143: Why Your Child Is Still Having Meltdowns Despite Play Therapy
Watch my video →How to End Your Child's Meltdowns in 8 Weeks or Less
I didn’t expect my own child to be the one who challenged me the most.
I could stay calm with teenagers screaming at me in residential treatment, but I found myself completely thrown off by my own toddler in a lunch line at a Great Harvest Bread Company. That moment forced me to see something I had been missing, even after years of training.
I had spent my career working with kids who were labeled “difficult,” and I knew how to connect with them in clinical settings. At home, the meltdowns felt constant, unpredictable, and personal in a way I wasn’t prepared for.
What I started to notice in my play therapy practice changed everything. Kids would hold it together with me for 45 minutes in session, then fall apart at home. Parents were left wondering why their child was still having hours-long meltdowns at home despite doing great in therapy. This is where my understanding of child meltdowns, highly sensitive kids, and parenting strategies that actually work at home began to shift.
If you’ve been thinking, “I’ve tried everything, and nothing is changing,” this will help you understand why knowledge alone isn’t stopping the meltdowns, and what’s been missing from the way most of us were taught to parent.
You’ll learn:
[00:00] Introduction
[03:24] The parenting assumption that completely blindsided me
[04:18] What a meltdown during a lunch date taught me about myself as a parent
[07:55] How mentalization work slowly rebuilt the way I parented
[09:34] What my therapy kids were hiding from me the whole time
[12:20] The uncomfortable pivot that changed everything I offered clients
[14:02] The holes in every parenting framework that pushed me to build my own
[19:17] Shutting down my waitlisted practice to bet on something unproven
Resources mentioned:
Circle of Security International | Website
Peter Fonagy: What is Mentalization? | Video
Dr. Hilary’s Chaos to Connection Program | Website
Find more from Dr. Hilary:
Raised Resilient | Website
Raised Resilient | Instagram
Raised Resilient with Dr. Hilary Mandzik | Facebook Group
Raised Resilient Chaos to Connection Program | Website
