In this episode, Joe and I unpack the story of a teacher who was so fed up with a student who was a huge “pain in the ass” that she wanted to quit. Right then and there. And I’ll be damned if she didn’t turn that relationship around in the most dramatic way.

Joe and I talk about the difficult circumstances surrounding this teacher’s and this student’s situation and the hypotheses she and I came up with that helped her return to school and dig into their relationship. It’s kind of a miraculous story imho.

Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

We discuss:

- Students and Negative Attention: Understanding the "cry for help" behind super irritating or provocative actions.

- The "Nefarious Savior": How to support a struggling student without falling into a self-serving hero complex.

- Classroom Aikido: How to use a student’s "negative" energy to redirect toward connection.

- The Fine Line of Caring: Finding the sweet spot between emotional over-investment (burnout) and detachment.

Connect & Share

Got a story to share? What is the "meowing" in your life right now? Leave me a voicemail at (413) 239-4158.

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And there's more…

I’m so eager to hear from you that my team and I have put together [a survey](https://forms.gle/i8LjC1DDJH4jypLC7!) to get a mid-season formative assessment from my listeners. I really want to hear what you like, don’t like, want to hear or read, etc. Please take a few minutes to give me your honest feedback! I’m a therapist, so I can take the truth.

As incentive, anyone who responds will have their email address put in a nice hat from which I will pull a winner — of a TTE “Stay in Your Effin’ Garden” T-shirt! I myself have one (as you might imagine), and I love it. Soft, perfect fit, extremely useful message. Get to that survey as soon as is humanly possible — we’ll pull the winner on Valentine’s Day. Wow! What a love-ly gift!!

Credits

Founder and Host: Betsy Burris

Co-Host: Joe Johnson

Producer: Jullian Androkae of PodVision

Audience Development: Andreea Coscai of PodVision

Music: Tom Burris/Jabbering Trout