In this episode, Clare talks to expert guest, Dr Dean Burnett, about some of the challenges that parents and carers face around teenagers and mobile phones.

They discuss the impact of mobile phone use on young people’s mental, physical and emotional health, and the problem with the catch-all term, ‘screen time’. Dean shares some simple strategies to reduce friction when agreeing and implementing healthy boundaries.

Dr Dean Burnett is a doctor of neuroscience, former psychiatry lecturer, honorary research fellow at Cardiff Psychology School, occasional comedian, well-known science pundit/commenter, and, to most people, a best-selling author of books about the brain and mind.

As a father of two, he has turned his brain-based expertise to the problems experienced by parents and their older children/teens, and written two books for younger readers, to help them understand these dynamics: the international bestseller ‘Why Your Parents Are Driving You Up The Wall And What To Do About It’, and the newly-released sequel, ‘Why Your Parents Are Hung Up On Your Phone And What To Do About It’. This latest book takes a look at the science behind how modern technology affects us, and why there is often conflict between parents and teens.

You can follow Dean on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and TikTok, or take a look at his website to find out more.

Dean shares three tips in the episode:

• Include your young person in the conversation rather than imposing blanket rules.
• Model the type of behaviour you would like to see. For example, consider your own mobile phone use.
• Be aware of nuances; mobile phones are not necessarily ‘good’ or ‘bad’. A more important question to think about is how your teenager is using their phone.

The My Family Coach podcast covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.

Listen in as Stefanie, an occupational therapist, talks to Clare about sensory support for children who don’t seem to feel the cold, pain, or hunger, or who seem unaware of where their body is in space, and may seek out sensory input by crashing into things. 

Stefanie is the owner of Sensationally Thriving Children Therapy. She has been an occupational therapist for twelve years and has worked in a variety of paediatric specialities including home care, schools, private practice, sensory integration, and outpatient rehabilitation.  

She has certifications in Therapeutic Listening, Astronaut Training, the SOS Approach to Feeding, and is an Advanced Mentored Clinician at the STAR Institute for Sensory Processing. Most recently, she has offered parental consultations to help parents better understand the complexities of sensory processing, so they can best support their child. 

Stefanie’s new course, Understanding Your Child’s Sensory Cues, will be launching in summer this year, and she is also in the process of writing a children’s book about sensory processing. You can find Stefanie at Sensationally Thriving Children Therapy, and on Facebook and Instagram. 

Stefanie recommends the book, Sensational Kids, by Lucy Jane Miller. 

She also shares three tips during the episode: 

• Sometimes, dysregulation can look like sleeping, shutting down or avoidance. 
• Often, children who are under-responsive may not feel pain, hunger, the need to urinate, or stress and anxiety as readily as others. 
• Heavy work (movement that involves pushing, pulling, carrying or jumping) is the best activity for calming. 

The My Family Coach podcast covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15-minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home. 

In this episode, Dr Tina Rae joins Clare to talk about how to support children and young people experiencing grief and loss. The topic relates not just to the loss of family members, but to family pets or even an important belonging. Tina shares practical tips to help process grief in an emotionally safe way.   

Dr Tina Rae has 40 years’ experience working with children, adults, and families in clinical and educational contexts within local authorities and specialist services. She is currently working as a Consultant Educational and Child Psychologist in a range of specialist and mainstream contexts. She also supports fostering agencies as a Consultant Psychologist working with foster carers, social workers and looked after children.

Tina is a prolific author and has over 100 publications to date. These reflect her ongoing passion for developing practical resources for schools which have an evidence base and enable practitioners to ethically deliver effective preventative mental health interventions in schools. 

Tina recommends her book The Bereavement Book 

You can find more about Tina and her work on Twitter 

Tina also shares three tips during the episode: 

1. Keep talking and sharing memories. 
2. Acknowledge that people grieve differently, especially children.  
3. The importance of having an emotionally safe space and showing affection. 

The My Family Coach podcasts covers every aspect of children’s behaviour, all in handy 15 minute (ish) bite-sized chunks. Each episode features a new guest chatting about a different aspect of behaviour and leaves you with three handy tips to use at home.