Episode 69 - Helping Your Child Through Big Emotions: Lessons from DBT with Helen Wilde

About this episode

This episode discusses how Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) can help parents support their children through overwhelming emotions.

What does your child really need when their emotions feel overwhelming? In this episode, I'm joined by Helen Wilde, a systemic psychotherapist and DBT therapist with over 25 years of experience working in CAMHS with children, young people, and families. Together, we explore how ideas from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) can support emotional regulation in everyday parenting. Helen explains that when children are overwhelmed, they're not able to think things through or respond to solutions. What they need first is validation — a sense that their feelings are understood. This might be as simple as acknowledging their experience: "I can see why you feel upset." We talk about the difference between being emotionally "above the line" (dysregulated) and "below the line" (calmer). When children are above the line, connection comes before problem-solving. Over time, these small shifts in how we respond can make a meaningful difference. Helen shares that many families notice change when parents move from trying to fix emotions to first understanding them. DBT was originally developed to support individuals experiencing intense emotional distress, including self-harm and suicidal…

People in this episode

Host: Dr Bettina Hohnen

Guest: Helen Wilde

Topics covered

• emotional regulation
• parenting
• DBT
• children's emotions
• validation
• family relationships

Keywords

• emotional distress
• parenting strategies
• DBT principles
• validation
• children's emotions
• family support

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: CAMHS

Books & works: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Inside Out

More episodes of Just One Thing for Parents with Dr Bettina Hohnen

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• Episode 71 - Anxiety, OCD and the Two Sentences Every Parent Needs with Demetra Brege and Will Sessions · May 29, 2026 · 28 min
• Episode 70 - Why Your Teen Pushes Back (And What to Do Instead) with Rachel Richards · May 11, 2026 · 26 min
• Episode 68 - How Do I Know If My Child Needs Help? with Laura Dimler · April 17, 2026 · 17 min
• Episode 67 - The Impact of Divorce and Infidelity on Children with Juliet Rosenfeld · April 10, 2026 · 26 min
• Episode 66 - How To Talk To Teenagers About Their Brains with Dr Sarah McKay · April 3, 2026 · 22 min