Welcome to the Raising Mentally Healthy Kids Podcast. With the increase in mental health statistics regarding kids and teens, along with climbing suicide rates, Michelle is passionate about equipping parents to understand and talk with their kids about the mental health issues they encounter in our culture every day.
Listen as she addresses issues the children you love face daily and learn tips to help them navigate the emotional and social struggles of these turbulent times. You CAN raise mentally healthy kids!
S4 E14: Empathetic Listening, Managing Screen Time, Adequate Socialization, and Back-to-School Anxiety
If you’ve listened before, you’ll notice something different about today’s episode. Over the past four months, I’ve been doing a radio segment called Mental Health Monday for Magic 104.1 in Oklahoma City. We’ve covered a wide range of topics from how empathic listening can help our kids manage anxiety to setting healthy boundaries with our…
Hope When Your Teen Struggles with Chronic Illness and Depression with Jennifer Dukes Lee & her daughter Anna
Most of us don’t love change, but for our teens, times of transition can be especially stressful and lead to anxiety and depression. But don’t lose hope, parents! In this episode, I’m excited to share my conversation with author Jennifer Dukes Lee and her daughter, Anna about how their journey through Anna’s depression and chronic…
How Our Thoughts Affect Our Physical Health with Debra Fileta, M.A., LPC
The best way to teach our children healthy behaviors is by modeling them, but as parents, we often find ourselves too busy to exercise, eat healthy meals, or get enough sleep. In the second half of my chat with licensed professional counselor and author Debra Fileta, we discuss how faulty perceptions affect our decision-making, why…
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How to Create Emotional & Spiritual Health in Your Home with Debra Fileta, M.A., LPC
I want to ask you a simple, but hard question – “Are you really okay?” In this episode with licensed professional counselor and author Debra Fileta, we’re focusing on how we as parents can do the hard work of building emotional awareness within ourselves so we can normalize talking about emotions within our homes. Debra…
Repairing Damage in Family Relationships with Ann Taylor McNiece, LMFT
In our last episode with Marriage & Family Therapist Ann Taylor McNiece we talked about how we can engage in healthy discussion and avoid conflict that destroys. In the second part of our conversation, we’re discussing how we can repair the damage that’s already been caused, specifically in our family relationships. Key points from our…
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Key Communication Skills to Engage in Healthy Conflict with Your Family with Ann Taylor McNiece, LMFT
As much as we may try, we can’t avoid conflict and have healthy relationships. In this episode with Marriage & Family Therapist Ann Taylor McNiece, we’re sharing some skills to help you engage in healthy discussion and avoid conflict that destroys. While most of this conversation is focused on spouses, these communication skills will impact…
Overcoming Dysregulation through Families Trying Softer with Aundi Kolber
In this episode, I’m continuing my conversation with author and therapist, Aundi Kolber and digging into what it looks like to try softer with our families and the profound effect co-regulation can have on our children’s nervous systems. We also walk through a practical technique you can use to ground yourself and share some encouragement…
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Moving Families out of Anxiety, Stress, and Survival Mode with Aundi Kolber
In society we’re often told to try harder, but what would it look like to try softer? In this episode, I’m joined by author and therapist, Aundi Kolber who shares about what it means to try softer, how we can help our kids process the trauma stuck in their bodies, and what it means to…
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Overcoming Mindset Struggles with Brooke Tilghman
In the last two episodes, I’ve been joined by Todd and Brooke Tilghman who have shared about their journey with their son who has battled with depression and anxiety, but this episode is a bit different. In this conversation, Brooke gets candid about her mental health struggles with post-partum depression and anxiety, as well as…
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Winning as a Parent When Your Kid has a Mental Health Issue with Brooke & Todd Tilghman
In the second half of my conversation with the authors of Every Little Win: How Celebrating Small Victories Can Lead to Big Joy Brooke and Todd Tilghman, they’re sharing their journey of supporting their oldest son Eagan through difficulty in school and mental health issues that arose as a result. In this episode, they explain why and…
Getting Your Child Help for Depression with Brooke and Todd Tilghman
In this episode, I’m chatting with the authors of Every Little Win: How Celebrating Small Victories Can Lead to Big Joy, Brooke and Todd Tilghman. You might recognize Todd as the winner of season 18 of NBC’s The Voice, but in this conversation, he and Brooke share how their focus on joy and celebrating every…
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How to Talk to Your Kids About Loss with Georgia Shaffer
In our last episode, I spoke with author Georgia Schaffer about what healthy grieving looks like for our kids. In the second part of our conversation we’re digging into how to talk to kids about loss and answering some of the questions we hear most like is it okay to use the word “death” with…
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Empowering Your Kids to Grieve in a Healthy Way with Georgia Shaffer
One of the questions I get asked most is how to talk to kids about grief. Unfortunately, there’s no magic formula to speeding up the grieving process. And grieving isn’t just about the loss of a loved one, there are a number of losses we grieve, from loss of a dream to loss of health.…
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