My guest this week is clinical psychologist and author Dr. Mitch Abblett. We focused our discussion on Mitch’s recent book called Prizeworthy: How to Meaningfully Connect, Build Character, and Unlock the Potential of Every Child (affiliate link). In this episode you’ll find out exactly what prizing is, and what it feels like to be prized. Mitch also offers many helpful tools for handling the challenges that we all face as parents, or as anyone who wants to bring out the best in young people.

Topics we explored together included:

• What “prizing” is and why it’s so important for Mitch’s work
• Mitch’s mentor Dr. Sandy Kerr, who introduced him to the concept of prizing
• Prizing as presence + acceptance
• What if feels like to be prized
• Inviting others to be fully who they are moment to moment
• Mindfulness and finding the “Zero Point” that contains our whole lives
• Parenting and the Zero Point
• Co-experiencing a profound sense of knowing with someone
• The inevitable pain of parenting, and a difficult episode with Mitch’s daughter
• Negative reinforcement for escalation
• Maintaining expectations without escalating conflict
• The components of a good parental apology—including our impact, not just intent
• Dealing with regret for missed opportunities to prize our kids

Mitch Abblett, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and consultant with a private practice.

He speaks and trains nationally and internationally on the applications of mindfulness for enhancing professional and personal communication patterns.

In addition to his work as an author, Mitch has been the executive director of the Institution for Meditation and Psychotherapy, and was clinical director of Manville School at Judge Baker’s Children’s Center at Harvard University for 11 years.

Find Mitch online at his website.