As parents and caregivers, it is not our job to solve a child's problems for them. Instead, our job is to provide kids with the support they need and help them develop their own problem-solving tools


I am in a unique position in my dual role as parent and pediatric psychologist.

Like most parents, I want to alleviate our children’s suffering by doing whatever I can. We hate to see our children worry and struggle. With the best of intentions, we think we are being helpful by trying to solve our kids’ problems for them.

As a pediatric psychologist, I know that taking this path often leads to our kids feeling more worried the next time something difficult happens. In fact, by solving our children’s problems for them, we interfere with our children’s ability to develop the effective coping mechanisms needed to deal with these challenges.