How Not to Screw Up Your Kids

How do you know if your child is confident, or just masking?
In today’s episode, I explain the two core skills that create genuine, lifelong confidence, and once you understand these foundations, helping your child become braver, more resilient, and more willing to try new things becomes so much easier.
I walk you through the wide‑lens approach I use with families, showing you how confidence grows through lived experience AND I share the five practical strategies I recommend for toddlers, primary‑aged children, and teenagers.
If you’ve ever worried about a child who won’t try new things, who crumbles at the first sign of difficulty, or who compares themselves harshly to others, this episode will give you the language and mindset to help them grow real confidence from the inside out.
So take a seat, pour yourself a cuppa, and enjoy the conversation…

Highlights from this episode:
01:06 - Confidence is not fearless
05:28 - Self-effigacy and self-worth
09:47 - Confidence is trying anyway
13:41 - How to deal with pre-schoolers
17:13 - Age and stage appropriate levels
21:48 - Watch the labels
27:42 - Separate worth from performance
32:42 - Hold first, help second

💚 Please share with at least one friend, and let’s build our village together

💚 For all previous episodes, and to submit episode topics you want me to talk about, visit https://drmaryhan.com/podcast/

💚 For the free resource library, visit https://drmaryhan.com/library

💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025

💚 Brands and advertisers, email contact@drmaryhan.com

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you’ve ever asked your children “How was school?” and received “Fine”, “I don’t know”, or total silence, you’re not alone. Our children walk through the door with a full emotional bucket, tired from holding themselves together all day, so the usual questions just don’t work.
In today’s bucket emptying episode, I give you five simple questions you can start using today that help your kids open and help you connect deeper and communicate better.
If you want to strengthen your relationship with your child, reduce after‑school battles, and finally hear what their day was really like, this episode gives you the exact language and structure to do it.
These five questions are so much more than ice-breakers.
So take a seat, pour yourself a cuppa, and enjoy the conversation…

Highlights from this episode:
00:55 - Stop asking impossible questions
04:09 - Talking is not the same as being ready to connect
08:09 - Consistency is safe
10:26 - Plant the seeds
12:40 - The 5 questions

💚 Please share with at least one friend, and let’s build our village together

💚 For all previous episodes, and to submit episode topics you want me to talk about, visit https://drmaryhan.com/podcast/

💚 For the free resource library, visit https://drmaryhan.com/library

💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025

💚 Brands and advertisers, email contact@drmaryhan.com

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What’s the real key to raising a child who genuinely loves learning - not because of school pressure, grades, or how much homework they do, but because curiosity and resilience have been built from the inside out?

As a psychologist and parent, I’ve seen again and again that children do the best academically and emotionally when we stop focusing on homework battles, reading resistance, or low motivation, and instead think about the deeper skills that make learning fun and self‑driven.

In today’s episode, I walk you through the two main skills every child needs - curiosity and resilience - and give you five practical ways you can start strengthening them today.

From following your child’s natural spark, to praising the process instead of the outcome, to letting them see you get things wrong, protecting unstructured time, and resisting the urge to rescue them too quickly… these are the tools that build lifelong learners who don’t need pushing, bribing or nagging.

This episode will help your child become more confident, capable, motivated and engaged, at school and beyond.

So take a seat, pour yourself a cuppa, and enjoy the conversation…

Highlights from this episode:
00:47 - Playing the long game
05:39 - 2 skill gaps you need to know
08:41 - Failing is how you learn
13:19 - Identity and outcome
15:55 - Get things wrong
18:30 - Teach your kids to be curious

💚 Please share with at least one friend, and let’s build our village together

💚 For all previous episodes, and to submit episode topics you want me to talk about, visit https://drmaryhan.com/podcast/

💚 For the free resource library, visit https://drmaryhan.com/library

💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025

💚 Brands and advertisers, email contact@drmaryhan.com

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The first day at a new school can be a scary experience for many children, as well as us parents! But what do you do if your kid is super nervous?

We often feel like the bad guy making them go in when they clearly don’t want to, even when we know it’s the best thing for them, so in this week’s bucket emptying episode, I give you my ten top tips for managing those first day jitters.

So pour yourself a cuppa, find a comfy seat, and enjoy the conversation…

Highlights from this episode:
01:21 - It’s normal to feel nervous
05:33 - Active listening
09:28 - Pulling back bedtime
13:28 - Role play problem solving
14:55 - Prep ourselves
18:03 - Protect their energy
21:35 - A happy child is more likely to learn
24:51 - Pulling everything together

💚 Please share with at least one friend, and let’s build our village together

💚 For all previous episodes, and to submit episode topics you want me to talk about, visit https://drmaryhan.com/podcast/

💚 For the free resource library, visit https://drmaryhan.com/library

💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whether your child is starting reception, moving into secondary school, returning to a familiar classroom, or stepping into a brand‑new environment like college or university, there is one important conversation you should be having, but most parents miss it.

In today’s episode, I walk you through exactly how I approach this conversation in my own family and with the families I support: how to choose the right moment, how to open the discussion without triggering anxiety, how to validate their feelings, how to widen the emotional picture, and how to end with the kind of certainty that genuinely steadies a child’s nervous system.

I’m going to give you the practical steps to help your children feel safe, prepared and connected, without the overwhelm.

So take a seat, pour yourself a cuppa, and enjoy the conversation…

Highlights from this episode:
00:49 - Ch-ch-ch-changes
04:00 - How to know when your child is ready
08:06 - Worst case scenarios
10:49 - What to ask… and what not to ask
13:29 - Validate whatever they say
17:03 - This is what certainty sounds like

💚 Please share with at least one friend, and let’s build our village together

💚 For all previous episodes, and to submit episode topics you want me to talk about, visit https://drmaryhan.com/podcast/

💚 For the free resource library, visit https://drmaryhan.com/library

💚 Join our campaign One Million Moments to reduce the number of children struggling with mental health challenges from 17% to 10% by 2025

💚 Brands and advertisers, email contact@drmaryhan.com

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.