Growing Connected

November 04, 2021

Ep. 15 : Help When It’s Hard to Connect: Support for a Dad Who Can’t Relate His to Tween

In this episode, we’re discussing a question from a mom wondering how to help her husband relate to their tween girl. We talk about dads and daughters and how this question points to an even bigger issue—how parents can respond to kids who feel different from or even difficult to them. Attachment science points us to two mirroring needs—comfort and delight—that we can use to connect to our kids, even when connection feels hard.

Here’s the question—

“My husband has started struggling with his interactions with our almost 13-year-old daughter. He just cannot relate to her emotions, feelings, and experiences anymore. I would love to know how to help him build a better relationship with her, so he does not continue to struggle.”

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Growing Connected Trailer

October 15, 2020

About Growing Connected

On each Growing Connected podcast, husband and wife team Dr. Jeffrey Olrick and Amy Olrick discuss a listener-submitted question, exploring what the intersection of child development science and faith teach us about issues families are facing. Each episode ends with a God Moment — a story about a time a parent or a child felt God's love in their life in a specific and sometimes inexplicable way.

About Dr. Jeffrey & Amy Olrick

Child psychologist Dr. Jeffrey Olrick and author Amy Olrick are co-authors of the book, The 6 Needs of Every Child: Empowering Parents & Kids through the Science of Connection. Together they run GrowingConnected.com, where they share faith-affirming and scientifically grounded information for parents and kids. They live in New Zealand with their three children.

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