Beyond the Sessions is answering YOUR parenting questions! In this episode, Dr. Rebecca Hershberg, Dr. Emily Upshur, and I talk about...

• How do you know when to encourage your child to stick with an activity versus when it’s okay to let them step away?
• Does your approach change if the activity is a team sport versus an individual activity?
• What are effective ways to talk to your partner about these concerns without triggering defensiveness or shutting down the conversation?
• How sibling dynamics along with parental expectations can influence a child’s interests and shape their developing identity.
• A helpful phrase you can use that may reduce some of the pressure and urgency, leading to lessened friction and tension between your partner and child.

ADDITIONAL PODCAST EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about the hidden dangers of an achievement centric approach with Jennifer Breheny Wallace

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about temperament and personality development with Dr. Koraly Pérez-Edgar

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about whether or not it's okay to let your child quit an activity

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about navigating conflict in your relationship with Dr. Marina Rosenthal

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU:

Go to https://drsarahbren.com/question to send us a question or a topic you want to hear us answer on Securely Attached - Beyond the Sessions!

Dr. Wendy Rote is joining me to unpack some surprising and even counterintuitive findings about kids, smartphones, and social media. She and her team are in the middle of a groundbreaking longitudinal study following tweens over time, giving us rare insight into how technology is shaping the mental health and identity development of Generation Alpha.

Together we explore:

• Why the question “Is social media making kids depressed?” might be the wrong one to ask and what we should be asking instead.

• A finding that might shock you: Kids with smartphones actually show better physical and mental health outcomes in some key areas.

• What kind of social media behaviors are linked to more depressive symptoms and why it’s not as simple as “time spent online.”

• How compulsive checking could be a major mental health red flag that parents often miss.

• New, not-yet-published finding on the real impact school cell phone bans have been shown to have on kids.

• Why do some kids without phones actually report more cyberbullying and what that might reveal about exclusion and social dynamics?

• The one tech rule that makes the biggest difference in kids’ well-being that has a greater impact that time limits and parental control setting.

If you’ve ever worried about screen time, debated a phone ban, or felt unsure how to support your child’s relationship with tech, this conversation will give you fresh perspective, surprising data, and tangible guidance rooted in real research.

LEARN MORE ABOUT MY GUEST:

👉🏻 Learn more about Dr. Wendy Rote's research on ResearchGate and Google Scholar

REVIEW THE STUDY:

📚 Life In Media Survey

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES AND RESOURCES:

📚 The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

🎧 Regulation, reward systems, and rest: Rewiring the way our kids interact with screens with Alé Duarte

MORE PODCAST EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:

🎧 264. The hidden dangers of EdTech: How technology in schools impacts learning, child development, and mental health with Andy Liddell

🎧 242. Have phones displaced our ability to play and have fun? How to be intentional with your tech use with Catherine Price

🎧 103. Secure attachment vs. social media: Navigating their effects on body image from early childhood to teen years with Dr. Miriam Steele

Beyond the Sessions is answering YOUR parenting questions! In this episode, Dr. Rebecca Hershberg, Dr. Emily Upshur, and I talk about...

• It’s okay to set boundaries without needing to justify why you are setting them.

• How to communicate your boundaries to a friend or neighbor (with a sample script you can use!) to honor your needs without burning a bridge.

• Effective communication strategies and suggested responses for setting restrictions on allowing one of the neighborhood kids to come over uninvited - and how you can respond if your friends or neighbors pushes back.

• What if your neighbor sees that you let other kids come over unsupervised?

• A reminder that both the mom setting the boundary and the mom receiving it could benefit from hearing.

ADDITIONAL PODCAST EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about fostering deep and meaningful relationships with Dr. Rick Hanson

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about setting boundaries with family members

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about parental dysregulation with Dr. Amber Thornton

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU:

Go to https://drsarahbren.com/question to send us a question or a topic you want to hear us answer on Securely Attached - Beyond the Sessions!

Beyond the Sessions is answering YOUR parenting questions! In this episode, Dr. Rebecca Hershberg and I talk about...

• What to do when your toddler spirals from silly to overstimulated in seconds.

• Unpacking the difference between dysregulation and high arousal—and why this distinction matters.

• Strategies parents can use to share joyful, silly and playful moment with your sensitive child without overwhelming them.

• If you stop being so silly and fun, is that over-accommodating and bowing down too much to your child without teaching them that they need to handle this?

• When these stimulation meltdowns happen, what you can do to recover.

• How you can build your child’s tolerance for the silliness while modulating the intensity to help you.

• How a playful response can also help move you out of a shame response.

• Is there a different strategy to use if this high arousal overwhelm comes from a more fun and silly moment versus you losing your cool and yelling?

REFERENCES AND RELATED RESOURCES:

👉🏻 Click HERE for my workshop, Be the Calm in Your Child's Storm: How to Keep Your Cool When Your Child Loses Theirs, to get the exact therapeutic interventions I use with my patients that can change the way your brain and body interprets your child’s dysregulation to help you stay cool in the heat of the moment.

ADDITIONAL PODCAST EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about managing dysregulated from positive emotions

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about parental dysregulation with Dr. Amber Thornton

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about what to do when you lose your cool with Dr. Cindy Hovington

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU:

Go to https://drsarahbren.com/question to send us a question or a topic you want to hear us answer on Securely Attached - Beyond the Sessions!

What if the way we talk about birth is shaping the way we experience it—before it even begins? Joining me to unpack this is journalist, professor, and author of Invisible Labor: The Untold Story of the Cesarean Section, Rachel Somerstein.

Together we explore:

• The hidden biases and ingrained language that shape how we view birth—why terms like "failure to progress" reinforce harmful narratives.

• Why flexibility is a powerful tool in birth and parenting—and why we so often slip into rigidity when we feel anxious or out of control.

• The societal pressure to “do birth right” and how it impacts a birthing person’s experience.

• The troubling reality of whose life we prioritize in birth and what that says about our values in America.

• Why do some births lead to trauma while others don’t? What the research reveals about the difference.

• The importance of preparing for a c-section—even if it’s not part of your birth plan—so that you feel safe and supported if it happens.

• Simple but impactful shifts that could make c-sections a more positive experience.

With 1 in 3 births resulting in a c-section, this is a conversation every birthing person deserves to hear. Tune in for a thought-provoking deep dive into the realities of modern birth and what we can do to reclaim agency in the process.

LEARN MORE ABOUT MY GUEST:

👉🏻 https://www.rachelsomerstein.com/

📚 Invisible Labor: The Untold Story of the Cesarean Section and the Disturbing State of Maternal Medical Care

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL:

📱 IG: @rachelesomerstein & LinkedIn: Rachel Somerstein

📱 IG: @drsarahbren

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES AND RESOURCES:

👉🏻 Click HERE to download my free interactive workbook, My Mental HealthPostpartum Checklist, that will help you create a personalized mental health support system for yourself allowing you to feel more confident and relaxed, knowing you have a plan for whatever your unique postpartum experience may be.

CHECK OUT ADDITIONAL PODCAST EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:

🎧 240. Processing birth trauma: How to make sense of, heal, and move forward after a difficult birthing experience with Dr. Sterling

🎧 282. Beyond the 6-week checkup: A realistic look at postpartum and early parenthood with Dr. Jessica Vernon

🎧 35. Rethinking the birth plan: How to create a plan with your OB/GYN that supports resilience and reduces anxiety during and after pregnancy with Dr. Shieva Ghofrany

Beyond the Sessions is answering YOUR parenting questions! In this episode Dr. Emily Upshur and I talk about...

• What is the difference between sharing and taking turns from a developmental standpoint?

• When the validation of your child’s feelings doesn’t seem to work well–what to do instead.

• Why there actually is a form of grief as a part of the taking turns experience and a mindset shift you can use to feel compassion for that feeling (even if it feels completely ridiculous to you from an adult perspective!)

• Territoriality versus play challenges - unpacking the different skillsets needed for different types of turn-taking experiences.

• Games you can play to practice the skills required for taking turns.

• A reminder to parents that while this can feel high stakes, that intensity may inadvertently add to the dysregulation your child feels and cause them to dig their heels in more.

REFERENCES AND RELATED RESOURCES:

👉🏻 Want more games specifically designed for fostering emotion regulation? Go to drsarahbren.com/games to get my free guide packed with games you can play with kids of all ages!

ADDITIONAL PODCAST EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about getting kids to start sharing

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about getting your toddler to do things they don't want to do

🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about parenting a sensitve, "spicy" or highly emotional child

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU:

Go to https://drsarahbren.com/question to send us a question or a topic you want to hear us answer on Securely Attached - Beyond the Sessions!