I am super excited to bring you part two of my conversation with Dr. Emily Edlynn. Emily is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in pediatric health psychology who works in private practice with children, teens, and adults. She is also the author of her first book titled “Autonomy-Supportive Parenting = Reduce Parental Burnout and Raise Competent, Confident Children.”
In episode 140, Emily and I talked about autonomy-supportive parenting – what it means, why parents should choose to do it, and the research that demonstrates the positive impact it has on our kids. In this second part, we will be focusing on autonomy-supportive parenting for parents of children with neurodivergence and mental health challenges. This is such an important topic and becoming more prevalent among teens and young adults. During our conversation, Emily reinforces the need for empathy and perspective when parenting neurodivergent kids and those with mental health challenges. She also provides valuable advice for parents to help their children develop a strong sense of self, no matter what challenges they may be facing.
About Dr. Emily Edlynn
Dr. Emily Edlynn (she/her) is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in pediatric health psychology who works in private practice with children, teens, and adults. She has a BA in English from Smith College, a PhD in clinical psychology from Loyola University Chicago, and completed postgraduate training at Stanford and Children’s Hospital Orange County. Emily spent almost ten years working in children’s hospitals before pivoting to private practice, which allowed her to start a writing career. Emily has written her blog, The Art and Science of Mom, since 2017 and a parenting advice column for Parents.com since 2019. Emily’s writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, Scary Mommy, Good Housekeeping, Motherly, Psychology Today, and more. She recently added podcaster to her bio as a co-host for the popular Psychologists Off the Clock podcast. Her first book, Autonomy-Supportive Parenting: Reduce Parental Burnout and Raise Competent Confident Children came out last year. She also writes about modern parenting in her Substack newsletter. Emily lives with her husband, three children, and two rescue dogs in Oak Park, IL where she can see Chicago’s skyline from her attic window.
Episode Highlights
- Neurodiversity vs neurodivergence
- Debbie Rieber – Tilt Parenting
- The gifts that come with neurodivergence
- Parenting neurodivergent children can be challenging and feel isolating
- Autonomy-supportive parenting neurodivergent children
- Empathy and perspective-taking tools when parenting
- Scaffolding can help when understanding your child’s skill level
- Research shows that kids with ADHD on average are functioning 30% lower than their chronological age
- There needs to be a calibration of parental expectations as neurodivergent children age
- There are often co-occurring mental health challenges with neurodivergence
- Controlling can undermind mental health instead of protecting it
- Research shows that parent anxiety is linked to child anxiety
- There’s a difference between the emotion of anxiety and having a clinically significant anxiety disorder
- Our kids are playing catchup after the pandemic
- Autonomy-supportive parenting is nurturing children to develop a strong sense of self
- Our brains are plastic and can change
- Emily’s tips for autonomy-supportive parenting teens with depression
- How to be autonomy-supportive in an intensive parenting world (article)
- “If parenting feels easy, then we are not doing it right”
Links and Resources
Substack newsletter – The Art and Science of Mom
Podcast – Psychologists Off the Clock
Autonomy Supportive Parenting, Reduce Parental Burnout and Raise Competent, Confident Children by Dr. Emily Edlynn
Ep 140: Raising Independent, Competent and Confident Teens with Dr. Emily Edlynn