Dr. Vanessa Lapointe is a mum, parenting educator, best-selling author, international speaker, and a regularly invited media guest. She holds a doctoral degree in psychology, and practiced as a psychologist for nearly 20 years, before devoting her full-time energy to connecting with parents and other “big people” around the globe in 2023. Founder of The North Star Developmental Clinic, Dr. Vanessa has long been supporting families and children in her developmental clinic alongside her team and has previous experience in community mental health and the school system. Dr. Vanessa is known for bringing a sense of nurturing understanding and humanity to all of her work. Her passion is in walking alongside parents, teachers, care providers, and other big people to really see the world through the child’s eyes. She believes that if we can do this, we are beautifully positioned to grow up our children in the best possible way.

Overview of the presentation:

Resilience is a characteristic that is often talked about as so important for kids, but how do we foster it in children without sending them to the “school of hard knocks’? There is so much confusion out in the child raising world about this concept of resilience. Words like “grit” and “growth mindset” and “mental toughness” have become part of what we are told will allow kids to be successful as adults. But what does this all really mean? And do we run the risk of sinking a child’s ship if we get too focused on honing their resilience? Dr. Vanessa will help parents explore how much is too much, and also when they might be doing a child a disservice by overly softening the blows of life. She will share with parents how to stay ever focused on growing a child who is hardy, not hardened, and finding the balance along the way.