Raising Daughters

Show Notes: Dr. Jordan discusses how girls can reframe past experiences & scars into healthy stories Dr. Jordan describes an exercise he did with his high school campers where they visualized any scars they carry, physical or emotional, from past experiences & which carried strong emotions. The girls then painted something positive and beautiful over their scars where previously they’d see...

Show Notes: Creating a lot of down time at our camp allows kids to take initiative & create their own fun and games. In this podcast, Dr. Jordan describes how seldom kids get to experience unsupervised down time where they can take initiative and create their own fun. Dr. Jordan describes the game Snake Pit which his campers created several years ago and how it has evolved with each new week o...

Forgiveness is an internal process that sets you free from negative feelings & thoughts, opening you up for love and happiness. Show Notes: BENEFITs of practicing forgiveness Research has shown that forgiveness is linked to mental health outcomes such as reduced anxiety, depression and major psychiatric disorders. Stress relief is probably the chief factor connecting forgiveness and well-being...

Show Notes: The following are 5 ways we are sucking the heart and soul out of our children’s lives and with great cost: 1.   Lack of down time for unsupervised, self-directed play: kids need the freedom to explore and take things apart and play with ideas. This also requires enough down time for kids to be bored, daydream and really get into the flow of their creative processes. 2.   We don’t valu...

Show Notes: Using her book, Cassandra Speaks, author Elizabeth Lesser describes how our human stories and our views of women would change if women were the storytellers. Elizabeth Lesser describes the mythological story of Cassandra where the god Zeus punished her with the gift of clairvoyance but the curse of no one listening to her or believing her thoughts. This story depicts how our culture st...

Show Notes: Dr. Jordan interviews 4 young adult women about the lingering social & academic effects from covid. Questions discussed in this interview: What grade were you in when covid hit & you had to go virtual? What did you like, dislike about virtual learning? What was it like for you socially when you 1st returned to in-person school? Any lingering effects socially from your covid exp...

Show Notes: Girls need to decide what success & having it all means for them, & to develop the following qualities to achieve a fulfilling life. The following are key ingredients for achieving success: Create your own end in mind, click here for link to Dr. Jordan’s previous podcast on beginning with the end in mind Autonomy creates engagement which then develops mastery The pursuit of ful...

Show Notes: Learn the truth about Sunday scaries & trigger warnings as well as how to prevent & manage them. The Sunday scaries are nagging feelings of nervousness and anxiety that creep up on people as the weekend winds down and the new work week approaches; it’s about the anxiety & dread about returning to work on Monday Learn how to zoom out of your life and figure out specifically...

  Show Notes: Listen to author Ginny Luther’s story about learning how to raise her independent-minded son Bart, the childhood traumas he triggered in her, and the tragic story of his death in the military. Temperament of many natural born risktakers: independent-minded, intense, risk-takers, physical, restless, active, love the outdoors. These kids are often described as: hyperactive, wild, can’t...

Show Notes: Research shows that time in nature is associated with improved mental health, decreased stress, enhanced creativity and prosocial behaviors, and increased connection to each other. This podcasts describes the research behind the positive effects of more contact and interaction with nature, including: reduced anger, fear, and stress and the production of stress hormones. Being in nature...

Show Notes: Elevate your parenting by creating an end in mind and using it to guide all of your decisions; listen in for how to do this. Learn the two main fears driving today’s parents to micromanage and overprotect their children: fears your kids are falling behind their peers and the uncertainty of how to prepare kids for an uncertain and ever-changing future so different from parent’s experien...

Show Notes: The critical ingredients for developing talent are inspiration, deep practice, good coaches, and autonomy. In this podcast, Dr. Jordan describes what kids need in order to develop their talents: Autonomy: creative geniuses are not qualitatively better in their fields; they produced > volume of work that gave them > variation and a higher chance of originality; quantity is the mos...

Show Notes: It’s healthy for girls to realize the many ways their parents do love them vs. lamenting the ways they don’t. Dr. Jordan describes the concept of ‘Ghosts in the nursery’ to discover the reasons underlying parent’s behaviors; link to previous podcast on ghosts in the nursery Reframing parent’s behaviors as ways they are loving their children is therapeutic and keeps kids out of anger, r...

Show Notes: Learn some specific ways parents can support high school seniors as they transition to the next leg of their journey. Understand & normalize touch point feelings: lots of emotions arrive with any change, transition, and leap in development. Help your daughter become aware of these feelings, reframe them as normal, and find healthy ways to express them. Encourage girls to focus on a...

Show Notes: Understanding why your teen is disrespectful will help you stay more detached and supportive. The many ways we disrespect teenagers: School: early start times, expecting every teen to be a perfect generalist, parents and teachers focusing on achievement over character We label and medicate strongminded, independent, powerful kids vs. understand their growing edges and providing outlets...

Show Notes: If you want to remain an influence in your daughter’s life, avoid these 8 mistakes parents make in listening. 8 Mistakes parents make when listening: Stop giving me advice! Just listen, mirror, and empathize without trying to reassure, fix, or problem-solve; when girls share they shift from their amygdala & emotional centers into their prefrontal cortex where reason can supplant em...

Show Notes: Understanding what your emotions are teaching you normalizes them & aids girls in managing them. Feelings Meanings: see feelings as vital sources of information, motivation, and they are trustworthy. Emotional distress often prompts our most growth-giving actions and lessons. We need to help girls get comfortable with the reality that they will at times have to live with emotional...

Show Notes: The following 3 issues are current plagues that are damaging girls: good girl conditioning, the lack of down time and unstructured play, and early specialization in sports and activities. Dr. Jordan describes how girls experience unhealthy good girl conditioning. He describes lists of qualities of good girls, bad girls, and real girls derived from discussions at his retreats and camps....

Show Notes: Learn the many reasons why girls may feel lonely & disconnected, including friendship drama & social media Dr. Jordan shows mental health stats of college women, including large numbers who feel very lonely and isolated. You will also hear stats about the high level of loneliness and disconnection amongst today’s adults. Dr. Jordan describes the many reasons behind girls feelin...

Show Notes: Author Dr. Sheila Ohlsson discusses her book, Wise Decisions, and how to teach girls how to make better choices The following are topics discussed with author Dr. Sheila Ohlsson: How to reframe old negative beliefs that become girl’s harmful inner voice How girls can create their own end in mind, or per Dr. Ohlsson, their Y.O.D.A. your own decision advisor, to help direct their decisio...

Show Notes: Teach your daughter how to be aware of & trust her gut alarms & what blunts them, set firm boundaries, create criteria for sexuality before dating, & how to find non-sexual ways to experience intimacy. In a fictional letter to his daughter, a dad imparts some wisdom to help her take care of herself on prom night. This advice includes: Don’t buy into the cultural myth that p...

Show Notes: Dorothy’s heroine’s journey illustrates how girls must face their fears and overcome adversities in order to gain the strength and resources to face the adult world. Dr. Jordan briefly describes the heroine’s journey that all girls must embark on in order to grow into strong, courageous adults. Dr. Jordan’s Heroine’s journey podcast 8-5-21 Using many examples from the movie, Dr. Jordan...

Show Notes: Overblown parental fears regarding stranger danger adds undo anxiety to children and zaps their confidence. Every generation has offered things for parents to worry about including: abductions, teen predators, cyberbullying, online predators, Aids, STDs, teen pregnancy, social media, war of drugs, and vaping. Kids have learned that the need a phone to feel safe and to have constant con...

Show Notes: Listen in and learn some ways that parents may be contributing to or causing their daughter’s anxiety. Ways that parents cause anxiety in their children: Kids reflect the adults around them: kids may mirror their parent’s anxieties and worries. This is especially true for parents who have an untreated anxiety disorder Kids may respond to traumatic experiences like child abuse or parent...

Show Notes: Listen to 4 young adults candidly explain their fears about growing up and settling like their parent’s generation. Dr. Jordan presents data showing how the life path of young adults today is so much different than in previous generations. Learn about a new stage in their life span called emerging adulthood and how it impacts their mental health and plans. Dr. Jordan also presents data...