Securely Attached

Imran Ahmed, founder and CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, joins me to talk about how social media platforms, algorithms, and AI systems are designed and what that means for our children's mental health and safety.
 
Together we explore:
 
- How social media algorithms are built to maximize attention, and why emotionally extreme content is often amplified.
- What research reveals about how quickly self-harm and eating disorder content can be served to young users.
- How AI platforms can respond dangerously to vulnerable teens when guardrails are not properly in place.
- Why this is not just a "screen time" issue, but a systemic design and accountability issue.
- The difference between pulling the "emergency brake" and creating meaningful long-term change.
- What parents can realistically do at home to build digital resilience, foster trust, and partner with their children in navigating online spaces.
 
This episode isn't meant to create more fear, but to offer greater clarity. My hope is that parents walk away feeling informed, empowered, and better equipped to both advocate for safer systems and strengthen the relationship that ultimately protects kids most: the one they have with you.
 
 
LEARN MORE ABOUT MY GUEST:
🔗Center for Countering Digital Hate 
 
 
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
📱IG: @counterhate  FB: Center for Countering Digital Hate  Youtube: @CCDHate 
📱IG: @drsarahbren Youtube: Securely Attached 
 
 
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES AND RESOURCES:
 
💻 Protecting Kids Online - Download the guide for parents
🔗 Deadly by Design: TikTok pushes harmful content promoting eating disorders and self-harm into young users' feeds 
🔗 Fake Friend: How ChatGPT betrays vulnerable teens by encouraging dangerous behavior 
🔗 Resist and unsubscribe - Scott Galloway 
 
👉 Parenting in the age of AI, algorithms, and constant connectivity can feel like a lot. If you're feeling unsure, reactive, or overwhelmed, Upshur Bren Psychology Group offers therapy and parent coaching to help you feel grounded, clear, and confident as you support your child and manage your own stress. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation or go to upshurbren.com to learn more and find the right support for your family.
 
 
CHECK OUT ADDITIONAL PODCAST EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about secure attachment vs. social media with Dr. Miriam Steele
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about the do's and don'ts for introducing screens to your toddler
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about teaching kids healthy tech habits free of guilt or power struggles with Ash Brandin
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about the hidden dangers of EdTech with Andy Liddell
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about rewiring the way our kids interact with screens with Alé Duarte

Beyond the Sessions is answering YOUR parenting questions! In this episode, Dr. Rebecca Hershberg and I talk about...
 
- First things first, why are schools still sending out candy grams in this current climate with a loneliness epidemic on the rise? 
 
- Cliques and posses that form in middle school are often rife with envy, jealousy, gossip, and temptation - how to help our kids navigate this. 
 
- What advice to give your child when they are left out in a friend group.
 
- How to help a child who tends to avoid conflict in their interpersonal relationships build a greater tolerance for joining in and addressing things directly.
 
- "There is a difference between a kid who says 'I am going to let this go' vs. 'I am going to hold this in.'"
 
- Understanding "social currency" and how that impacts children, especially as they move into the stage of development where their attention begins to move away from their parents and much more heavily toward their peers.
 
REFERENCES AND RELATED RESOURCES:
 
👉 Want extra support in your parenting journey? Upshur Bren Psychology Group offers therapy and coaching to give parents the tools to feel more grounded and confident as they navigate parenthood and learn how to most effectively support their child. Visit upshurbren.com to explore our services and schedule a free 30-minute consultation call to find the support that's right for your family.
 
ADDITIONAL PODCAST EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about talking with your teen with Elizabeth Bennett
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about respond to your child who you think is bullying other kids
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about social media's impact on your child's attachment security with Dr. Miriam Steele
 
 
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU:
 
Go to https://drsarahbren.com/question to send us a question or a topic you want to hear us answer on Securely Attached - Beyond the Sessions!

Dr. Nancy O'Hara, pediatrician and leading expert in PANS and PANDAS, joins me to unpack why some children experience sudden, dramatic changes in behavior, anxiety, OCD, tics, sleep, or emotional regulation following illness. For many families, these symptoms appear almost overnight and are often misdiagnosed as "just anxiety," behavioral issues, or psychiatric disorders, leaving parents confused, dismissed, and unsure how to help their child.
 
Together we explore:
 
- What PANS and PANDAS are, and how infections like strep, viruses, or tick-borne illness can trigger sudden neuropsychiatric symptoms in children.
- What to assess to help you determine if your child has a generalized anxiety disorder or if it may be PANS/PANDAS that is the root cause of their symptoms.
- Why PANS/PANDAS is often missed or misunderstood in both medical and mental health settings.
- The three-pronged approach to treatment: Addressing the trigger, the immune system, and the child's emotional and behavioral symptoms.
- How therapy, both for parents and children, can support recovery, even when symptoms have a medical origin.
- Understanding that there is real hope for healing and that it's never too late to identify and address PANS or PANDAS.
 
This episode is designed to help parents and clinicians feel more informed, less alone, and more confident in recognizing when a child's behavior may be signaling something deeper. PANS and PANDAS are real, treatable conditions that deserve compassionate, comprehensive care.
 
 
LEARN MORE ABOUT MY GUEST:
🔗Dr. Nancy O'Hara 
📚Demystifying PANS/PANDAS: A Functional Medicine Desktop Reference on Basal Ganglia Encephalitis
🎧 Demystifying PANS/PANDAS Podcast 
 
 
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
📱IG: @nhoharamd FB: Nancy O'Hara MD, MPH, FAAP 
📱IG: @drsarahbren 
 
 
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES AND RESOURCES:
 
👉 Looking for support for a child struggling with anxiety or OCD? If your child is struggling with anxiety or OCD, Upshur Bren Psychology Group offers SPACE-based parent support through both a virtual group and individualized care. Go to upshurbren.com/space to learn more or book a free 30-minute consultation with our care team, who will listen carefully and help you determine the best support for your family.
 
🔗 Dr. O'Hara's mentor, Sidney M. Baker, MD 
🔗 Susan Swedo, MD, who created the acronym and coined the terms of PANS and PANDAS 
📚 Super Sam and the Battle Against PANS/PANDAS by Dr. Lindsey Wells 
🔗 Practitioner directories and community support: Aspire and  Look Foundation 
🔗 For practitioners: PANDAS Physicians Network
🔗 A helpful resource you can bring to your pediatrician: The Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry - February 2017 
📚 The Comprehensive Physicians' Guide to the Management of PANS and PANDAS: An Evidence-Based Approach to Diagnosis, Testing, and Effective Treatment by Dr. Scott Antoine 
🔗 Autism and PANS PANDAS
🔗 The Medical Academy of Pediatrics and Special Needs
🔗 Ilads 
🔗 Psychiatry Redefined 
 
 
CHECK OUT ADDITIONAL PODCAST EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about how mold, Lyme, pesticides, and other toxins may be impacting your child's physical and mental health with integrative pediatrician Dr. Pejman Katiraei
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about how to handle potty regressions in your older child?
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about how Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) can be an effective treatment for childhood anxiety and OCD
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about how to help autistic kids build joy, confidence, and connection with Dr. Peter Vermeulen

Beyond the Sessions is answering YOUR parenting questions! In this episode Dr. Emily Upshur, and I talk about...
 
- The subtle but important difference between encouraging empathy and unintentionally parentifying a child.
- What reflective functioning is and why helping your child develop this skill may be one of the most important things you can do as a parent.
- What helps empathy develop naturally in children without pressure or responsibility.
- Ways to navigate mismatched messages from extended family while staying grounded in your own parenting values.
- What parents can do to foster healthy sibling dynamics.
 
If you have ever worried about asking too much of your older child, felt activated by comments about siblings taking care of each other, or wondered how to support healthy sibling relationships without repeating old patterns, this episode offers clarity, nuance, and a calmer way forward.
 
 
REFERENCES AND RELATED RESOURCES:
 
👉 Want extra support in your parenting journey? Upshur Bren Psychology Group offers therapy and coaching to give parents the tools to feel more grounded and confident as they navigate parenthood and learn how to most effectively support their child. Visit upshurbren.com to explore our services and schedule a free 30-minute consultation call to find the support that's right for your family.
 
 
ADDITIONAL PODCAST EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about why your kids fight and how to foster closeness with Dr. Jonathan Caspi
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about sibling rivalry and jealousy
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about breaking the cycle of insecure attachment with Dr. Miriam Steele
 
 
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU:
 
Go to https://drsarahbren.com/question to send us a question or

Eli Weinstein, couples therapist and author of the upcoming book From I Do to We Do: Navigating Marriage in Parenting Years, joins me to talk about what really happens to a relationship after kids.
 
Together we explore:
 
- Why parenthood doesn't just add stress, it reactivates attachment patterns and old wounds in both partners.
- What's really happening when you keep having the same fight on repeat, and how to begin spotting the deeper need beneath it.
- How mental load, feeling unseen, and constant "downloading" logistics quietly erode connection and build resentment.
- The difference between "we made up" and actually repairing what keeps breaking.
- How couples get stuck in "gridlock arguments" and what helps uncover what's really driving the conflict.
- The role overstimulation and nervous system overload play in reactivity at home.
- Practical ways couples can reset and regrow in this new season, without waiting for more time, sleep, or perfect circumstances
 
This episode is designed to help you feel less alone in the mess of marriage after kids, and more confident about what actually helps couples stay connected, communicate better, and find their way back to each other.
 
 
 
LEARN MORE ABOUT MY GUEST:
🔗Eli Weinstein 
📚From I Do to We Do: Navigating Marriage in the Parenting Years
🎧The Dude Therapist Podcast
🎧 Listen to Eli's last Securely Attached episode about busting parenting gender stereotypes with Eli Weinstein 
 
 
FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM:
📱@eliweinstein_lcsw
📱@drsarahbren
 
 
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES AND RESOURCES:
🔗 Want to learn more about therapy and coaching resources at Upshur Bren Psychology Group? Visit upshurbren.com to explore our services for individuals, couples, parents and kids and schedule a free 30-minute consultation call to find the support that's right for your family.
 
 
CHECK OUT ADDITIONAL PODCAST EPISODES YOU MAY LIKE:
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about how secure attachment influences children's ability to make sense of their experiences and cope in the face of adversity with Dr. Alan Sroufe
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about codependency, insecure attachment, and relationship patterns with Alana Carvalho
 
🎧 Listen to my podcast episode about whether your child can be securely attached to you if you are insecurely attached in your adult relationships