In this episode, Colleen is joined by Amanda Lamb (Pine River Institute) for a deep, thoughtful conversation about anxiety, emotional regulation, and resilience through a developmental lens.

Rather than treating anxiety as something to eliminate or “fix,” this conversation reframes anxiety as a capacity that develops over time, shaped by relationships, expectations, culture, and lived experience. Using clear developmental analogies, the discussion explores how children and adolescents learn to manage anxiety, and why so many young people (and adults) are struggling right now.

The episode also offers practical, compassionate guidance for parents, educators, and professionals supporting anxious youth, with a strong emphasis on attunement, co-regulation, and building distress tolerance instead of avoidance.

Important Messages

Considering anxiety on a developmental framework: Much like motor skills, anxiety regulation develops in stages; these stages are both sequential and flexible, and regression under stress is normal. Many young people haven’t “failed” to regulate anxiety, they may simply not have learned the skill yet.

Early development begins with adults and transitional objects: Infants rely entirely on caregivers to regulate distress, while toddlers begin managing anxiety with external supports like stuffies, blankets, and soothers.

School-age children and adolescence begin to self-regulate: School introduces opportunities to build distress tolerance and social regulation without caregivers or transitional objects. Increased screen time and reduced in-person interaction interfere with this process, and many adolescents lack consistent co-regulating relationships outside their families.

Supporting anxious teens: We need to rethink age-based expectations (age is “just a number;” support should be based on developmental capacity, not chronological age). We need to see a young person accurately, not through grades, age, or expectations.

We can build capacity through responsibility: Chores are a powerful, evidence-based tool for building resilience that introduce manageable, tolerable discomfort; repetition builds confidence and distress tolerance.

This podcast episode features an in-depth conversation with Alhan Rahimi, a translator, interpreter, author, and educator, who shares about her personal and professional journey across languages, cultures, and countries. Alhan shares how her passion for languages led her from translation into interpreting, higher education in England, and eventually into community-building through YouTube, courses, and children’s books.

She discusses the realities of interpreting work—especially the differences between consecutive and conference interpreting—and the isolation that can come with freelance language work. To address gaps in interpreter education (particularly Arabic–English), she began creating real-life interpreting content online and is now developing formal courses to support interpreters at different stages of their careers.

Beyond her professional life, the conversation explores multilingual parenting, cultural identity, and the emotional importance of language as a connection to ancestry, family, and heritage. Alhan reflects on raising children across cultures, preserving Persian language and culture, and navigating identity while living in Canada.

The episode also delves into mindset, risk-taking, and confidence. Alhan reflects on her academically driven upbringing, the impact of her parents’ trust, and a pivotal year where she pushed herself, leading to national academic recognition and a full scholarship. She connects these experiences to her current philosophy: when an idea appears, it’s worth acting on it, trusting that effort is never wasted.

Important Messages

Language is more than communication: Language is a bridge between generations, cultures, and identities. It’s important to maintain because losing a heritage language can mean losing deep family connections.

Gaps create opportunities: A lack of Arabic–English interpreting resources motivated Alhan to create real-world examples and educational content. Sharing imperfect, authentic practice helps learners more than polished theory alone.

Community reduces isolation: Freelance interpreters often work alone, and so Alhan has worked to develop community spaces that provide colleagues to continue their learning beyond formal education.

Effort builds confidence: Past experiences of doing hard things become internal proof that future challenges are manageable. Effort is never wasted, even when outcomes are unexpected.

In this episode of Exception Seekers, Colleen talks with Kim Hopkins, Executive Director at Lives in the Balance, about the Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS) model developed by Dr. Ross Greene. Kim explains how CPS offers a compassionate, trauma-informed, and neurodiversity-affirming approach to supporting children who struggle to meet expectations—especially in schools and homes.

Kim highlights the importance of collaboration instead of control, emphasizing that traditional punitive or reward-based methods often increase stress and disconnection. In contrast, if we can focus on understanding a child’s perspective, identifying unmet needs, and working together to develop mutually satisfactory solutions, we will see more success. The conversation touches on why kids “do well if they can,” and how language and mindset shape outcomes for both adults and children.

Kim also shares a deeply personal story about how witnessing and experiencing the harm of restraint-based practices motivated her to advocate for safer, more humane, and effective approaches. She discusses the ongoing global expansion of CPS, new initiatives such as a parent platform, and Dr. Greene’s forthcoming book The Kids Who Are Not Okay, which focuses on transforming educational systems to better support vulnerable students.

Important Messages

“Kids do well if they can:” When children struggle, it’s not due to a lack of will but a lack of skill. The goal is to identify what’s getting in their way, not to punish them.

Trauma-informed and neurodiversity-affirming: CPS respects that people think differently and may access skills differently. It’s not about “fixing” a child, it’s about supporting their functioning and happiness.

Schools need alternatives: Teachers often rely on outdated training; small introductions to CPS concepts (like “find your sympathetic ear”) can open minds to new approaches.

Resources mentioned

Lives in the Balance

Collaborative & Proactive Solutions