About this episode

This episode discusses how to raise resilient kids in the context of Gen Z's mental health challenges and the importance of purpose and belonging.

Are we raising resilient kids, or just protecting them from the very challenges that build resilience? In this episode of the Where Parents Talk podcast, host Lianne Castelino speaks to developmental psychologist Dr. Isabel Granic — McMaster University professor, CEO of Liminal Learning and mom. She unpacks what tweens, teens, and young adults actually need to thrive in 2026. Drawing on more than 25 years of research and her own experience raising 20-year-old twin sons, Dr. Granic challenges common assumptions about anxiety, depression, and motivation in Gen Z. She explains why rising mental health struggles are often a rational response to a genuinely precarious world — climate anxiety, job market disruption, AI, and political instability — rather than a personal weakness or a parenting failure. She also shares why "small p" purpose matters more than a single dream career, how belonging and social connection are among the strongest predictors of a healthy, long life, and practical ways parents can talk to their kids about big global issues without fueling fear or helplessness. Whether your child seems anxious, unmotivated, or simply uncertain about the future, this conversation…

People in this episode

Host: Lianne Castelino

Guest: Dr. Isabel Granic

Topics covered

• resilience
• Gen Z mental health
• parenting strategies
• social connection
• purpose
• anxiety
• depression

Keywords

• resilient kids
• Gen Z
• mental health
• parenting
• anxiety
• depression
• social connection
• purpose

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: McMaster University, Liminal Learning

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• Why Moms Put Themselves Last and how to Self-Prioritize · June 13, 2026 · 31 min

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