There is no perfect way to help children build resilient, empathetic, and emotionally secure foundations that support them through adulthood. There is no instruction manual and there is no definitive right way. One approach parents can take is to be mindful and compassionate, with themselves first and then with their children. To find out more about how parents can raise optimistic and self-assured kids, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two psychotherapists about parenting strategies that help create stability in a child’s life. Dr. Tina Payne Bryson describes enlightening approaches from her book, The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child. And Dr. Shauna Shapiro discusses the five essential elements of mindful discipline from her book, Mindful Discipline: A Loving Approach to Setting Limits and Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child.

About Lisa’s guests:

Dr. Tina Payne Bryson is co-author (with Dr. Dan Siegel) of The Yes Brain (Random House, 2018), as well as two New York Times bestsellers The Whole-Brain Child, and No-Drama Discipline. She is a psychotherapist and the Founder/Executive Director of The Center for Connection and Play Strong Institute in Pasadena, California, where she offers parenting consultations and provides therapy to children and adolescents. She’s also a mom to three boys.

Book: The Yes Brain: How to Cultivate Courage, Curiosity, and Resilience in Your Child

Shauna Shapiro, Ph.D. is a professor at Santa Clara University, a clinical psychologist, and an internationally recognized expert in mindfulness. A recipient of the American Council of Learned Societies teaching award, acknowledging her outstanding contributions to education and a fellow of the Mind and Life Institute co-founded by the Dalai Lama, Dr. Shapiro lectures and leads mindfulness programs internationally and has been invited to present for the King of Thailand, the Danish Government, and the World Council for Psychotherapy, Beijing, China. Dr. Shapiro serves on the Advisory Board of Axialent, a leader in conscious business, and has brought mindfulness to pioneering companies including Genentech, Cisco Systems, and Google. She has published over 150 articles and book chapters and is co-author of the critically acclaimed books, The Art and Science of Mindfulness and Mindful Discipline. Dr. Shapiro’s work has been featured in Wired Magazine, USA Today, the Huffington Post, Yoga Journal, and The American Psychologist.

Book: Mindful Discipline: A Loving Approach to Setting Limits and Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child

This episode of Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio is sponsored by:

Grove Collaboratives — Delivers a greener clean to help your home and our world spotless with earth-friendly cleaning essentials. Healthy, Plant-based cleaning products do work. Thousands of home, beauty, and personal care products. All products are guaranteed to be good for you and your family. Harvesting Happiness listeners get a free starter set, plus free shipping on their first order when they visit grove.com/happiness.