1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:06,320 Speaker 1: It's their Happy Family's podcast. It's the podcast for. 2 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 2: The time poor parent. 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: They just once answers mew. 4 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 3: Parents are increasingly telling me that their children are disregulated. 5 00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:21,440 Speaker 1: So today a conversation about what it means to be. 6 00:00:21,560 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 3: Regulated or disregulated emotionally. Hello, I'm doctor Justin Cole, someone 7 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:28,640 Speaker 3: who with my wife and mum to our six sometimes 8 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 3: regulated and sometimes not so regulated, slightly disregulated children, missus 9 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:36,360 Speaker 3: Happy families Kylie lots to talk about with emotions today. 10 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 2: Well, why do we start with emotions? What are they? 11 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:43,720 Speaker 3: Emotions are data, emotions are information, and sometimes we use 12 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 3: that data really well. Other times though, either the data 13 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:49,479 Speaker 3: is faulty or our response to the data is faulty, 14 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 3: and we take it to some kind of eternal truth 15 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 3: and we live and die by those emotions. And sometimes 16 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 3: that's functional, other times it's not. Sometimes it's quite maladaptive. 17 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 3: But ultimately we see emotions as the way things really are, 18 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 3: which is problematic because when we become more and more emotional, 19 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 3: we see things more and more myopically, and that leads to, well, 20 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 3: it leads to looking at the world through some very 21 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 3: emotional glasses that don't always reflect the reality that's in 22 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 3: front of us. The etymology of the word emotion. I 23 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 3: love this, the etymology that is where the word comes 24 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:27,720 Speaker 3: from from French emos mvoir, which means to excite, but 25 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:31,560 Speaker 3: like traditionally it was Latin which meant and I don't 26 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:37,320 Speaker 3: speak Latin, but muver e e m o v e r, 27 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:42,399 Speaker 3: which basically means to move. So emotions literally are to move. 28 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 3: So there's this psychological movement. And I really love that 29 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:50,000 Speaker 3: Latin root of the word emotion, because when we feel emotional, 30 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 3: we feel moved, if you know what I mean. I 31 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 3: guess the one other thing that I would say in 32 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 3: answering your question what is it to be emotional? Some 33 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 3: researchers look at emotion on two dimensions. They look at 34 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 3: the pleasantness dimension and also the energetic dimension. So you 35 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 3: can have high high pleasant emotions and low pleasant emotions 36 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,239 Speaker 3: or unpleasant emotions, and you can have high energy and 37 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 3: low energy emotions. And you can put that into a 38 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,079 Speaker 3: little two by two with energy and emotion as the 39 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:18,079 Speaker 3: X and Y axis, and all of a sudden you've 40 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 3: got this really cool way of grouping emotions. So if 41 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:22,079 Speaker 3: I was to say to you, what's a highly pleasant, 42 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:26,120 Speaker 3: highly energetic emotion, you would say excitement, absolutely. And if 43 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 3: I was to say, what's a highly unpleasant, highly energetic emotion, anger, great, okay, livid, 44 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 3: being hostile, just blowing up, explosiveness. Conversely, we could look 45 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:44,800 Speaker 3: at low energy, low pleasantness sadness, yeah okay, And we 46 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:50,919 Speaker 3: can also have low energy but high pleasantness peace. Oh nice. Yeah, 47 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:52,360 Speaker 3: I like that one. I was thinking of a bliss, 48 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:55,600 Speaker 3: but either I'll take either of them. They're the kind 49 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:58,239 Speaker 3: of once you get into your thirties, forties, fifties, they're 50 00:02:58,240 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 3: the ones. 51 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: That you really like energy highly pleasant kids. 52 00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 3: On the other hand, they really like the high energy 53 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:06,919 Speaker 3: I want to see all the time. 54 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: It doesn't matter if it's highly unpleasant or highly pleasant. 55 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 3: Just as long as it's high energy, they're happy. So 56 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 3: that's that's kind of what emotions are. I guess would 57 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 3: be my definition of them. I guess one other thing 58 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 3: to highlight is that every emotion serves a purpose, so 59 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 3: we don't have good emotions and bad emotions. A lot 60 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:25,400 Speaker 3: of people will say, oh, that's just a bad emotion. 61 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 3: I just I'm really uncomfortable with that language. 62 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:29,280 Speaker 2: It's not okay to be angry. 63 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:32,880 Speaker 3: Yeah, But context is everything because sometimes an emotion is 64 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 3: out of place, it doesn't belong where it is, so 65 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,600 Speaker 3: it might be really maladaptive. Will give you a really 66 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 3: simple example, the kids being hyper excited right before bet. 67 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 3: It's just not the right time to have that emotion. 68 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:49,640 Speaker 3: It's still a healthy emotion, but it's not adaptive, it's 69 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 3: not functional. There's a time and a place. And one 70 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 3: of the challenges that we have with emotional expression and 71 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 3: emotional regulation, and this regulation is helping kids to be social. 72 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 3: I mean, ultimate emotions are about being socialized. Sometimes people 73 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 3: are like, you shouldn't have to suppress your emotions. But 74 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:07,800 Speaker 3: when we had a trip to the Gold Coast a 75 00:04:07,800 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 3: few months ago, Kylie, I don't know if you were 76 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 3: with me, as I was walking through will Worth picking 77 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 3: up some groceries. 78 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: I think you were with the kids. 79 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:17,160 Speaker 3: But there was a lady in Ale six who was 80 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,400 Speaker 3: being her authentic self. She was not suppressing her emotions 81 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 3: at all. She was letting the entire supermarket know exactly 82 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:24,159 Speaker 3: how she felt. 83 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: And it was not appropriate. 84 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 3: Like it was everyone got out of Aisle six. 85 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 1: No one wanted to be near her. 86 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 3: It was dysfunctional, it was disregulated, it was maladaptive, and 87 00:04:35,279 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 3: it obviously came at a cost. 88 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 2: So you're using these words dysregulation and regulated emotion. What 89 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,160 Speaker 2: is it exactly? What does it mean to be regulated? 90 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 3: Okay, yeah, I'm glad you want to know about regulation first, 91 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 3: because that's the goal. That's what we're really working towards 92 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 3: with our children. Emotional regulation is the ability to control 93 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:57,360 Speaker 3: your emotional state in service of your goals. I want 94 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:00,040 Speaker 3: to say that again because it matters a lot, not 95 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 3: just about controlling your emotions, because sometimes you want to 96 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:06,600 Speaker 3: control them and suppress them, and other times you need 97 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 3: to express them. But what we really want to consider 98 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,800 Speaker 3: is what am I working towards here in terms of 99 00:05:12,839 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 3: the quality of the relationship that I have with the 100 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 3: person I'm engaging with or with myself? What am I 101 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:20,719 Speaker 3: working towards in terms of work or getting the house 102 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 3: organized or getting kids. 103 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: Into the car? 104 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:26,359 Speaker 3: How is my emotional expression going to serve me and 105 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 3: getting to my goals? Do I need to suppress or 106 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,160 Speaker 3: do I need to express and in what way? So, 107 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,839 Speaker 3: emotion regulation is controlling your emotions in such a way 108 00:05:34,880 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 3: that you can use them healthily and adaptively in service 109 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:39,120 Speaker 3: of your goals. 110 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:44,599 Speaker 2: I'm curious about the concept of controlling your emotional state 111 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 2: in service of your goals. You've said that, right, So 112 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 2: I had a situation where somebody decided they needed to 113 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:53,080 Speaker 2: speak their truth. 114 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:57,719 Speaker 3: Oh sorry, tangent, speak their truth. What that means is 115 00:05:57,760 --> 00:05:59,480 Speaker 3: I'm going to say something that you're not going to like. 116 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 3: It's got nothing to do with truth. It means I'm 117 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 3: feeling emotional about something, and my choice is to not 118 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:07,840 Speaker 3: suppress that in service of my goal to have a healthy, 119 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 3: happy relationship, but rather to express my opinion my emotion 120 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 3: because I think I'll feel better once I've got it out. 121 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 2: And that's exactly what it was. 122 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 3: And it's a real lack of emotional intelligence because nobody 123 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 3: I cannot think of a single time anyone has expressed 124 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 3: their truth to me, expressed my truth, like Capital T 125 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 3: truth or Little Tea truth anyway, I've never gone, Oh 126 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 3: I really needed that truth, Thank you so much. Like 127 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:34,160 Speaker 3: I feel so much better as a person about myself 128 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:36,720 Speaker 3: right now, come on, like, just we've got to stop 129 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 3: saying stuff like that, seriously, anyway, go on. 130 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 2: But that's my point. She wanted to speak her truth, 131 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 2: and the service of her goal is honesty. 132 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: Ah, okay, okay. 133 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 2: Right, So her goal is I'm an honest person, and 134 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 2: in order for me to be able to move forward, 135 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 2: I actually need to be honest with you about this situation. 136 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:58,000 Speaker 2: But the reality is, whether I knew the truth or not, 137 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:00,719 Speaker 2: in that situation, it had nothing to do with me 138 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:02,480 Speaker 2: and everything to do with her. 139 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:03,360 Speaker 1: Yeah. 140 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:09,440 Speaker 2: So how does that play out when we're as adults, 141 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:10,920 Speaker 2: we're trying to be emotionally regulated. 142 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 3: Yeah, so maybe another definition that's often used when it 143 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 3: comes to the idea of emotional regulation is simply the 144 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,440 Speaker 3: ability to control your emotional state. Now I add the 145 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 3: in service of your goal's element, because I trust that 146 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 3: most people are working towards having civil and social and positive, energizing, 147 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:32,520 Speaker 3: life giving interactions with the people around them, and that 148 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 3: they want to do well. 149 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 2: Gus, it is generous, generous of you. 150 00:07:36,520 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 3: I'm a capacious kind of guy. But some people are 151 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 3: the opposite. Some people are capricious and their goals even 152 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 3: there though, a person who is not thinking about the 153 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,640 Speaker 3: long term, they may feel that if they just share 154 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:51,960 Speaker 3: their quote unquote truth, if I just share my truth, 155 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 3: it's going to make everything better. The goal is still 156 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:56,640 Speaker 3: to make things better, it's just that the goal is 157 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 3: misguided it's misaligned and therefore it's not going to it's 158 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 3: not going to be successful. 159 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:07,840 Speaker 2: If that's what emotional regulation is, what is dysregulation and 160 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 2: what does it look like? Yeah? 161 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:11,000 Speaker 1: So disregulation is when your emotion. 162 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 3: Is fair idea, when you're not controlling your emotional state. 163 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 3: I mean, that's kind of it, but I want to 164 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 3: go a bit deeper on it because the more I've 165 00:08:18,280 --> 00:08:20,360 Speaker 3: thought about this idea of dysregulation, and I don't know 166 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 3: if you'll find this in a textbook so much, but 167 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:24,800 Speaker 3: the way I look at it is it's when your 168 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 3: emotions are stronger than your ability to act with autonomy. Yes, 169 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 3: And the keyword there for me is. 170 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 1: And that's why I've added it. 171 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 3: You don't find that in the textbooks, but the ability 172 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 3: to act with autonomy around your emotions. When you are disregulated, 173 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:39,560 Speaker 3: you've stopped choosing. 174 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I love that. And one of our daughters 175 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 2: would actually say to me when she would get to 176 00:08:48,679 --> 00:08:52,080 Speaker 2: a point where her emotions were so big, and we 177 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 2: kind of looked at it like Jack Wull and heigh. 178 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,080 Speaker 2: She was so calm and controlled most of the time, 179 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 2: and then she would just have this massive explosion. And 180 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:02,319 Speaker 2: after she'd had the explosion. Then she had all of 181 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:04,560 Speaker 2: the guild associated with it because it was so not 182 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 2: who she was, and she would say to me, I 183 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,160 Speaker 2: just don't have any control in that moment. It would 184 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:14,920 Speaker 2: overpower her. So I love how you've articulated that because 185 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 2: I've seen it and I've obviously lived it in my 186 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 2: own life. 187 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:20,079 Speaker 1: You know what I mean. 188 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:22,160 Speaker 3: Sometimes I'm just such indity. Right, I'm a parenting expert. 189 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 3: I've got a PhD in psychology. I'm supposed to know 190 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 3: all this and get it right. But last week on Friday, 191 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:28,160 Speaker 3: we were talking about how we had this trip. It 192 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:31,480 Speaker 3: was overseas and on the way home we ended up 193 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 3: getting stuck. We had three transfers to do anyway right, 194 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:38,439 Speaker 3: but then the airline diverted from Brisbane because of fog 195 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 3: and we had to go into Sydney and then into 196 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 3: Canberra before we could finally get back to Brisbane. It 197 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 3: meant that we spent approximately forty two hours in transit 198 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 3: and I only got about three hours sleep. So I 199 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 3: don't sleep on planes now. My ability to choose my emotions. 200 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:54,839 Speaker 3: By the time we got to Thursday night or Friday 201 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:58,320 Speaker 3: night or whatever it was, I was an absolute mess. 202 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:00,679 Speaker 3: I was a disaster, and I actually got explosive. And 203 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 3: that's what a disregulated brain does. It moves into fight 204 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 3: or flight. It becomes completely dysfunctional. Response is completely disproportionate 205 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 3: to the context or to. 206 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:09,760 Speaker 1: The goals that we have. 207 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:12,560 Speaker 3: I wanted to have good relationships with my family, but 208 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 3: something happened and I just blew up. And what I 209 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 3: blew up, Well, I was so emotionally disregulated because I 210 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:18,960 Speaker 3: was so physically disregulated. 211 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 1: It was just the worst. 212 00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:31,080 Speaker 3: So disregulated brains tend to be explosive or withdrawn right 213 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:33,359 Speaker 3: go into the bedroom and hide and not talking to anybody, 214 00:10:33,679 --> 00:10:37,000 Speaker 3: which probably brings us to parenting and us and our 215 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 3: kids and big emotions. 216 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:41,080 Speaker 2: You started the podcast saying that more and more parents 217 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 2: are saying that their kids are struggling with emotional dysregulation. 218 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:47,319 Speaker 1: Yeah. 219 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:49,320 Speaker 3: Yeah, And a lot of parents that I talked to 220 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:51,560 Speaker 3: about this are blaming it on resilience. They're saying, Oh, 221 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:53,640 Speaker 3: if my kids were more resilient, then they wouldn't be 222 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:56,040 Speaker 3: so emotional, and you're. 223 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:58,440 Speaker 2: Obviously suggesting that that's not the case. 224 00:10:58,640 --> 00:10:59,559 Speaker 1: Well, sometimes they're right. 225 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:02,200 Speaker 3: Sometimes it is a resilience issue, and in some way, 226 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:04,560 Speaker 3: it's just the ability to exert that control comes down 227 00:11:04,600 --> 00:11:09,040 Speaker 3: to how we're able to control our environment and be resilient. 228 00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:12,599 Speaker 3: But I think often this is a misdiagnosis. 229 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 2: I'm thinking about when our kids have been the most disregulated, 230 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:21,360 Speaker 2: and more times than not, it's when they're young. 231 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, Absolutely, emotion regulation develops across time. It starts 232 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:28,400 Speaker 3: at around about the age three, like two year olds. 233 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:30,000 Speaker 3: Anyone who's ever had a two year old knows they 234 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 3: struggle so much to regulate their emotions. Once they get 235 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,960 Speaker 3: going or once something doesn't work out their way, just kaboom. 236 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 3: They don't have the capacity to regulate. 237 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:43,640 Speaker 2: So they actually need us to be the calm influence 238 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:45,440 Speaker 2: so that they can kind of borrow that calm. 239 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:50,120 Speaker 3: Yeah, they catch out predictability safety exactly, they catch our calm. 240 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:51,920 Speaker 1: What age do you reckon? 241 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 3: That developmental process starts to get to a point where 242 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,240 Speaker 3: kids can, in most situations regulate their emotions. 243 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 2: I was going to say, does it ever happened? 244 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 3: Okay, so I mean, obviously I'm nearly fifty years old, 245 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:04,719 Speaker 3: and it happened to me last week because I was 246 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 3: tired and jet lagged or whatever else. 247 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:09,840 Speaker 2: But look, I would say anywhere between, depending on the child, 248 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:13,120 Speaker 2: But between eight and ten, okay, is where you'd start 249 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:15,679 Speaker 2: to see some good control. 250 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:17,760 Speaker 3: When I'm talking to school teachers and I asked this question, 251 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 3: they all kind of go, yeah, the first couple of 252 00:12:19,840 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 3: years of school are really hard, but by around grade 253 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 3: two or grade three they get it together. And most 254 00:12:24,559 --> 00:12:27,800 Speaker 3: research points to somewhere around the age of nine. But 255 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:30,600 Speaker 3: there's a whole lot of other stuff going on, Right, 256 00:12:30,640 --> 00:12:33,800 Speaker 3: They're supposed to get better at regulation as they get older, 257 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 3: but they'll still have plenty of struggles, just like adults. 258 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:38,560 Speaker 3: And you can probably think of a few reasons why. 259 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 2: We've go tired, hungry, stress, still, lonely, bored. 260 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,160 Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, And then there's medical conditions or just 261 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,720 Speaker 3: being jet lagged, or maybe they've got ADHD or there's 262 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,520 Speaker 3: some other kind of neurodiversity going on. And what happens 263 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:54,840 Speaker 3: is kids, when they get dysregulated, they ENTI file flight mode. 264 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:57,640 Speaker 3: They struggle to cope, they do not listen to reason. 265 00:12:57,760 --> 00:13:00,800 Speaker 3: Because I've said this for years, high emotions intelligence, Right, 266 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:02,160 Speaker 3: we're in a different part of the brain. 267 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:05,840 Speaker 1: Now. When children experience acute stress. 268 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:08,760 Speaker 3: They usually are just really really highly reactive, just like 269 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:13,000 Speaker 3: your I as an adult. No pause, not considering anything logical, 270 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,600 Speaker 3: not considering long term goals. Why disregulated, So you end 271 00:13:16,679 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 3: up with biting and the kicking and the swearing and 272 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:20,280 Speaker 3: the spitting and the crying and the clenching fists and 273 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 3: the slamming of the doors. That's classic fight mode. 274 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 2: So, you know, I've never actually thought about it. But 275 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,080 Speaker 2: toddlers obviously are a perfect case study of this. But 276 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,600 Speaker 2: I've never thought of it as fight mode. But when 277 00:13:33,640 --> 00:13:36,240 Speaker 2: they get really worked up, they do. 278 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 3: They just want to fight, right, That's exactly what it is. 279 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:41,320 Speaker 1: What's really going on is the front lobe shuts down. 280 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 3: That's the part of the brain that does the thinking, 281 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 3: the planning course with the toddle that don't even really 282 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:45,720 Speaker 3: have a frontal. 283 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 1: Lobe, it's barely there. 284 00:13:47,679 --> 00:13:51,360 Speaker 3: The amygdala that triggers survival mode, and so canborm. 285 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: It all happens. 286 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:54,679 Speaker 3: The brain's alarm system sends out a false alarm, triggers 287 00:13:54,679 --> 00:13:57,880 Speaker 3: survival instinct, and then it's fight or flight, and kids 288 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:00,959 Speaker 3: just don't access the higher cognitive function like reasoning and 289 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:04,960 Speaker 3: decision making. It just doesn't happen. So as parents, we've 290 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 3: got some really big challenges when it comes to children, 291 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 3: and they're disregulated emotions, but so much of it is 292 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:15,360 Speaker 3: developmentally appropriate, and our job is to help them through 293 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 3: those years from three to nine to slowly, very slowly 294 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 3: develop the emotional regulation they need. 295 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 2: But big emotions, they're normal and healthy. It's really important 296 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 2: for us to be able to express our emotions. 297 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 3: We are first and foremost emotional beings. Now that's not 298 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:38,120 Speaker 3: necessarily in our best interest, but first and foremost we're 299 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 3: emotional beings, and then we are rational beings. 300 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:41,320 Speaker 1: Second. 301 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 3: I love it's quote from Brenne Brown. She says, when 302 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 3: something difficult happens, emotion is at the wheel. Cognition and 303 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:52,320 Speaker 3: behavior are bound and gagged in the trunk, and emotion 304 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:56,240 Speaker 3: is driving. And that's kind of what's going on. I mean, 305 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:58,680 Speaker 3: it's such a really I love the metaphor. When we 306 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:00,840 Speaker 3: spoke with Lisa de Moore on the Happy Families podcast 307 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:03,560 Speaker 3: a little while ago, in the episode that we shared 308 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:04,880 Speaker 3: with her, she said two. 309 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:06,120 Speaker 1: Brilliant things about emotions. 310 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 3: Number One, sometimes our kids and sometimes us as well, 311 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:13,520 Speaker 3: become regulated by expressing emotions in a disregulated way. So 312 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 3: we've got to work through the disregulation. And I remember 313 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:18,840 Speaker 3: when we had young kids, Kylie, every now and again 314 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:20,840 Speaker 3: you would just say, this baby will not go to sleep, 315 00:15:20,880 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 3: and it pained both of us, but you would sometimes 316 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:24,720 Speaker 3: just put the baby in the cot for five or 317 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:27,600 Speaker 3: ten minutes and they would scream their lungs out, and 318 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:29,600 Speaker 3: we'd sit there going, oh, my goodness, what are we doing. 319 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,080 Speaker 3: But once they'd had a big scream, we'd pick them up. 320 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:34,320 Speaker 3: They felt safe and secure, they'd have a feed, and 321 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 3: they would go to sleep perfectly. Now we're not recommending 322 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 3: that you do that every night or anything like that, 323 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 3: but from time to time you would say, sometimes they 324 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 3: just need to scream. And that's that wholely said to 325 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:45,960 Speaker 3: more thing. Sometimes when you disregulated, you just have to 326 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 3: be disregulated to work through the disregulation. 327 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:50,040 Speaker 1: And pull it back together. 328 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 3: And the second thing she said is that, and this 329 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 3: is picking up on the whole Brene Brown idea. Emotions 330 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:58,280 Speaker 3: should have a seed at the table of your cognitive 331 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:01,800 Speaker 3: board of directors. But they don't chair the board. That's 332 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:04,040 Speaker 3: our job to make sure that they're not chairing the board. 333 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:06,920 Speaker 2: Recently, you were having some Spanish lessons. 334 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,080 Speaker 3: Ah see, see. 335 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:12,440 Speaker 2: You came across you wanted to say. 336 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 3: I'm hungry, yes, yes, And. 337 00:16:14,640 --> 00:16:19,440 Speaker 2: When you looked at the translation, it wasn't I am hungry, 338 00:16:19,560 --> 00:16:21,200 Speaker 2: it was I have hunger. 339 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 1: Yeah. 340 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, And the difference between associating the emotion with who 341 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:32,320 Speaker 2: you are and the acknowledgment that what you have is 342 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:37,240 Speaker 2: an emotion is a really important differentiation. Yes. 343 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 3: So instead of saying I am hungry in Spanish, they 344 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:45,400 Speaker 3: would say tengo hungry, and tengo means I have So 345 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 3: if I was to say no, tengo pisos, I'd be 346 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 3: saying I don't have any pesos. So I would say, 347 00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:53,440 Speaker 3: tengo hungry. I'm hungry, but it's not actually I'm hungry, 348 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:57,320 Speaker 3: it's I have hunger. In other words, I don't I 349 00:16:57,360 --> 00:17:00,400 Speaker 3: am not this emotion. I'm not angry or I'm not sad. 350 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 3: I have sadness. And I love that because it means 351 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:06,760 Speaker 3: that it comes and it goes. It's not always with us. 352 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,600 Speaker 3: And that idea of tengo hungri, I just I think 353 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,639 Speaker 3: it's beautiful. Anyway, we need to wrap up, so let's 354 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:14,600 Speaker 3: share just a couple of quick ideas about what we 355 00:17:14,600 --> 00:17:16,680 Speaker 3: can do if we want the kids to regulate well. 356 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:20,679 Speaker 3: First thing, recognize the developmental realities. If they're age between 357 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:22,439 Speaker 3: three and nine, the younger they are, the harder it 358 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:25,520 Speaker 3: is for them to do the emotional work of regulating 359 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:27,840 Speaker 3: their emotions. They're going to spend more time disregulated when 360 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 3: things aren't working out. Number two, be regulated yourself. 361 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:35,240 Speaker 1: You're laughing. 362 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 3: I don't know if you're laughing at me or laughing 363 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:38,879 Speaker 3: at you, but you're thinking about last week when I 364 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:39,159 Speaker 3: lost it. 365 00:17:39,240 --> 00:17:42,720 Speaker 2: Oh, I'm laughing about it all because the reality is 366 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 2: probably the hardest thing we do as parents when our 367 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:51,080 Speaker 2: children's emotions are massive is actually being self regulated. 368 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:53,119 Speaker 3: Right, Because emotions are contagious. 369 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:55,120 Speaker 2: So you make it sound like it's just a really 370 00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:55,960 Speaker 2: easy checkpoint. 371 00:17:56,000 --> 00:18:00,200 Speaker 1: We just need to be Just regulate yourself. You'll be fine. 372 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 3: Okay, their kids, they're going to lose it. Your job 373 00:18:02,600 --> 00:18:04,199 Speaker 3: is to go you're a kid, you're losing it. I 374 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:04,560 Speaker 3: get it. 375 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:06,960 Speaker 1: It's not a problem. That's the job, right. 376 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:10,160 Speaker 3: Number three, The more that you can create a predictable 377 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:12,720 Speaker 3: and safe environment, the better it is for your kids. 378 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 3: If the environment is unpredictable and unsafe, your why your 379 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:17,920 Speaker 3: kids for stress, which means that they're highly reactive. They 380 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:20,280 Speaker 3: spend more time just regulated. Now, that doesn't mean that 381 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:22,400 Speaker 3: we need to make the environment completely safe all the time. 382 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:25,959 Speaker 3: Research shows that kids do need to have some unpredictability, 383 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 3: and they especially need to do stuff that's risky. It 384 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 3: helps them to manage their emotions really well when they're 385 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:33,199 Speaker 3: involved in risky play, really healthy for them. 386 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 2: But I think that it's different. It's about being emotionally safe. 387 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, well, yeah, yeah, it is. 388 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 2: So One thing that I've really really noticed since we've 389 00:18:44,080 --> 00:18:48,479 Speaker 2: brought Emily home from school and she's now homeschooling, is 390 00:18:49,200 --> 00:18:53,960 Speaker 2: that she's so much karma. She is so much calmer 391 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:59,200 Speaker 2: and the reality is I'm not doing things perfectly by any. 392 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:02,000 Speaker 3: Stress and feels so much more safe and predictable for her. 393 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 2: She feels so much more connected to me, but calmer 394 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:11,159 Speaker 2: because there's predictability in the emotions within our space. 395 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:11,600 Speaker 1: Yeah. 396 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,600 Speaker 3: We expect so little of our kids physically in twenty 397 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:18,199 Speaker 3: twenty four and so much of our kids emotionally, and 398 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:20,200 Speaker 3: we've got it the wrong way around. We should expect 399 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:22,399 Speaker 3: a little less of them emotionally because they're kids and 400 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 3: they're still regular learning how to regulate, and we should 401 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 3: be letting them go and do so much more physically, 402 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 3: like get outside and take risks and have fun and 403 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 3: climb trees and ride skateboards and go to the park 404 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,320 Speaker 3: on your own because you eight like, go and do that. 405 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:34,479 Speaker 1: Now. 406 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:36,359 Speaker 3: I know context is everything, So please don't have a 407 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:37,720 Speaker 3: heart attack if you live in a place where you 408 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:38,960 Speaker 3: couldn't let you right year old do that. 409 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:41,240 Speaker 1: But we can let it anyway. I digress. 410 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:43,560 Speaker 3: Last thing, hold the line. We need to be We 411 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:45,280 Speaker 3: need to really be compassionate, but we've got to hold 412 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:47,879 Speaker 3: the line, have boundaries, but be really kind to our kids. 413 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:50,880 Speaker 3: And if we can do those things, then they're going 414 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:53,440 Speaker 3: to get better and better at emotional regulation. Over time, 415 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 3: they'll be less disregulated. And most parents are going to 416 00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:57,480 Speaker 3: be saying to me, my kids are so disregulated, what 417 00:19:57,480 --> 00:19:59,960 Speaker 3: do I do? I think you've left something off the list, 418 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:01,800 Speaker 3: pot if I've forgotten. 419 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:03,880 Speaker 2: Well it's not. It is actually on the list. 420 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:04,359 Speaker 1: Okay. 421 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:08,720 Speaker 2: But you talk about us needing to be regulated ourselves, 422 00:20:09,119 --> 00:20:12,200 Speaker 2: it has so much to do with how we model 423 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:17,080 Speaker 2: what it looks like to be emotionally regulated to allow 424 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:21,640 Speaker 2: them to see us with our big emotions working through it. 425 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:25,520 Speaker 2: They don't need us to be happy and cheerful all 426 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:29,040 Speaker 2: the time. That doesn't help them at all. They actually 427 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:32,840 Speaker 2: need to see us working through some really big emotions. 428 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 3: Because in a regulated way where we're taking autonomy and 429 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:38,119 Speaker 3: control and looking after ourselves. 430 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:40,399 Speaker 2: Yeah, they need to see that because they need to 431 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:43,119 Speaker 2: know number one, it's okay to have those emotions, and 432 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:46,080 Speaker 2: number two, there is a better way to get through 433 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:47,359 Speaker 2: it than kicking and screaming. 434 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:49,480 Speaker 3: I hope this has been a helpful conversation. The Happy 435 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 3: Families Podcast is produced by Justin Rulan from Bridge Media. 436 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 3: If you'd like more information about making your family happy, 437 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:56,240 Speaker 3: we'd love for you to reach out to us happy 438 00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:58,320 Speaker 3: families dot com dot You just go to the website, 439 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:01,400 Speaker 3: click on the podcast Link's a message asking us your 440 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:03,480 Speaker 3: questions that we will do our best to answer on 441 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:07,679 Speaker 3: the pod tomorrow. Doing exactly about answering your questions on 442 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:08,800 Speaker 3: the Happy Families Podcast