Intro

Meg Jay is a clinical psychologist and author of “Supernormal”, an inspirational account of how to build resilience in children who are typically faced with adversity. Her other book, “The Defining Decade”, a provocative book that shows us why our 20s are a critical time of our lives and how we can make the most of it. Meg’s books have been translated into more than a dozen languages and her work has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review and on NPR and BBC.

In her book Supernormal, Meg tells the stories of people who grew up with significant childhood adversity: the loss of a parent through death or divorce, domestic violence, an alcoholic parent, sexual abuse, and bullying at home or school. Studies indicate that 75 percent of the population is affected by one or more of these before they are 20. Meg says these people are not abnormal, but beyond normal, exceptional, extraordinary and heroic in many ways – because of the resilience in children.

Meg says “In the long run, what goes right matters more than what goes wrong,”  In her book, Meg does not focus on children being damaged, but instead on them being strong and courageous – she does not focus on what happened to them, but on how they overcame what happened.

In this episode, we talk to Meg about what are some of the ingredients that help these children develop resilience and how we can help build resilience in our children as well.

Resources & Links

Meg Jay Website
https://megjay.com/

SUPERNORMAL: The Untold Story of Adversity and Resilience
https://www.twelvebooks.com/titles/meg-jay/supernormal/9781455559145/

Reaching Roots Podcast Featuring Jessica Lahey: When Your Kids Fail, It’s a Good Thing 
https://www.wishslate.com/podcasts/when-kids-fail-its-good/