FamilyLife Blended® Minute

Parenting Troubled Emotions 2

with Ron Deal | December 18, 2019
00:00
R
Play Pause
F
00:00

If your child is sad, angry, or depressed you feel something, too. If you're aggravated your response will likely be dismissive or sharp. If you're worried you may try to fix them. Both of these responses are self-serving. Start by noticing your emotions. Then listen to your child and hear beneath their words. Sadness in a child says something is missing. Anger says "I'm hurt or frustrated;" and feeling alone reflects a desire to belong. Help your child with that and then you're really helping.

  • Show Notes

  • About the Host

  • About the Guest

  • If your child is sad, angry, or depressed you feel something, too. If you're aggravated your response will likely be dismissive or sharp. If you're worried you may try to fix them. Both of these responses are self-serving. Start by noticing your emotions. Then listen to your child and hear beneath their words. Sadness in a child says something is missing. Anger says "I'm hurt or frustrated;" and feeling alone reflects a desire to belong. Help your child with that and then you're really helping.

  • Ron Deal

    Ron L. Deal is one of the most widely read and viewed experts on blended families in the country. He is Director of FamilyLife Blended® for FamilyLife®, founder of Smart Stepfamilies™, and the author and Consulting Editor of the Smart Stepfamily Series of books including the bestselling Building Love Together in Blended Families: The 5 Love Languages® and Becoming Stepfamily Smart (with Dr. Gary Chapman), The Smart Stepfamily: 7 Steps to a Healthy Family, and Preparing to Blend. Ron is a licensed marriage and family therapist, popular conference speaker, and host of the FamilyLife Blended podcast. He and his wife, Nan, have three sons and live in Little Rock, Arkansas. Learn more at FamilyLife.com/blended.

Parenting a troubled child always begins with managing ourselves first.