Being there for your kids - Are You Loving Yourself?

Episode Date: September 27, 2026

Loving yourself is both a skill and an art. It leads to increased self-esteem and self-confidence. It helps you soar as you overcome adversity. With mentalligent psychotherapy (MPT) patients can learn to love themselves through the seamless weaving of mindfulness, positive psychology, and cognitive behavioral interventions. Check it out in my new book, The Healing Journey: Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life. Buy your copy on amazonbooks.com. Use this link: https://a.co/d/0dxH5xOL. Blessings, Dr. Jon

I'm Dr. John Robinson, and this is Teachable Moments. Let me ask you something. How do you love yourself? Now, that's an interesting question. Most of us would say, of course. Some might consider that the answer implies selfishness. Others might be too humble to even consider the question. Others might conclude that with all that I've said and done, how could I love myself? But what about you? Sheryl walked slowly in front of me from the waiting room to my office.

When she settled in, I offered, You look upset, Cheryl, what's going on? She hung her head and teared up. I offered a tissue and she took it, beginning to sob. Dr. John, I'm a bad person, she began. She then began her story of fussing with her five-year-old son, Joey, the other morning as he was playing instead of following her directions to get ready for school.

Cheryl had yelled at him to hurry up, and he started to cry. She then told him to stop crying, or she'd give him something to cry about. I just lost it. I yanked him up by his arm, put him in his timeout chair, gathered his things for school, and marched him to the car. He cried the whole way to school. Cheryl, I'm so sorry. You both had to go through that. What a mess. That's not the worst, she sobbed. Later that day, I got a call from the school nurse who told me that Joey's teacher had sent him to her to look at the bruise on his arm. Barely able to contain herself, Cheryl blurted out. Dr. John, it wasn't broken. But they replied, supported me for child abuse. I gave her a moment to collect herself, active, listened to her grief and

shame, and began the long process of helping her put herself back together. First, I spent time helping Cheryl embrace the idea that doing a bad thing doesn't make you a bad person. We focused on all the ways that she shows love to Joey. I also helped her to accept that her breaking point came from feeling overloaded and overwhelmed. Finding ways to balance her other care with self-care relieved that pressure. Finally, Cheryl accepted that she doesn't have to do it all alone. Asking for help is a part of effective parenting and not a sign of weakness. Cheryl had been abused by her mom when she was a child.

It became the family secret and they never got help for their issues. She had vowed to never parent her child as she had been parented. I helped her reframe her behavior as a slip rather than a pattern, to forgive herself and to move on with healthy guardrails. Her benefiting from therapy became her avenue for healthy parenting. Follow Cheryl's story in my new book, The Healing Journey, Overcoming Adversity on the Path of the Good Life. Buy your copy on Amazonbooks.com. If my comments, stir questions of your own, contact me through my website at www.org, thereformykids.com,

or email me at John Robinson, 0.0.Belsouth.net. I'm Dr. Jonathan C. Robinson, licensed clinical psychologist, and author of Teachable Moments, Building Blocks of Christian Parenting, and my new book, The Healing Journey, Overcoming Adversity on the Path to the Good Life. Blessings, Dr. John. Teachable Moments, Building Blocks of Christian Parenting is available online at Amazonbooks.com and in local and national bookstores. More on Dr. Robinson at TMC-P-I-N-C.com.