Advice Goddess Radio -- Tonight, 7-8pm PT, 10-11pm ET: Dr. Gabrielle Principe, Parenting Sans Paranoia--Why The Overstructured Childhood Is So Bad For Kids
Amy Alkon's Advice Goddess Radio: "Nerd Your Way To A Better Life!" with the best brains in science.

The panic-stricken parental race to raise tiny geniuses is actually bad parenting -- leading to overstructured, overcontrolled childhoods that have negative effects on kids' development.

This way of raising children is marketing-driven, not science-driven (though marketers typically claim their toys and learning tools are based in science).

Take Baby Einstein videos. In 2007, UCLA's Department of Health Services chairman Frederick Zimmerman and his colleagues found that kids watching these had a 17 percent decrease in vocabulary acquisition for each hour they spent watching them per day.

Through looking at solid science on the human brain, psychology professor Dr. Gabrielle Principe has figured out ways for parents to naturalize childhood again, so a child's environment gels with how the brain was designed to grow.

Principe is a developmental scientist who has spent about 20 years researching young children, and she's also a mom of two young kids. Her clearly written and dryly witty book: "Your Brain on Childhood: The Unexpected Side Effects of Classrooms, Ballparks, Family Rooms, and the Minivan."

Join us tonight as she busts countless myths about how to raise children and lays out simple, clear advice for how kids can thrive.

Listen at this link at 7pm Pacific, 10pm Eastern, or download the podcast afterward:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon/2013/03/04/dr-gabrielle-principe-parenting-sans-paranoia

And don't miss last week's show with Dr. Stanton Peele on the personal responsibility approach to overcoming addictions and bad habits.

Peele talks about how to fight addiction without a 12-step program. He also busts many of the myths many people hold about addiction -- as well as the excuses they cling to for why they can't overcome their self-defeating, destructive behaviors. He offers practical thinking and steps for change, and we discuss unhealthy love and relationships as well as substance addiction and more minor and common bad habits.

Peele wrote a really fantastic book, co-authored with Archie Brodsky, called Love and Addiction, and more recently, and also very wise, the book, 7 Tools To Beat Addiction, which we'll be discussing on the show. He blogs at Psychology Today and The Huffington Post. 

Listen here at this link or download the podcast:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon/2013/02/25/dr-stanton-peele-overcome-your-addiction

Join me and my fascinating guests every Sunday, 7-8 p.m. Pacific Time, 10-11 p.m. Eastern Time, at blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon or subscribe on iTunes.