Psychotherapist, author, and parenting expert Katie Hurley has spent her career helping children and families navigate a world that can feel increasingly anxious, demanding, and disconnected. Her work challenges the idea that today’s youth mental health crisis has a single cause, pointing instead to a childhood reshaped by less free play, greater academic pressure, technology, social isolation, and a culture increasingly organized around achievement. In this episode of Fatherhood, Gordon LaForge—host of the series and a writer and policy thinker exploring the forces shaping families, communities, and the lives of young people—sits down with Hurley to ask a fundamental question: What do children actually need from the adults raising them? They explore the importance of play, boredom, failure, and conflict; why building distress tolerance matters more than solving every problem; and how parents can help children develop healthier relationships with technology. The conversation also takes a deeper look at boys and young men, an area Hurley has explored extensively in her writing and clinical work. At a time when many boys are struggling with loneliness, emotional expression, belonging, and narrow ideas about masculinity, Hurley makes the case for giving boys permission to be vulnerable, ask for help, form meaningful relationships, and develop a fuller emotional vocabulary. Rather than shielding children from difficulty, she argues for giving them the experiences, relationships, and support they need to meet difficulty with confidence. At its heart, this is a conversation about resilience as something we build, not something we simply possess. It is about giving children the freedom to be children while helping them develop the confidence, emotional strength, and sense of connection to navigate a complicated world—and, ultimately, to become the adults we hope they will be.
