[VIRTUAL EVENT] Overwhelmed and Under-Motivated with Ellen Braaten, PhD

​REGISTER TODAY! Free for member school parents and for educators from member and non-member schools.

​What: Overwhelmed and Under-Motivated: How to shift your child and teen from feeling pressure to finding purpose with Ellen Braaten, PhD

​When: Tues, Dec 8; 7:00-8:15pm, PDT

​Where: Zoom Webinar

​Many students these days have difficulty keeping up with the fast paced world in which we live, leaving some to feel lost and unmotivated while also feeling the pressure to excel. But motivation isn’t something that can be fixed with the right curriculum or by trying harder. Through recent research and clinical examples, Dr. Ellen Braaten will explore the issue of kids who are unmotivated from different vantage points, starting with identifying the problem -- why is it that so many kids don’t seem to care about anything these days? Dr. Braaten will discuss the factors that apply to children’s motivation – their abilities, the things that give them pleasure, and the things they spend time doing  --  and will explore these factors in the larger context of societal expectations as well as connecting them to a child’s individual personality and learning needs.  Participants will learn how expectations can get in the way of motivation and how to set goals that are appropriate for kids who might have difficulty making and accomplishing meaningful goals.

​ABOUT THE SPEAKER

​Dr. Ellen Braaten is the founding director of the Learning and Emotional Assessment Program (LEAP) at Massachusetts General Hospital and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. She has published numerous scientific papers on topics related to ADHD, learning disorders, child psychopathology, processing speed, and intelligence, as well as many books for parents and professionals, including the bestsellers Bright Kids Who Can’t Keep Up, and Bright Kids Who Couldn’t Care Less: How to Rekindle Your Child’s Motivation. Most recently, she coauthored The Motivation Mindset Workbook: Helping Teens and Tweens Discover What They Love to Do.

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​The Common Ground Speaker Series presents distinguished speakers in education, parenting, and health at venues across the San Francisco Peninsula. Our 2026-2027 Series will be a hybrid season with some events online and some in person. Parents, faculty, and staff at our member schools attend the Common Ground online events free of charge. Faculty and educators from non-member schools are also invited to participate free of charge. Guests from non-member schools and the general community can register and attend. Registration closes 12 hours before the start of this event or when the maximum registration capacity is reached.

​Guests from non-member schools and the general community can register and attend this in-person event for a fee. Please select the "NON-MEMBER $10.00" ticket option.

​We also welcome educators from member and nonmember schools to attend our events free of charge.  However, we'd like to get a better understanding of our audience and interests and request that you register with your work school institution email address.  Educators must be employees of accredited educational institutions.

​To complete your registration, please enter your email, full name, affiliation (role and school), and connection to the Common Ground Speaker Series. Then, click "Register!"

​Registration closes 12 hours prior to the event or when the maximum number of registrations is reached.

​ARE YOU RECORDING THIS EVENT? Yes, this event will be recorded and made available to Common Ground Speaker Series Member Schools. Please contact your school's representative for access.