Why “Gentle Parenting” Fails Your Kids: What Really Works with Big Reactors by Claire Lerner, LICSW episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 20, 2026 · 1H 23M

Why “Gentle Parenting” Fails Your Kids: What Really Works with Big Reactors by Claire Lerner, LICSW

from Early Childhood Investigations · host Playground

RESOURCES⁠Watch the full webinar here⁠Join our newsletter! Earn your Professional Development hours with FREE sessions delivered right to your inbox every week.⁠Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management SoftwareWith big reactors, “gentle parenting” often doesn’t work. These children tend to reject calming tools. As one six-year-old put it, “I remember the tools before; I remember them after; I just don’t remember them in the middle.” They often find it intrusive and overwhelming when parents validate and talk about their emotions. This can lead to outbursts like, “Stop talking to me! Stop telling me that! I’m not sad!” When their brains and bodies are flooded with big emotions, the more parents, teachers, and caregivers try to convince them to cooperate, the less likely they are to do so.This workshop—based on Claire Lerner, LICSW’s new book, Big Reactors: Practical Strategies for Parenting Highly Sensitive Children—will present key insights and tools to help anyone supporting a young child’s development. You’ll learn how to thread the needle of being connected, sensitive, and responsive while also setting the firm limits big reactors need to develop self-regulation and thrive.If you care for a child(en) who goes from 0 to 100 in a nanosecond when things don’t go their way; who seems laser-focused on being in power and control; who can’t tolerate correction and blames others for everything; and with whom few, if any, conventional cooperation strategies work—this webinar is for you.Drawing from decades of work with these complex and often confusing children, Claire will share detailed case examples and reveal the “detective work” process she uses to help parents, teachers, and caregivers uncover the root causes of challenging behaviors and develop sensitive, effective, real-life strategies that work—not just in theory.Participants will learn to:Identify the key traits of highly sensitive children (big reactors)Understand the root causes behind many of their challenging behaviorsApply effective strategies to help big reactors manage big emotionsRESOURCESWatch the full webinar hereCheck out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software

RESOURCES⁠Watch the full webinar here⁠Join our newsletter! Earn your Professional Development hours with FREE sessions delivered right to your inbox every week.⁠Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management SoftwareWith big reactors, “gentle parenting” often doesn’t work. These children tend to reject calming tools. As one six-year-old put it, “I remember the tools before; I remember them after; I just don’t remember them in the middle.” They often find it intrusive and overwhelming when parents validate and talk about their emotions. This can lead to outbursts like, “Stop talking to me! Stop telling me that! I’m not sad!” When their brains and bodies are flooded with big emotions, the more parents, teachers, and caregivers try to convince them to cooperate, the less likely they are to do so.This workshop—based on Claire Lerner, LICSW’s new book, Big Reactors: Practical Strategies for Parenting Highly Sensitive Children—will present key insights and tools to help anyone supporting a young child’s development. You’ll learn how to thread the needle of being connected, sensitive, and responsive while also setting the firm limits big reactors need to develop self-regulation and thrive.If you care for a child(en) who goes from 0 to 100 in a nanosecond when things don’t go their way; who seems laser-focused on being in power and control; who can’t tolerate correction and blames others for everything; and with whom few, if any, conventional cooperation strategies work—this webinar is for you.Drawing from decades of work with these complex and often confusing children, Claire will share detailed case examples and reveal the “detective work” process she uses to help parents, teachers, and caregivers uncover the root causes of challenging behaviors and develop sensitive, effective, real-life strategies that work—not just in theory.Participants will learn to:Identify the key traits of highly sensitive children (big reactors)Understand the root causes behind many of their challenging behaviorsApply effective strategies to help big reactors manage big emotionsRESOURCESWatch the full webinar hereCheck out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management Software

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Why “Gentle Parenting” Fails Your Kids: What Really Works with Big Reactors by Claire Lerner, LICSW

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FEAR NOTHING and Have Lots of Fun with Carlie Lara Wallace carlielara Welcome to The Fear Nothing and Have Lots of Fun Podcast!! We get vulnerable, we have fun, and there’s always a bit of the gospel! These episodes detail all that God is doing in my life right now, and what I’m learning through these experiences. NEW EPISODES come out every Wednesday at 6:05am for those hump day early risers! 7NEWS Spotlight 7NEWS Podcasts From the award-winning 7NEWS team comes 7NEWS Spotlight - a series of investigative specials focussing on major breaking news events and long-form investigations of national significance. Memories in Moments Allison Carter As moms, we are constantly striving to find the balance between being the Pinterest Mom and the Amazon Prime Mom when it comes to celebrating with our loved ones. Each week, join Allison Carter, a stay at home mom of two and an online party planner, as she and her creative guests give you tangible tips and realistic ideas that’ll help you make memories in moments that’ll be cherished for a lifetime for your family. If you are looking to walk away with new ways to make your kid’s childhood just a bit more magical, love celebrating the little things and are always looking for fresh ideas, or just need some inspiration on how to make memories a priority, then this is the podcast for you. Let’s get celebrating! PDF feed of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship PDF feed of Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship The Interpreter Foundation is a nonprofit educational organization focused on the scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, the Bible, and the Doctrine and Covenants), early LDS history, and related subjects. All publications in its journal, Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship, are peer-reviewed and made available as free internet downloads or through at-cost print-on-demand services. Other posts on the website are not necessarily peer-reviewed, but are approved by Interpreter’s Executive Board.Our goal is to increase understanding of scripture through careful scholarly investigation and analysis of the insights provided by a wide range of ancillary disciplines, including language, history, archaeology, literature, culture, ethnohistory, art, geography, law, politics, philosophy, statistics, etc. Interpreter will also publish articles advocating the authenticity and historicity

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This episode was published on March 20, 2026.

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RESOURCES⁠Watch the full webinar here⁠Join our newsletter! Earn your Professional Development hours with FREE sessions delivered right to your inbox every week.⁠Check out the producer of ECI, Playground, the Child Care Management SoftwareWith big...

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