Ep 12: Navigating Big Emotions: Tips to Turn Meltdowns into Connection

Do you find yourself struggling to regain control of your emotions with your ‘spicy’ or highly-sensitive child? It can be beyond stressful to navigate big emotions and the sometimes explosive reactions that they bring on, but Vanessa is here to help. She brings her years of experience as a Montessori preschool teacher, a parenting coach, and a resilience researcher to teach you practical tips to help you face meltdowns and other strong emotional episodes with calm and confidence.

Through this podcast episode, you can learn to embrace big emotions as a way to get our needs and desires met, to recognize the signs of upset that are hardwired into children’s brains, and to turn power struggles into “power snuggles”. Vanessa will help you feel ready to get in the weeds with your kids through real stories of struggle and success, research-backed insights, and tried-and-true methods that work for teachers and parents alike.

Here are the topics covered in Navigating Big Emotions: Tips to Turn Meltdowns into Connection:

• How to be calm, kind, confident, and connected during emotionally challenging moments.

• Vanessa’s personal journey to becoming a “Meltdown Expert” as a Montessori preschool teacher.

• Understanding the link between big emotions and getting our needs and desires met

• Learning to recognize the signs of dysregulation so we can help our kids manage and make sense of their big emotions.

• Learn the steps to self-regulate and co-regulate so both the kids and the adults can regain their composure.

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Dr. Daniel Siegel’s video explanation of the Brain in the Palm of the Hand (for ages 9+): https://youtu.be/f-m2YcdMdFw.

Hope you enjoyed this episode and learned useful tips on navigating big emotions in kids to turn meltdowns into connection.

Want to learn more about the different models of motivation that Vanessa mentions in this episode? Check out Episode 2 of Season 1 of The Calm, Empowered Parent Podcast!

Go to www.thecalmempoweredparent.com to get your free copy of Vanessa’s Calm Parent Strategy Guide, to submit a question, to stay up to date with upcoming events, and to explore how to bring one of Vanessa’s low-cost workshops to your school or group.

Music by Jabari Martin instagram.com/iamstolenartifacts.