Author: Chien Liu

Grief is one of the most universalhuman experiences — and one of themost difficult to navigate as a parent,particularly when the person grievingis your child. The death of a grandparent,a pet, a family friend, or — in themost devastating circumstances — aparent or sibling; the loss of ahome, a school, a friendship; thegrief of family…

Emotional coaching is one of the mostevidence-based parenting approachesavailable — and one of the least knownoutside of professional circles. Itwas developed and researched by psychologistJohn Gottman at the University of Washington —whose decades of research on relationshipsand emotion are among the most influentialin all of psychology — and it describesa specific set of parenting responsesto…

Gratitude and generosity are two ofthe qualities most strongly associatedwith human flourishing — and two ofthe qualities that parents most wantto cultivate in their children. Theyare also deeply connected: researchconsistently finds that grateful peopleare more generous, and generous peopleare more grateful — the two qualitiesreinforce and amplify each other inways that make cultivating both togethermore…

Communication is the medium throughwhich everything in the parent-childrelationship flows — warmth, discipline,support, connection, and the thousanddaily interactions that shape whochildren become. The quality ofparent-child communication is oneof the most extensively researchedtopics in developmental psychology —and the findings are both specificand actionable. This article covers what positivecommunication with children actuallyis, what the research shows aboutits…

Worry is a normal part of childhood.Every child worries — about school,about friendships, about the future,about things that feel uncertain orthreatening. Worry, in appropriateamounts, is adaptive — it motivatespreparation, it signals genuine concernsthat deserve attention, and it ispart of the emotional repertoire thathealthy development produces. But some children worry too much —significantly more than their…

Anger is one of the most powerful andmost misunderstood emotions in childhood.It is also one of the most commonlymishandled — suppressed when it shouldbe expressed, escalated when it shouldbe contained, punished when it shouldbe understood. The research on anger and childrenis specific and actionable. This articlecovers what anger actually is developmentally,what helps children manage it…

The secure base is one of the mostimportant concepts in all of developmentalpsychology — and one of the least knownoutside of professional circles. Itdescribes something that effective parentsdo naturally and instinctively in theirbest parenting moments — and somethingthat the research identifies as thefoundation of children’s capacity toexplore, to learn, and to develop theconfidence and resilience…

Kindness is one of the qualities parentsmost want for their children — and oneof the most commonly approached in waysthat are less effective than the researchsuggests. Telling children to be kind,rewarding kind behavior with stickers,and lecturing about the importance oftreating others well are understandableapproaches. They are also, by themselves,insufficient. The research on kindness and prosocialbehavior…

Self-talk — the internal dialogue thatruns constantly in every person’s mind —is one of the most powerful influenceson emotional wellbeing, resilience,and performance. Research consistentlyfinds that the way people talk tothemselves shapes how they feel, howthey behave, and what they believethey are capable of. For children, whose self-concept isstill forming and whose internal dialogueis significantly shaped…

Mental health is one of the most importanttopics parents can discuss with theirchildren — and one of the most commonlyavoided. The stigma that surrounds mentalhealth, the uncertainty about what tosay, and the fear of saying the wrongthing lead many parents to say nothingat all. The research on mental health literacyin children and adolescents is clear:talking…