divorce. This episode, Alice reviews what strategies...

This is part 2 of the 3 part series with Alice who is parenting her two boys Dan, 9 years old and Jake, 6 years old.  Alice is coming to this therapy session feeling overwhelmed and not having the time and focus to do what we talked about in the previous session. Parenting IS overwhelming and its very likely that many of you also feel overwhelmed. We unpack those feelings and discuss strategies to...

This is part 1 of the 3 part series with Alice.  Alice is a recently divorce parent with two boys ages 9 and 6  In Part 1 we learn about Dan who struggles with FAIRNESS, often melting down in ways that impact that whole family.  We will discuss the candy wars, the ruined birthday parties, and the issue of fairness. Alice also admits that she is struggling with the fear of being a bad parent and wo...

This is a special episode in which Leslie is joined by guest Lindz Amer (they/them) to talk about their work within the LGBTQ+ community. Leslie and Lindz talk about various topics regarding being a caretaker and ally to LGBTQ+ children. Last week’s episode was about parenting Jack, a transgender child.  Leslie wanted to have Lindz on the podcast to further discuss the important ways we can create...

This is a single session with our guest May.  May is married to Charlie and they have a child named Jack.  Jack is 13 years old and was assigned female at birth, but identifies as they/him and approached May to start calling them Jack in middle school. May, who is wonderfully supportive of Jack, finds herself struggling to be the mediator between Jack and the conservative members of their family,...

This is part 2 of the 2 part series with Zach and Sarah.  Sarah and Zach are divorced co-parents of two children. They came to Leslie to talk about Andrew, their 16-year-old son who is withdrawn and struggling in school. Last session Leslie explored ways to approach Andrew with curiosity and compassion in order to connect with him. She touched on family dynamics and how Andrew may feel like an out...

This is part one of a two part series with Zach and Sarah.  Zach and Sarah are co-parents of two children.  This series focuses on their 16 year old son Andrew who they describe as withdrawn, irritable, and “not engaged in life”.  His parents have been struggling to get him to complete tasks related to school, getting a job, and just basic things at home.  Leslie helps Zach and Sarah focus on the...

In today’s episode, Mary shares how her 4 year old son, Oliver seems to be struggling after the loss of his infant cousin. Oliver began to show signs of regression with bedtime during which he seems to experience high anxiety and fears. Sleep regression is normal and very understandable when dealing with something as big as death. Mary explains how Oliver is most open and communicative at bedtime....

This is the second skills focused episode of the season in which Leslie and Dale talk about the art of apologizing.  Leslie talks about The Three Step Apology and how it evolved into the technique it is today.  Dale shares her journey with apologies and how she went from feeling like apologizing was impossible to finding the power of apologizing as an adult.  She also shares how she went from a bl...

This is the final episode in the five part series with Kathryn. Kathryn shares how implementing some of her newly learned skills has been going.  Kathryn describes how these tricky conversations with her 17 year old daughter Bridgette have felt both satisfying and at times frustrating and where she is still feeling stuck.  Through role playing we take an indepth look at two examples. Leslie gives...

This is part four of the five part series. Kathryn and Leslie meet for a fourth time to continue to work on her relationship with her 17 year old daughter Bridgette. In this session, Kathryn describes the event that led to a break in trust between her and Bridgette. Leslie introduces The Three Step Apology skill to help guide Kathryn in repairing her relationship with her daughter. This skill is m...

Children breaking rules is nothing new in the world of parenting.  Teens breaking rules is almost a given.  In this third part of the five part series, Kathryn is eager to learn how to set limits with her 17 year old daughter Bridgette. Trying to set limits with a child who seems like they have no limits may feel like an impossible task. But there are ways to do it. Even though the terminology of...

This is part two in the five part series with Kathryn.  As we heard in the first part of this series, Kathryn’s 17 year old daughter Bridgette is making decisions around sex, drugs, and alcohol that deeply concern her mother. Karthyn is frustrated, fearful, overwhelmed, and unsure how to best parent her daughter. In this episode Kathryn shares her experience of putting “the curious alien” techniqu...

This is the first episode in a five part series with Kathryn.  She's been struggling to deal with the roller coaster ride of parenting her 17 year old daughter, Bridgette. Bridgette has been making what most parents might consider risky choices.  Her choices surrounding sex and drugs has her mother extremely concerned and feeling unsure of how to best to parent her. She is afraid for her daug...

This episode is a change in our typical format where parents share their struggles and challenges in therapy sessions recorded live.  Instead, we focus on the skill of building mastery which we spoke about in a previous episode.  After listening to that episode and reading Leslie's newsletter, Leslie's daughter Dale, who is also a producer on this podcast, suggested a conversation about...

In this final session, both Tim and Natasha describe a shift in their relationship with their 6 yr old daughter Rosie. Leslie reinforces these changes and continues to work on shifting the conversation away from focusing on the negative. Instead, Leslie looks below the surface of behaviors to identify strengths of the child that may be less obvious.  All children have a need to be understood and s...

This episode with Tim and Natasha and their 6-year-old daughter Rosie focuses on the reality of actually implementing the parenting skills they've learned in the previous two sessions.  And the reality is it's often trickier than it seems and requires lots of patience.  It's easy to get triggered by the frustration of not seeing immediate results with your kid, and so this episode d...

This is part 2 of the 4 part series with Tim and Natasha who share their concerns and challenges with their 6-year-old daughter Rosie. This episode discusses how Tim and Natasha’s own childhood experiences and their personalities affect how they in turn parent their own child.  Tim and Natasha both feel strongly about not repeating what their own parents modeled.  It’s  harder than you think, to n...

This is part one of the four-part series with Tim and Natasha. In today's episode, we meet Tim and Natasha whose 6-year-old daughter, Rosie, is exhibiting ADHD behaviors in school and at home. Leslie challenges Tim and Natasha to shift their perspective and understanding of their child’s “problematic” behaviors. Feeling confused about how to interpret your child’s behavior is a common feeling...

This is part three of the three part series with Michelle and Emiliano. In this final session, Leslie coaches them to empower their 10-year-old daughter to become an expert on her own anxiety. For highly anxious and sensitive children, a fun overnight school field trip can feel like a looming nightmare.  Parenting children through their anxieties when they are very heightened can be troubling and...

This is part two in a three-part series with guests Michelle and Emiliano, whose 10-year-old daughter struggles with severe anxiety. In this session, Leslie reviews the skills from session one to figure out what did and didn’t work to help manage Willow’s anxiety. In this episode, we look at the relationship between parents’ behaviors and the unintended consequences that impact their children and...

This is part one in a three-part series. Michelle and Emiliano have a 10-year-old daughter with extreme anxiety and panic attacks. In our first full episode, Leslie sits down with these parents to strategize ways to help Willow with her sleep difficulties, school anxiety, and panic attacks when faced with new situations. This session explores the causes that are underlying these behaviors, and Les...