Larner Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics Steven Schlozman, M.D., chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and medical director of the Vermont Center for Children, Youth, and Families, was a featured guest recently on the podcast Awkward Conversations with Jodie Sweetin.
This episode addresses how caregivers can talk to kids about challenging community issues. It’s an essential conversation on helping children process collective trauma, unpacking how repeated exposure to distressing events, from natural disasters to acts of violence dominating headlines—amplified by 24/7 news and social media—affects both children and adults. The discussion explores how kids at different developmental stages interpret tragedy, how parental reactions can either calm or heighten anxiety, and why modeling emotional regulation matters more than having all the answers.