Welcome to Open Door for Parents
Kids are hurting. Parents are worn out. Psychologists are hard to find.
Open Door for Parents gives you the tools you need to help your child cope with feelings and build meaningful friendships, and to help you feel supported in your journey as a parent and gain more peace in your family.
- Useful tips for parents about children's feelings & friendships PLUS weekly 5-min. podcast: Kids Ask Dr. Friendtastic.
As a PAID subscriber ($6/month), you'll get:
- Additional paid subscriber posts
- Access to the full archive of posts
- Invitations to paid-subscriber ONLY Q&A webinar events (+ recording)
Podcast for Kids:
On my mini-podcast, Kids Ask Dr. Friendtastic, I answer questions from children about friendship. Each 5-minute episode features an audio recording of a question from a kid and an answer from me. Subscribers to Open Door For Parents will receive episodes first, sent right to their email.
Listen to past episodes at https://DrFriendtastic.com/podcast.
Does your child have a question about friendship they want me to answer? Please use your smartphone's memo function or an audio app to record your child's question. Please hold the phone close to your child's mouth to make sure the recording is clear. Have your child state:
1) their FIRST NAME,
2) their AGE, and
3) a BRIEF QUESTION or concern about friendship. (Please do not mention any friends' names.)
Email the audio file to DrF [at] EileenKennedyMoore.com. I’ll answer as many kid questions as I can. (Obviously, this is not psychotherapy, and it’s not for emergency situations.)
Featured 2-Minute "When Your Child..." Videos
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Recorded Webinars
Learn at your convenience!
Friendship Skills – FOR KIDS! (Webinar)
By popular request… Here’s a webinar to help children ages 6-12 learn to make friends, keep friends, and be a…
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Friendship in the Digital Age
Recording of Dr. Eileen’s presentation in front of a LIVE audience: The internet and electronic media are changing how kids…
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Kid Confidence: Help Your Child Build Real Self-Esteem
Directly trying to improve children’s self-esteem tends to backfire. The more we tell self-doubting kids, “You’re wonderful!”, the harder they…
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Making Up and Breaking Up With Friends
Most friendships hit occasional rough spots. Misunderstandings, disagreements, and hurt feelings are common but often painful experiences in children’s friendships….
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Parenting During Uncertain Times
Difficult times, whether they’re personal or global, take a toll on families: Kids struggle and parents often feel overwhelmed. In…
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Helping Your Anxious Child
Get expert advice on how to help your child manage fears and anxiety. Dr. Eileen answers questions from parents about…
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Why Open Door for Parents?
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children's Hospital Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry have declared children’s mental health a national emergency.
I see this crisis very directly in my practice. Every day, I get calls from people who want to talk to a psychologist, but there are physical limits to how many people I can see in my practice. It hurts my heart to have to turn people away.
With all of that in mind, I'm offering Open Door for Parents.
What is Open Door for Parents?
Open Door for Parents is an online resource for parents, about children’s feelings, friendships, and mental health.
Open Door for Parents is welcoming. You’ll find practical ideas for helping your child that are realistic and don’t require you to be a perfect parent with nothing else going on in your life.
Open Door for Parents is about connection and community. I’ll share what I know from psychology research, my clinical work, and my personal experience as a mom of four, and I hope you’ll chime in with comments about what’s worked for you.
Open Door for Parents is mostly about possibility because our kids are learning and growing and so are we.
I hope you’ll work with me to build something meaningful and useful together.
What does Open Door for Parents involve?
For signing up, you'll get access to one new 2-minute video a month. Plus, an entire library of 2-minute videos for parents about children’s feelings, friendships, and mental health, and additional videos coming to subscribers by email. (Yes, there will be a transcript if you’re rather read.)
- In addition, you'll get access to Q&As: I'll send written responses to questions about children’s feelings and friendships.
You can share comments on my videos. (Please be kind!) You can also suggest questions or topics you’d like me to address.
About once a month, I’ll host either a webinar or an online conversation hour about a specific topic. (These will be paid events. Recordings will be available if you can’t attend the live event.)
Some Practical Matters
Obviously, Open Door for Parents is NOT psychotherapy. It's for educational purposes only about important topics facing families. The ideas mentioned by me or other community members may or may not be relevant for your particular situation.
I trust you to use your judgement about what makes sense for your child and your family and to consult your physician or a mental health provider, if needed, about very serious or complicated situations.