Episode Details

Does your child go from 0 to 100 in seconds and you're left wondering what just happened?

If you're parenting a child with ADHD, you already know that big emotions don't just happen, they explode. And no matter how calm you try to stay, it pulls you in every single time.

In this episode of the  ADHD Families Podcast, Sharon Collon, ADHD family coach and founder of The Functional Family, unpacks why emotional meltdowns in children with ADHD aren't behaviour problems — they're nervous system responses. Sharon explains why emotional regulation is an executive function skill that develops later in ADHD brains, what's really sitting underneath those explosive reactions, and why discipline and reasoning make dysregulation worse. If you've ever felt like you're walking on eggshells around your child's emotions, Sharon shares a simple 3-step strategy — Name, Validate, Regulate — that you can use in the moment, even when you're exhausted.

🎁 Download your free guide:
5 Ways to Navigate Big Emotions Without Power Struggles

👀 In This Episode, Sharon Covers:

✅ Why big emotions in ADHD children build beneath the surface — often all day
✅ Why one small question can trigger a massive explosion
✅ The truth: "Big emotions are small worries that didn't have the words to come out earlier"
✅ Why children with ADHD feel everything more intensely — joy, rejection, shame
✅ Why emotional regulation is an executive function skill — not a behaviour choice
✅ Why discipline, logic and reasoning don't work during ADHD meltdowns
✅ The "closed gate" brain — why your child's thinking brain goes offline when dysregulated
✅ The 3-step strategy: Name, Validate, Regulate
✅ Why validation is the most skipped step — and the most powerful
✅ How connection calms an ADHD child's nervous system faster than correction
✅ Practical, in-the-moment regulation tools that work even when you're depleted
✅ Why go-to scripts are a game changer for parents of kids with ADHD

⚠️ If your child can go from completely fine to explosive in seconds — and leave you wondering what just happened — this episode will completely reframe those moments.

⏱️ Episode Timestamps

00:00 – When ADHD meltdowns seem to come out of nowhere
02:24 – Why emotional regulation is an executive function skill
04:41 – Introducing the strategy: Name, Validate, Regulate
05:00 – Step 1: Name — helping your child put words to the feeling
07:00 – Step 2: Validate — the step most parents ski