The Teenage Guide

Episode 69: The Secret to Real Motivation Here’s the myth that’s quietly running the show in most homes: Your teen is waiting to feel like doing homework. You’re waiting to feel like having that hard conversation. They’re waiting to feel motivated before they start. You’re waiting for the friction to go away before you push. It doesn’t work that way. And in this episode, I’m breaking down why...

EP. 68: When Your Teen Is Stuck and You Can See the Solution (But They Won’t Listen) You can see exactly what your teen needs to do. You know the answer. You’ve lived through something similar. You’ve tried to share it — calmly, directly, with the best intentions — and they shut down completely. This is one of the most common and defeating moments in parenting a teenager. I see it every week in my...

67: Executive Function 101 — The Skills Critical to 'Success' for You and Your Teen Ahhh... one of my specialties! I love helping parents and teens truly understand these skills and how practicing them makes life so much more enjoyable, independent, and connected. You've probably heard the term executive function. Maybe a teacher mentioned it. Maybe you've read about it in the context of ADHD. May...

EP. 66 (QUICK WIN): How to Get Your Teen to Listen to You — A Real Plan That Works Look around your space right now. Everything you can see — aside from nature itself — was once an idea in someone's mind. The chair. The phone. The microphone. Someone believed it was possible. They built the relationships and skills to make it real. And then — over time, through repetition and commitment — it showe...

EP. 65: What Are You Believing to Be True? Real client stories — and the one shift behind every real breakthrough Most of the time, when parents come to me, they want to fix something specific...about their teen. The grades. The attitude. The relationship. The morning battles. And what they discover — pretty quickly — is that underneath every single one of those challenges is the same thing. A bel...

Episode 64: The October Slump — What Every Teacher Knows (and Most Parents Don't) There's a pattern every teacher sees every single October — and most parents don't catch it until it's already a full-blown battle or stress breakdown at home. It's called the October slump, and it shows up as slipping grades, missing assignments, and a teen who suddenly seems checked out. In this episode, Ashley bre...

EP. 63: Three Practices That Give You (& Your Teen) Your Time and Energy Back We talk a lot about relationships and skills — the two things that can help you solve almost any challenge with your teen. But underneath both of those is something more foundational. Your daily rhythm. The practices you fold into your routine from the moment you wake up — through the day, the evening, and into the n...

EP. 62: Who Are You Parenting With? How to Build Your Dream Village Somewhere along the way, our parenting village starts to disappear. When our kids are little, there are playgroups, preschool pickup, birthday parties, and other parents standing beside us in the same season. Then adolescence hits. We sit in our cars at pickup. Our teenagers understandably want more independence. We may barely kno...

EP. 61: Why You Lose Them in the First Five Seconds of "Helping" You love them. You can see the solution. And somehow — the moment you open your mouth to help — you've already lost them. This is the moment almost every parent I work with describes. The homework meltdown at 7pm. The raised voice. The door that slams. And you're left standing at the stove thinking: I tried. I genuinely tried. What j...

Back-to-School Stress With Teens: What to Focus on Instead of Grades Back-to-school season has a way of bringing everything to the surface. The schedules. The lunches. The homework. The missing assignments. The conversations about motivation. And underneath all of that, the quiet questions so many parents are carrying: Will this year be different? How do I help without constantly nagging? Why does...

EP. 59: Real Parents, Real Teens, & The Formula That Changes Everything What actually changes when you stop trying to fix the behavior you can see…and start paying attention to what’s happening underneath it? In this episode, I’m taking you inside the experiences of two real families I’ve worked with—because sometimes the best way to understand this work is to see what it looks like in real li...

5 Parenting Myths That Are Making Teen Behavior Worse (Without You Realizing It) What if the strategies you've been been told will fix your teen are actually keeping your family stuck? If it's late at night, sound off, and you're scrolling the internet looking for parenting answers because you're thinking... "I've tried everything." "Maybe I just need better consequences." "If they would just care...

EP. 57: When You Know This — You're Unstoppable Some episodes are about strategy. Some are about skill. This one is about something deeper. In this episode, Ashley shares one of the most profound moments of her life — day eight of hospice with her mother — and the four words that came to her in that room that she has carried every single day since. What followed wasn't an achievement. It wasn...

56: Why Your Teen Won't Tell You What's Really Going On (And How to Change That) Your teen's social world is one of the most powerful influences on their emotional well-being, identity, and decision-making. Yet it's often the part of their life parents know the least about. If you've ever wondered, "Why won't my teen talk to me?" or felt like you're only getting half the story, this episode is for...

EP. 55: It's Not Therapy, But It Feels Therapeutic — What I Do and Why It Works If you've ever wondered whether what I do is therapy, whether I can help with your family dynamic, school, or friendships — this episode is the answer. I get some version of this question almost every week. And the honest truth is, what I do doesn't fit neatly into a box. So in this episode, I'm pulling back the curtai...

It's June. The house looks like a small civilization moved in overnight. One cracker left in the package. Milk on the counter without the lid. Crumbs everywhere. And suddenly — you're staring at a dirty dish and predicting your kid's work ethic at 35. That spiral sound familiar? That's fear-based parenting. And it shows up when you're stressed, but your teen receives it in ways most people don't e...

3 Tools I'm Using to Make Summer Feel Lighter Summer with teenagers is a whole thing. Yes, we love summer for slowing down in some ways. But, in other ways, as parents we have more to manage. More mess. More groceries. More (possible) taxi driving. More free time to wonder what is happening when they're on their own?! More mental load — layered on top of everything else you're already managing.&nb...

EP. 52: What Waiting Is Costing You and Your Teen When you're caught in a cycle of conflict with your teen, it's easy to focus on the daily frustrations — the arguments, the resistance, the exhaustion. But what if the real cost runs much deeper than that? In this episode, I'm exploring the often-overlooked consequences of staying stuck in chronic struggle. Drawing from a recent coaching conversati...

EP. 51: Stop Trying to Create the Perfect Summer: What Your Teen Actually Needs Most Summer has a way of bringing unexpected pressure. The school year ends and suddenly it feels like we're supposed to produce a season full of memorable vacations, exciting experiences, and picture-perfect family moments. Social media doesn't help. Everywhere you look, someone's curated version of what summer *shoul...

Episode Title: Confidence, Connection, and the One Decision That Changes Everything Episode Description: What do parents want most for their teens? After years of working with families and listening to the questions parents ask, the answer keeps coming back to two things: confidence and connection. We want our teens to trust themselves, advocate for themselves, and navigate life with confidence. W...

Why You Keep Recreating the Parenting Patterns You Want to Stop Why do we keep falling back into the exact parenting patterns we desperately want to change? In this episode of The Teenage Guide Podcast , I’m breaking down why so many parents unconsciously recreate stress, conflict, overcontrol, emotional reactivity, and disconnection — even when they deeply want peace, connection, and calm in thei...

In this deeply personal episode of The Teenage Guide Podcast, Ashley shares the story of caring for her mother through cancer while simultaneously parenting teenagers, running a business, and navigating her own midlife transformation. This conversation is about more than caregiving. It’s about what happens when old family dynamics resurface in adulthood. When the patterns you thought you healed co...

What if the missing piece in your parenting reset isn’t another strategy… but the way you speak to yourself after hard moments? In this final episode of the Reset Series, Ashley walks parents through the third and often overlooked piece of sustainable change: self-compassion . Because awareness without compassion can quickly become shame. And regulation without gentleness can still leave parents s...

If you’ve ever found yourself thinking, “I know better… so why do I keep reacting this way?” — this episode is for you. Here’s what’s really going on: this isn’t a willpower problem. It’s a nervous system pattern. In Part 2 of the May Reset Series, we move one layer deeper—from awareness into regulation. Because awareness helps you see the pattern… but regulation is what helps you shift it in real...

If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in a thought loop… replaying the same worries, reacting in ways you wish you hadn’t, or feeling like you know what to do but just can’t seem to do it—this episode is for you. This is Part 1 of the Reset Series, where we’re beginning with the foundation of everything I teach: The Three Selves . And today, we’re starting with Self-Awareness . Because here’s what’s...