Parenting Post-Wilderness: Parenting a Struggling Teen Before, During and After Treatment

Moments of disagreement are perfectly normal when there are more than one person involved in raising a (struggling) teen. One parent wants to implement a certain boundary, while the other doesn’t. One parent wants to be more strict, while the other prefers a looser approach.  Today, I want to propose some ideas to you about ‘same page parenting’, as I’d like to call it. Before we dive in, it’s imp...

Let’s get into action parents! Today we’re talking all about setting the stage to create a parent home plan that actually works!  If there is one takeaway from this episode, it’s this: Boundaries are not a way to control your teen. They’re a way to control yourself. They’re a way to take up your role as a parent and lead. The change begins with us, parents. This is it. Doing our work first, gettin...

Some people think that being a parent coach means I have it all figured out. Hah! I’ll tell you about a situation that happened just last week that will show you how untrue this is! Even though I’m a coach, and Seth’s a mentor, we’re not done. We’re still a work in progress. And we always will be. But by being intentional, and realizing the growth we’ve been through, we can learn to find joy, even...

Many parents confuse setting boundaries with requests or expectations but they are not the same. The way you phrase your boundaries and present them to your teen is incredibly important. Let’s learn more about these common pitfalls in setting boundaries in today’s episode! In this episode on common pitfalls in setting boundaries, we discuss: Understanding the difference between boundaries, request...

Are you having trouble setting healthy boundaries with your teen and actually sticking to them?  If you are, you’re not alone! It’s one of the topics I get the most questions on, and I used to be the worst at it myself!  But I can tell you this: Setting boundaries and following through with the consequences is in the best interest of your whole family.  Setting boundaries is one of my favorite top...

I’m continuing my conversation with Les Harris, wilderness therapist and LCW, who has some incredible insights to share about the importance of listening to the feedback our children give us. Let’s start with an important reminder: none of us are perfect. We all mess up from time to time, and that's totally okay.  Now, here's a game-changer: listening to our kids' feedback. By truly...

Today, I’m joined by Les Harris, a wilderness therapist and LCW to talk about the things we can do as parents before thinking of sending our kids to wilderness. Here’s one thing both Les and I know to be true: A regulated parent has the ability to regulate a dysregulated child. Isn’t that what we all want to be able to do? If this feels unattainable for you right now, know that it’s not. You can s...

How often do you wake up and your mind starts racing about all the things you have to do that day, leaving you paralyzed? How many times do you start thinking of everything that needs to be done this week, leaving you feeling overwhelmed and exhausted? When tasks or to-do lists seem long and overwhelming, it can become hard to accomplish even the smallest tasks. This is the case for all of us, and...

What advice would a wilderness guide give us parents? That’s a question we’ll get answered today. Mark Adamski is back with invaluable advice about parenting and our relationship with our teens.  With the right mindset, anything in a relationship can be fixed. That’s how Mark sees it and I couldn’t agree more. So what does this mindset entail? What do we need to do as parents to heal our relations...

Being the sibling of a teen that’s struggling and goes to treatment isn’t easy. Mark Adamski, who is now a wilderness guide himself, experienced this first-hand. In today’s episode, he shares his experiences when his brother went to treatment for substance abuse and how this eventually led Mark to become a wilderness guide. Mark is sharing his story of becoming a wilderness guide and shares some g...

Every one of us has about 80.000 thoughts each day. Most of our life is created with our minds. And the more we have a specific thought, the more it tends to become a belief. So, what if you’re having negative thoughts about your teen? What if thoughts like ‘I just really don’t like my kid right now’ or ‘I can hardly stand my kid right now’ have crossed your mind? Believe me when I say, you’re not...

If your teen is coming up to their sobriety anniversary, or even their anniversary of going to or coming home from wilderness, you might feel the need to celebrate. But should we indeed celebrate during those anniversaries or does your teen need something else instead? With his own 5-year sobriety anniversary coming up, Seth shared his perspective with me: his sobriety anniversary doesn’t feel lik...

Is it time for your kid to go back to high school after treatment? Maybe the transition back to school will run flawlessly. For many families though, returning back to regular high school isn’t the preferred option. Or possibly it’s simply not working. Online education might be an excellent solution! Today, I’m interviewing Anjilee and Sara, co-founders of Mountain Point Academy, an online school...

Feelings can be described as a vibration we experience in our bodies. Often we think that those feelings are involuntary and caused by life circumstances out of our control. But actually, our feelings are caused by what we think. And the good thing about this is that we can control our thoughts pretty well!  The pause is a space we can create in order to feel our feelings BEFORE we react to them....

Today, we’re talking about burnout, and more specifically, therapeutic burnout in both parents and teens. Not many people realize therapeutic burnout is a thing so let’s have a look at what it is and where it comes from. In this episode on therapeutic burnout in parents and teens, we discuss: Seth’s experiences with therapeutic burnout; What therapeutic burnout looks like from the outside; The neg...

Implementing parenting tools as preventative measures, even before things get out of hand, is absolutely invaluable when it comes to parenting a struggling teen. Changing the environment, being able to regulate your own emotions differently, being able to relate to your kid’s emotions and reason with your kid differently, are all skills that can be learned.  Today’s guest, Laura Goldstein, has dev...

If you’re familiar with my work or have listened to my podcast before, you know how I strive to help parents see their own part and take responsibility for it. Today I’m having such a valuable conversation around this with my guest, Laura Goldstein, LMFT. She shares some amazing metaphors that will really help shift the way we think and show us the role parents play in their family’s dynamics and...

We’re rounding up our Wilderness series with this episode on transitioning your child home after wilderness or other treatment. Don’t forget parents, wilderness (or treatment) is not a one-stop-fix for anything. Once your child comes home, a new chapter of your family’s journey begins.  In this episode on transitioning your child home from wilderness, we discuss: Beth’s story of transitioning her...

Have you already thought about what’s going to happen once wilderness is over? It’s a tough decision that every wilderness parent is faced with. It might feel overwhelming or you might even feel like you don’t have any options at all. But I want you to know that you do have options to choose from!  This episode will help you make the best decision for your teen and your family! In this episode on...

Parent Trish is back to share her experiences when her severely depressed and suicidal young-adult son came back from wilderness. It didn’t take long for things to go downhill and her son to become suicidal again. As a family, they decided on one agreement that works for them and that changed everything. This agreement is sending a very powerful message to her son and reflects exactly what Trish h...

Today’s parent, Trish, got her severely depressed and suicidal, young-adult son to choose to go to wilderness. We hear her journey of offering wilderness to her just 18-year-old son and what got him to go. She openheartedly shares her relief when he was there, her experience when he ran away, and the disappointment she felt after wilderness. Trish is full of great advice for parents and I’m super...

Even though the things that are happening and the behavior your child is showing aren’t your fault, you do have a role to play in it. And if your child comes back from wilderness into the exact same environment and you haven’t worked on anything while they were away, your family will most likely be back where you were before wilderness in no-time. So what can you work on while your child is in wil...

You’ve decided wilderness will be the best next step for your family to take. But there are so many programs out there and every family has their own, unique needs. You’re gonna want to find the right fit.  In this episode, we’ll walk you through the best ways and places to gather information about specific wilderness programs so you can find the best fit for your family. And if you’re unsure what...

Expectations can be tricky, and so also when it comes to wilderness. To avoid going in with the wrong expectations as much as possible, we’re going to share with you today what wilderness is and what it is not so you can have realistic expectations before deciding whether or not it is the best option for your family. Wilderness is not for everyone but it can be the reset your teen and family needs...

There’s so much to say about transport, so let’s continue our conversation with Gabriela Deambrosio! We talk about everything you need to know about transportation to wilderness and what things to consider. You might be surprised by my own story about my son’s transport to wilderness. In the second part of the episode, we talk about the power of language and how the language many people use around...