Today, we’re joined by second-time guest, Dr. Caroline Leaf, to talk about helping kids clean up their mental mess and be more resilient—all based on research from her latest book, How to Help Your Child Clean Up Their Mental Mess. In this episode, Dr. Caroline Leaf shares the best ways for parents to help their kids understand their emotions and build better habits.

Dr. Leaf conducts ongoing research and clinical trials in the field of psychoneurobiology in order to improve mental health interventions, many of which she summarizes in this far reaching, informative conversation.

We explore the impact of social media on kids’ anxiety, what parents can do to minimize the mental mess social media can make, and even how to rewire neural patterns it forms. We also dive into the myths of habit formation and how we can break down old habits to form better, new ones.

Dr. Leaf’s expertise doesn't stop there. She also gives a comprehensive explanation of the five steps of the Neurocycle, a tool set for self-regulation and changing your internal programming.

00:01:32 — The Dangers of Social Media & Minimizing Mental Messes

• Giving coffee to kids

• Danger Coffee: dangercoffee.com

• The mental health crisis kids are facing today

• Social media’s role in anxiety in kids

• What is a mental mess?

• Read: Cleaning Up Your Mental Mess

• Avoiding a mental mess while using social media

• Read: How to Help Your Child Clean Up Their Mental Mess

• How to teach kids to go deep on topics they’re interested in

• The science behind how long it takes to build or change a habit

00:27:31 — Habit Hacking 101