Harvard Psychologist Shares 6 Words That Will Change Your Family

This episode will change the way you think about every relationship in your life. 

Today, Harvard’s Dr. Stuart Ablon is distilling 30 years of behavior change research into one hour. 

Dr. Ablon is the Founder and Director of Think: Kids at Massachusetts General Hospital, which focuses on Collaborative Problem Solving. An award-winning psychologist, Dr. Ablon is also a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

After listening, you will have a completely new approach to dealing with difficult people, challenging kids, and family members.

In this candid and relatable conversation, Mel and Dr. Ablon bust through the most common parenting myths and offers a simple 3 step approach for transforming even the most frustrating dynamics. 

This episode isn’t just about solving conflicts; it’s about creating a deeper understanding of others and fostering lasting change. 

Whether you're a parent, partner, or simply navigating life’s challenges, this conversation is for you.

If you liked this episode, and want to create a peaceful connection with family, listen to to this episode next: The Simple Tool That Will Transform Your Family Dynamic

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In this episode:

• 4:43: If someone’s behavior is driving you crazy, this simple shift will provide patience. 
• 8:10: The most powerful way to help anyone change their behavior. 
• 16:22: This story will completely change how you think about helping others.
• 22:34: 5 ways to communicate better in your relationships to avoid chaos. 
• 40:50: How to motivate people in your life to take positive action. 
• 49:47: 3 powerful strategies to handle any challenging behavior. 
• 1:01:19: How to positively transform any relationship in your life. 
• 1:04:15: How to practice true empathy with the people that you love. 
• 1:10:02: 3 ways to connect with someone in your life who is struggling. 
• 1:18:16: The truth behind why young adults are struggling now more than ever. 
• 1:24:11: What every parent should know about generational trauma (and how to break it). 
• 1:28:01: Show yourself empathy; you’re doing the best you can. 

Resources:

Dr. Stuart Ablon:

• Check out Dr. Ablon’s website
• Order his book, Changeable
• Dr. Ablon’s Think:Kids profile
• Dr. Ablon’s Mass General Hospital profile
• Check out Think:Kids
• Listen to his TEDx talk

Additional Resources: 

• Think:Kids Massachusetts General Hospital: Collaborative Problem SolvingⓇ (CPS)
• Think:Kids Massachusetts General Hospital: Collaborative Problem Solving for Parents
• Think:Kids Massachusetts General Hospital: How to Talk to Your Children About Social Media
• Forbes: A Guide to Dealing With Difficult People
• Canadian Child Care Federation: Strategies for Dealing with Challenging Behaviours | CCCF
• New York-Presbyterian: How Social Media Use Affects Adolescent Brain Development
• Child Mind Institute: How Using Social Media Affects Teenagers
• The Washington Post: How does trauma spill from one generation to the next?
• Psychology Today: Dealing With Demanding, Dependent Adult Children
• Think:Kids Massachusetts General Hospital: The Benefits of Changing School Discipline‍
• Journal of Public Health: Improving personal, social, and life skills in adolescents: a scoping review of key components in interventions‍
• Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Empathy as a driver of prosocial behaviour: highly conserved neurobehavioural mechanisms across species‍
• Developmental Neuroscience: The Neurodevelopment of Empathy in Humans‍
• Annual Review of Psychology: Neuroscience of Self and Self-Regulation‍
• PLOS One: Effect of socioeconomic status on behavioral problems from preschool to early elementary school - A Japanese longitudinal study‍
• Nature: Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on young people with and without pre-existing mental health problems