Dr. Leigh Weisz 16:04
But just staying calm seems like an important part of that too, right? And of course, you know, naming their emotion and empathizing, giving them some confidence that they can handle whatever it is that they’re afraid of without dismissing all of it. Right. That sounds it sounds like good advice. How would you say. And again, this might get into I guess one thing just to add is less is.
Dr. Debra Kissen 16:28
More when it comes to speaking as a parent. Wee wee I love speaking. Like it’s like a it’s soothing. And but they’re not actually listening to us at the point that their amygdala, their fear brain, is activated. It’s no longer they’re not thinking and considering. And so no matter what we say, right. They’re not going to get at that point to like, okay. Yeah you’re right. Like that’s not happening. So it’s more of like a signal. Keep it short because no matter what, they’re not really listening. But if you’re sending the signal, like.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 17:06
Right.
Dr. Debra Kissen 17:07
I believe in you and I love you, and this is happening. So I think sometimes people wait for the sign that like, okay, now they agree to it, or now they believe they’re going to be able to handle it. That’s that will come later.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 17:21
No, that makes a lot of sense. Yeah. So if parents, you know, mirror neurons are firing and they are feeling really, really also fearful or wound up by their child’s emotions. What’s one strategy for the parent to be able to like, actually start from a place of calm rather than get hysterical with the child?
Dr. Debra Kissen 17:46
There’s a bunch of there’s so many different emotional regulation skills. I would say, like knowing yourself one for one person, a really slow, gentle breath is super helpful. But for some people who might have a sensitivity to their breath, sometimes doing like square breathing, like the idea of of slowing down your breath can does send a signal to your brain, I’m okay. So and it could be you kind of breathe. We could try it together. So we’re going to breathe in for four and then we’re going to hold for four. It’s a square. And then breathe out for four and then hold for four. And what we’re trying to work against is when we’re in fight or flight mode, we’re like, we might not even know we’re hyperventilating because it could just be like tiny little rapid breaths, but our body or we’re taking all this oxygen because our brain thinks we need to fight or breathe or flee. And so it’s like all this fuel because, like, something big is happening. So by taking in less, slowing down and taking less oxygen, we’re sending a signal like, I don’t actually need all this fuel because there’s not a true problem. So it does help unless people get really stuck on their breath and that’s then they just might need to work.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 19:07
On it if that’s the case. But no, I think, I think you always have your breath with you. And yeah, research shows this is very effective. It’s hard in the moment. Right? Yeah. When your child is flooded with emotions. Yeah. But it can be a conscious choice, right. You know, it’s kind of like when parents slow down, they’re talking. Yeah. If the kid is getting, like, faster and faster, it’s the same concept of like, you know, what can I do to to show calm for them because they need that to. Right. And so I don’t, you know, fly off the handle. Right.
Dr. Debra Kissen 19:37
And we can even role play like, for example, like you like I could either be a kid getting really activated in your face and you could try because people are like, how can I do that in that same moment? Or you could be an activated kid and I could do my slow breath. Who do you want to be? Do you want to be the.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 19:54
I’ll be the easy part. I’ll be the kid.
Dr. Debra Kissen 19:57
Oh, okay. I didn’t know which one you were going to call the easy part. Okay. So jump into any situation that you can imagine of big kid emotions. And I’m going to try to slow myself down.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 20:08
Okay. And it could be the.
Dr. Debra Kissen 20:10
Kid not wanting to go to the party. Like not wanting to go to school. Whatever you want.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 20:14
Okay. How about not going? Not wanting to go to school? Okay. Okay. So I’ll say I can’t go to school because I have a huge test and I last passed, I failed, and I’m going to fail again. And I just can’t, I can’t go, I’m not prepared. I studied as best I can, but I’m not going to go. Well, come on, you can’t make me go. You can’t make me go.
Dr. Debra Kissen 20:36
I’m like, okay, I hear, I hear you, and I know this is a lot, and I know that you can handle it. And we’re just going to have to make this happen. And so I’m going to be in the car, give yourself a couple of minutes and at 7 a.m., like, I’m going to expect you to be in the car joining me. So I’m going to be waiting for you. I’ll be right outside. So as you were doing that and it might feel really funny, but I was kind of slowing down my breath in that moment because I felt myself going faster as you were going faster. So that was very good and I didn’t.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 21:15
And so or any of the extra dramatics. Right.
Dr. Debra Kissen 21:17
And even you just doing that, I felt I was going faster. So it’s and kind of just taking that moment of it feels like I don’t have time to slow down, slow down my breath. But just even if it’s 30s of slowing it down, that’s sending a signal. Like if I have time to slow down my breath in that moment. Actually, my pants are not on fire, so giving yourself the gift of that tiny slice of time will pay off. I love that that’s just one little tool in the toolbox.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 21:49
It’s it’s super helpful. I was going to say in your book, I know you have several different chapters that are all extremely user friendly things for parents to do. And the first one I really loved, which was self-compassion. Because I think as parents, you know, when I work with parents, I feel like I hear this voice of, you know, I can’t get it right. Why am I failing as a parent? You know, really critical, harsh language And I and I think about these are really nice people who would never say that to a friend in the exact same situation. So why are they being so hard on themselves? And I’m wondering if you could talk a little bit about, you know, self-compassion in parenting and like, why is it so low and what can we do to like, consciously work on, you know, being kinder to ourselves?
Dr. Debra Kissen 22:41
Yeah. And so kind of similar to all the things that we do and think everything has a purpose until the purpose is no longer valuable. So having critical thoughts, having feelings of remorse or contemplating, okay, that didn’t work. What can I do differently like okay, I. Okay. I, I’m just thinking, okay, let’s say it’s the weekend and I should at a certain point like get my kids off technology somehow and like, plan a fun, an activity and just something that we could do as a family and get moving. But it’s just so much easier right now. Like, everyone’s quiet and everyone’s on their technology. So that motivation of like, okay, it’s probably not great that we’ve all been like locked on technology for hours and it’s a Saturday. And that feeling of like that little bit of ickiness, like maybe there’s something else to do that can be motivating that that feeling of awe after something happens.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 23:52
Like, have you lost your temper or something?
Dr. Debra Kissen 23:54
Okay. Yeah, yeah. So like, just flipping your lid and like, that’s it. Like, go to bed and like, enough and kind of scaring them to the point of like, okay, we’re going to bed, but nobody’s happy. And so kind of having that moment of like, all right, is there a different way that I can handle that, like that, that sound like the streakiness of my mom? I want to do better so that little that discomfort can allow for some reflection, and then some like rethinking and planning for next time. But what what happens is that, you know, for modern living, but we just kind of get stuck in the ruminating or the worrying, and instead of just a little jolt enough to consider how to do it differently, we just kind of get stuck over and over again, ruminating like, you’re terrible, it’s awful. And then when it goes from just being like a little bit of a shock, like, yeah, that wasn’t great to over and over again, you’re awful. You’re the worst mom. No wonder your kids are messed up. We just get sort of smaller and less motivated and able to make changes. So the point of it is for corrective action. But when we just get stuck right, reviewing all the ways that we suck. Like. Corrective action gets a less a lot less likely.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 25:17
Totally, totally know that. That makes a lot of sense. So is one of self-compassion. I was gonna say, is one of your steps to kind of identify when when as parents, you personally get into that stuckness or into that cycle.
Dr. Debra Kissen 25:31
Right. So kind of the step one is like tracking. When are the moments like getting to know yourself, critical moments and thoughts. And we all have them, but they’re going to be personal to like, oh, when I don’t reach, when I can’t get my kids off technology, or when my kids are struggling at school, or they don’t want to spend any time with me. So kind of noticing when you’re having this feeling or thought of like you’re the worst, or why can’t you do what everyone else is doing? So noticing that those moments and it can start with just bad feelings and tracking like, okay, what are the thoughts? And keeping a log? Because sometimes it just shows up as just like maybe you just feel depressed and we just want to become more of a scientist observing what’s underneath the misery are a lot of different, right? Chatter and then from there you could decide within that those self-critical themes. Like what? Okay. What change is possible? What do I just need to accept? And and then you could start working on replacing some of the self-critical thoughts with, okay, I’m working on this or I’m good enough, but we can’t trick ourselves into like, you’re good enough. You’re you’re a great mom. If we don’t feel like that, we certainly can’t just, like, come back with really positive things we don’t believe. So we have to find some areas that we do believe. Right? I am working on this and I’m not going to be perfect. Right?
Dr. Leigh Weisz 27:02
Right. I was going to say usually we help. We help kids and adults be like detectives. I always say.
Dr. Debra Kissen 27:07
Yeah, nice.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 27:08
Is there a time you you did do it right? Or is there a fly off the handle. You know, and chances are right. There’s many times that you are doing a good enough job, but you’re focusing and spiraling on that one time that you really blew up. And it felt really catastrophic in that moment.
Dr. Debra Kissen 27:24
Right? No, I really like what you’re saying in terms of just it’s it’s catastrophic. And it doesn’t mean replacing it with the other extreme, but with much more balanced, realistic. Am I always terrible? Am I always disaster? Like, what is the evidence that in fact, every single moment I’m a disaster. Like, if you had to prove that in the court of law, right, would you be able to have gotten gotten the kids to school today or gotten dressed with any of these things happen if you’re really actually always a disaster, right?
Dr. Leigh Weisz 27:55
Absolutely. Other, other strategies or other things that you speak about in the book. You talk about the gift of your presence. Can you tell us more about kind of what you mean. Present and find more joy.
Dr. Debra Kissen 28:13
Yeah. I was just thinking, like the other day with my my daughter, my 13 year old who is just trying to get some work done. And she was sitting next to me and she was saying things, and I was like, like I heard her. If she quizzed me, I heard her. But she’s like, I think. Then she started talking to my dog and was like, wouldn’t it be so nice to actually feel heard and seen Bowie? And she was like, wouldn’t it be nice to just feel? And someone was actually like looking at you and hearing you? I was like, okay, that’s a very fair point. Yes. I’m a I’m looking at you and I’m hearing you. So it was a good reminder, all of these things.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 28:52
Sure.
Dr. Debra Kissen 28:53
We have a toolbox of of tools, but then finding moments to actually use them. So none of us are going to be always present, giving the gift of our mindful presence to our child. but even two minutes of like you could and you’d have to tell them. But like setting a timer for like two minutes, three minutes, five minutes. I’m going to like whatever they’re saying. And no matter the age, if their little kid like, I’m going to play a game with them, and as you’re playing the game, you might notice your tension like, oh, okay, when am I going to? What time is the store close? I still have to eat dinner. And then just notice that thought and then bring your attention back to this moment. And then another thought comes up and you just it’s like you’re taking your gently, bringing your attention back. And the key is like without judgment. And then if you notice the judgment, like, why can’t I just pay attention to my kid?
Dr. Leigh Weisz 29:48
Like, yeah.
Dr. Debra Kissen 29:49
Then notice that and keep bringing it back. So and when it comes to mindfulness, people feel like sometimes they need to go on a month long retreat or study with gurus, or it’s really just about like teeny bursts of attentional training.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 30:08
Right?
Dr. Debra Kissen 30:08
Versus something that that maybe you don’t have a half an hour, you probably don’t have a half an hour, but two minutes of just like imagining your attention and. Just. It’s like a spotlight and putting it on your child.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 30:23
No, I love that. And I think you know it. First of all, it brings you as the parent joy. You’re actually able to engage in that way. And I think it’s incredibly refueling to the child to be seen and and to have that level of like attunement. In today’s fast paced world where we all have way too much on our plates, you know, way to spread thin. It’s it’s hard to really focus our attention and not notice the mind drifting. But like you said, just being reasonable and realistic. Let’s start here with this. This time, you know put the electronics in a different room, like really focus on it and be present and and see. Kind of like the gift of that for both you and your child.
Dr. Debra Kissen 31:07
Yeah. And within that minute, like we, we talk about like monkey mind, like it might be 80 times, 90 times. But the magic happens each time we notice that our tension left and then we gently bring it back. That’s like doing tiny lifting, tiny little weights. And each time that we do that, that’s really the mindfulness muscle is choosing where to place our attention. So instead of I think sometimes people feel like it’s not working or it’s.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 31:35
Frustrating.
Dr. Debra Kissen 31:35
Like it’s going to be frustrating because it’s it’s hard. That doesn’t mean it’s not working.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 31:39
Right. Absolutely, absolutely. Well, I’m going to give you a choice. Which of the. Next. Oh fun choice I like having these skills that are very, very practical. So choosing reality over catastrophe or freedom past. What do you what do you want to focus on next?
Dr. Debra Kissen 31:57
I think this is fun. Thank you. It’s like a choose your own adventure. That was very fun. I think we talked a little bit about the catastrophic thinking with the trying to be self self-compassionate, so we could talk a little bit about like freedom from your past in terms of as a parent, we all by definition have pasts, and there are certain moments when the stickier, the more sucked into these moments we are, the more it might be about our own situation. So if you find there are certain areas of parenting or child where you get more reactive and you have more catastrophic thoughts and and you get kind of like fused with the situation, like, oh, no, they didn’t get invited to this party. And oh, no, like in this class, like they’re the friends from last year that are not there. And then they’re going to end up in their own group. And then you just having all these, like, big emotions that may not be in tune, like in line with the situation, right? And it’s harder to just use realistic thinking that no matter what, you’re just so sucked into it. Like, there are certain situations that we could be like, okay, I guess this is actually okay. And there are other situations that we say they’re sticky or they’re hot big hot mess. The messy feelings that we’re just like really locked in. And then those are times that it might you might need some help from the sidelines. And it takes a little bit more work to either reprocess memories or to get un unstuck from that situation. So I would say either with another with a professional or even starting to do one of those logs of what are the times that you just feel extremely emotionally reactive and so concerned for your child, and then and then just kind of take a few moments to like notice what comes up with that. And so you could either do like a downward arrow like, oh no, they didn’t get invited to the party. What’s going to be so bad about that? Well, they’re going to feel left out. What’s going to be so bad about that? They’re going to get really depressed. And what’s so bad about that? They’re going to feel really hopeless and have suicidal ideation. I just kind of see where the situations lead to poor fears. And then when you’re with that core fear, trying to kind of wind back in your own life, is there any, any moments that you have that fall into that space? And then like the next question is sort of how many of these have been worked through? We’ve all had hard moments, but the key is, are, is the past showing up, feeling like the present or.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 34:55
Not as quit as resolved as you as you would wish. Right?
Dr. Debra Kissen 34:58
Yeah. Right. So in those moments, your brain sort of feels like here and now is then and there. Yeah. Yeah. I know I threw a lot of concepts out with that.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 35:07
I think it’s really helpful, in fact, when, when we’re working with parents and I’m sure you do this as well, sometimes when we feel like parents are really heightened, we will say, do you relate to anything this year? Let’s say it was like, again, I don’t know, fifth grade.
Dr. Debra Kissen 35:25
Fifth grade, tricky. For you in any way that you can remember. And often we’ll get stories like, oh yeah, that was the year that this kid Johnny bullied me.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 35:34
And it. Changed my middle school years after that.
Dr. Debra Kissen 35:35
Right. And you’re like a light bulb moment.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 35:40
So. Right.
Dr. Debra Kissen 35:41
So sometimes helping them see that, like this one situation that your son in fifth grade is in isn’t feeling good to your son, but actually it’s not the same level of insight, but your reaction and your intensity is like up here. And it has more to do with your fifth grade experience that maybe you need to talk about with someone really, truly.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 36:01
Right. So we talk about like Big trauma.
Dr. Debra Kissen 36:03
Big T traumas and little T traumas, and sometimes it’s harder where they’re, you know, the little moments that really get stuck in there of just feeling like alone, abandoned and rejected. And people normally come back to a story of, like, sitting at the lunch table for like half of the school year, feeling alone, like waiting to be made fun of. And and then what we might do is some like cognitive processing therapy of like, okay, what picture yourself and what were you wearing? What does your face look like and what were. And we’re just kind of holding we’re making room for that memory versus kind of trying to push it away. And in doing that, it’s like our brain then finds a place to, like, support. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be there. This moment happened to you, but it’s not just super activated. Yeah. And as like.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 36:53
Yeah.
Dr. Debra Kissen 36:54
As fresh.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 36:55
Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Yeah.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 36:58
That makes that makes sense. And actually, one more thought on the freedom from your past tool. I used to say get freedom from your past. I ran a group really early on in my training for middle school moms. And middle school daughters, and.
Dr. Debra Kissen 37:15
I’m just closing my window. But I totally hear you.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 37:17
Going, okay. About, you know, the child or the middle school girl drama. But then separately, you know, not together, separately. We’d have the moms meet. And usually there were stories that were kind of like parallel to what was happening. And as soon as we were able to work with the moms and really help them with that piece
Dr. Debra Kissen 37:36
That’s so interesting.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 37:38
Be able to help their daughters way more effectively and not be not be as kind of like mean spirited about how they talk about the other moms, right? The girls would talk about each other and that’s amazing.
Dr. Debra Kissen 37:50
It was really cool.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 37:51
So amazing.
Dr. Debra Kissen 37:52
Yeah. Yeah.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 37:54
It’s so amazing, I love that. Yeah. Tell us about finding your calm.
Dr. Debra Kissen 38:01
How did finding your calm? That I gotta remember how to what chapter was.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 38:05
Or relinquishing control.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 38:06
I was going to say one more time for all of them. You pick again. I like that you.
Dr. Debra Kissen 38:10
Yeah, sure.
Dr. Debra Kissen 38:11
I’m pulling my my book open because actually we wrote this book. But then since then we wrote A child, a child like a, a play based child anxiety book. So this one was a little bit, a little further out, which is which is fun. Okay. So either relinquishing control or finding your calm. So I would say either is a good direction. But maybe we go with relinquishing control in terms of Well, just such a challenging for parents. One of the hardest parts about this job that nobody would apply for was just listed as a job is that we are accountable for the. Their their success and them being healthy and them living a good life. Yet in terms of how much control we actually have from every you know, the little things to the big things is not that much control. And so it really is kind of a rigged situation of like, we would do anything that we could if we could guarantee that everything will be okay.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 39:34
Right.
Dr. Debra Kissen 39:34
But yet and especially as kids get older, but at all points, there’s just, there’s just so much that we actually can control. So it’s kind of helping to move past that. Trying to do the impossible of pretending that just because we say, wear your coats, they’re going to wear their coats, or you have to eat more vegetables, because at the end of the day, a child can choose what they eat. So kind of giving parents tools to relinquish and accept that which they can’t control.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 40:15
Yeah. No, I was going to say, like, you know, often parents, when they go into that place of self-blame, right. They’ll be like, it’s all my fault that blah, blah, blah happened. Right. I and you know, you’re like, well, you have three kids, right? Do all three have this specific problem or outcome? No. Like so it’s probably not all your fault and nor is it all in your control and just identifying what are the factors. You know, there’s inborn temperament. There’s you know, some kids make bad decisions because they actually have reasons for that. Maybe they’re impulsive the way they’re wired. Their brains are wired, you know, all kinds of different factors. And so just kind of acknowledging that we’re doing the best we can as parents, but. Right. Do not control all these outcomes. You know, who your friend is friends with affects a lot of their decisions, right? Like, we can we steer them in one direction. But at the end of the day, they’re going to choose. They’re going to make mistakes. And I think you’re right that really it’s freeing in a way to know that, like, we’re going to do the best we can and we do not control every outcome.
Dr. Debra Kissen 41:17
No. And really, looking at those that pick the idea of picking your battles and that doesn’t mean we can’t control anything. And we say, okay, go ride on a motorcycle with no helmet and then go, you know, we there are certain things that we need to hold fast to. And then for the things that we are going to control. We have to just like really hold tight to them. And so if I, if I say you need to do something, that’s the thing you need to do. But I wouldn’t play that card very frequently. And so really, if you’re going to pick your battles and think, think about the power struggles you’re having with the your child. If one of those was the 1 or 2, like the things that like 0 to 10, how important for their life survival. Are these things. Maybe the things that are like ten, nine, eight and then like looking at everything else on the list and using different ways of you could model, you could be playful, but the control factor of like you must do blank really using that tool narrowly. And when you do use it, you stick to it from the start to the end. Because what happens a lot of times parents will try to control 90% of the stuff and then eventually give up because the reality can’t actually control so many of these things. And so then children just don’t really believe that we’re going to stick with anything because we’re kind of overusing the attempts at control, right.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 43:00
Can you give give one example of like a factor that you would view, let’s say, as one of the most important to control and kind of how you’d show that while.
Dr. Debra Kissen 43:09
Yeah. Well, like for example, going to school like this is when you’re a kid, this is your job to go to school. And and to be an effective human being. So like, unless you are sick, unless and sick, depending on the school refusal behaviors like and that doesn’t mean I feel sick, but it based on the thermometer or you’re actively throwing up and I’m actually seeing it. You’re not just said you just went to the bathroom and throw it up? Threw up. You are going to school because this is a muscle that you need to work to learn how to be effective, even when things are hard, right? So like. This is. Or like you must go to the dentist like I know you don’t want. Most kids are afraid of the dentist or shots. Right? You kind of have to do it.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 43:58
Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah.
Dr. Debra Kissen 44:02
Or maybe like you must once a week call your your if that’s like a value that you have.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 44:09
Right.
Dr. Debra Kissen 44:10
But it just I think so often there’s so many things we want for them and that make the most sense and would just be so good for them that we we spread it. Spread it too thin. Make sense?
Dr. Leigh Weisz 44:21
No, I really appreciate the example. That makes a lot of sense. Yeah. So you know, again I just want to kind of state the obvious. But I thought this was interesting. The surgeon general in 2024 this year said parents are, you know, experiencing an an epidemic in terms of like the stress that we’re facing as parents, and said that the parents faced the same challenges from past generations, but also new challenges like navigating technology and social media, a youth mental health crisis, and an epidemic of loneliness that has hit young people the hardest.
Dr. Debra Kissen 44:54
It’s so sad for us, like even just hearing.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 44:57
I know it’s all of these things, but even hearing it, it’s like, this is so hard and I treat it and I have kids and it’s just it’s the reminders of like, we’re in it together, I hope. And in fact, and I think people who aren’t parenting at this time, it’s really easy to say, just limit your kids use of technology. It’s like saying limiting oxygen, like it’s not. None of these things are that like, just make your kids go do something right? When before technology, it would get eventually boring.
Dr. Debra Kissen 45:34
To sit in front of eventually would. Yeah.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 45:36
So we do have some unique challenges. And I was I really was appreciative of the parenting being like the new smoking is I mean that really says something I hope, at least for the judgment part and maybe a little bit more on the compassion part, that like, this is complicated. And that’s and that’s what I was going to say is that like for you to, you know, have this book and to share with people, you know, these are skills that we want to help you with to make it a little easier. But also the way you write the book is so compassionate. And so it’s so kind because I think, again, most parents really do not extend that same kindness to themselves. So I’m glad that we got to talk to you about parenting and kind of learn some of these tools. I’m wondering for parents who are listening, who may be interested in learning more about all of this, what resources of any kind can you share, whether they’re books or podcasts or, you know, any, anything at all that people should be aware of.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 46:38
Yeah. It’s interesting.
Dr. Debra Kissen 46:42
Great questions. You’re good. You’re. This is really good. The thoughts that are coming up. Well, if you want. The book is available on Amazon and on our Light On Anxiety website. So you’re welcome to access that. I think what’s coming up for me is that I think parents, there are so many resources that parents can access and often have read and books and things that blogs and what they’re telling themselves, they they should be doing. And so in terms of really just turning inward, tapping into your own wise mind, and for each person, what that’s going to take to have faith in yourself and listen to yourself and just giving yourself a little bit of like, okay, what is my wise mind believe makes sense in this moment? Because the good news is you don’t need any experts to really guide you. There’s a lot there’s a lot of stress and we’re here to support. But you also like you have the answers within. And so maybe if it ever makes sense to like speak with a person, get therapy, get some support to get in touch with that so that you can have the confidence in yourself that you know your answers are valid. Yeah. Or joining like a group of I love a group for moms. I think just I think connections, whatever it would take to. Yeah. In this age feeling connected. Yeah.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 48:17
Yes. No. I think whether they’re true support groups in the formal sense or they’re informal, you know.
Dr. Debra Kissen 48:23
Right.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 48:24
Groups of of parents, you know, talking about the shared.
Dr. Debra Kissen 48:27
Yeah.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 48:27
Challenges. It is nice to hear that you’re not alone in it.
Dr. Debra Kissen 48:30
Right.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 48:31
And I think some of these podcasts, there’s a new one actually called Raising Parents by Emily Astor, which I thought was really a really good one. I just just tapped into that for the first time, but I think it just helps us feel less alone in it.
Dr. Debra Kissen 48:46
Yeah.
Dr. Leigh Weisz 48:47
Yeah, really. Thank you. Everything for being here, for writing this book and everyone you know. Please check out more episodes of our podcast, go to copingpartners.com and click on podcast and articles. And thank you as always for tuning in. And again thank you Dr. Kissen.
Dr. Debra Kissen 49:06
This was really fun. Thank you so much.
Outro 49:10
Thank you for listening to The Coping Podcast. We’ll see you again next time and be sure to click subscribe to get future episodes and check out our podcast page at copingpartners.com.