Dr. Eileen Kennedy-Moore

Personal Details

Bio

Psychologist and author, Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD (aka "Dr. Friendtastic"), offers entertaining and informative presentations that inspire parents and educators with practical, “I can use this right away!” solutions. With gentle humor, she draws from research as well as clinical experience, as she empowers audiences to understand and address challenges in children’s social and emotional development.

*** Please email directly for speaker inquiries: [email protected]***

Dr. Kennedy-Moore is the creator of the Kids Ask Dr. Friendtastic podcast and her blog, Growing Friendships, on Psychology Today has 4.9 million views.

She has written or co-authored four books for parents about children's feelings and friendships: Kid Confidence, Smart Parenting for Smart Kids, What’s My Child Thinking? and The Unwritten Rules of Friendship. She is also the professor for an audio-video series from The Great Courses/Wondrium, called Raising Emotionally and Socially Healthy Kids. Her most recent books for children are Moody Moody Cars, Growing Friendships: A Kids' Guide to Making and Keeping Friends, and Growing Feelings: A Kids' Guide to Dealing with Emotions About Friends and Other Kids.

A trusted expert on parenting and child development, Dr. Kennedy-Moore has been featured many times in major media, including Live with Kelly & Ryan, NPR, and The New York Times. She frequently speaks at schools, conferences, and corporations.

Dr. Kennedy-Moore has a clinical psychology practice in Princeton, NJ, where she works with adults, children, and families. She and her husband have four children.

Learn more at EileenKennedyMoore.com or DrFriendtastic.com (for kids).

Current position (1)

Author| Psychologist|"Dr. Friendtastic"

Presentations

Presentations (3)

5 Friendship Skills Every Child Needs to Learn

Nearly every child has trouble with friendships in some way, at some time. This presentation describes five essential friendship skills that are part of the unspoken social curriculum for school-age children. It offers parents practical ideas for helping children to feel more comfortable and confident in social situations.

Kid Confidence

Directly trying to improve children’s self-esteem tends to backfire. The more we tell self-doubting kids, “You’re wonderful!”, the harder
they argue, “I’m terrible!” This presentation addresses common self-esteem challenges: feeling friendless, giving up easily, and struggling with feeling different. Instead of trying to “boost” children’s self-esteem, we need to help them break free of harsh self-focus and discover the joy of a quiet ego by connecting with something bigger than themselves.

Teaching Kindness

From about age 3 onwards, children know what they should do to be kind, but it's not always easy for them to act on that knowledge, especially when they're upset. This presentation offers practical ways to address common barriers and stumbling blocks that get in the way of children behaving kindly, so they can guide children toward better choices. Participants will come away with actionable insights and do-able strategies for addressing mean behavior and encouraging kind actions.