Having strong relationships with your kids is the best thing you can do for their mental health. One way to build that relationship is through having conversations with your kids. Talking with children, not at them, builds their empathy, problem-solving, confidence, joy, creativity, and social skills. This week Diana Hill and Rebecca Rolland explore 8 types of conversations parents and caregivers can have with kids to help them grow into good humans who will go out into the world to do good things.

Listen and Learn:

• What is “rich talk” and why it’s so important
• Conversations to enhance learning
• After school talk and dinnertime games
• How to have conversations about friendships
• Strategies to help your kids develop empathy and perspective taking
• How to talk with your kids about diversity and differences
• Conversations to support children’s motivation and interests

About Dr. Rebecca Rolland

Rebecca Rolland is a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and serves on the faculty at Harvard Medical School. She is also an oral and written language specialist in the Neurology Department of Boston Children’s Hospital. As a nationally certified speech-language pathologist, she has worked clinically with populations ranging from early childhood through high school and has provided teacher professional development. She has an Ed.D. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, an M.S. in Speech Language Pathology from the MGH Institute of Health Professions, an M.A. in English from Boston University, and a B.A. in English from Yale.

Relevant Resources

• Download Your Daily Practice for this episode
• Find out what kind of Striver you are and get your free Skillful Striving Toolkit
• Watch this Episode On Dr. Diana Hill’s YouTube Channel
• Learn more about Rebecca Rolland
• Read The Art Of Talking With Kids
• Read What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
• Check Out Diana’s Parenting Ideas on Instagram Highlights

Diana’s Events

• Reserve your spot in Diana’s Reset and Restore Retreat in Costa Rica in 2023!
• Sign up for Diana’s From Striving to Thriving Summit!
• See Diana at an upcoming event

Connecting With Diana

Thank you for listening to Your Life in Process! Subscribe to the podcast for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts. If you have any questions or feedback you can contact Diana by email podcast at yourlifeinprocess dot com or leave Diana an audio message at (805) 457-2776. Follow Diana at YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Diana’s website.

Thank you to the team Craig, Angela Stubbs, and Ashley Hiatt. Thank you to Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.

Remember when you become psychologically flexible, you become free.

Episode Segments

• [00:00] Introduction
• [00:50] About Rebecca Rolland
• [01:50] Welcome Rebecca Rolland
• [03:21] What Is Rich Talk?
• [04:37] Talking With Kids In the Car After School
• [06:45] Talking Through Play
• [08:29] The Yes No Maybe Game For Dinnertime
• [09:46] Over-scheduled Kids
• [14:58] Conversations to Support Empathy
• [22:25] Conversations To Enrich Learning
• [27:50] Difficult And Uncomfortable Conversations
• [31:00] Conversations About Friendships
• [37:03] Conversations About Differences
• [42:35] Conversations About Temperament
• [47:35] Conversations About Interests
• [53:33] Diana’s Summary
• [55:11] Connect With The Podcast