Talking To Teens: Expert Tips for Parenting Teenagers

Peggy Orenstein, author of Boys & Sex , a current New York Times Bestseller (as well as several other bestsellers!), joins Andy for an in-depth conversation about the culture of sex, intimacy, and relationships that teens are facing and which conversations are crucial to have with your teens - despite how awkward it may be! Full show notes Teenage hookup culture is dangerous. And while most pa...

Jessica Lahey, author of The Gift of Failure and storied educator, shares the secrets of what makes teens successful in academics, at home, and in the world. If your teen does fail, Lahey knows where to look to find the silver lining. Full show notes Picture the scene: your teen sends you a frantic message from school, telling you that they left an important piece of weekly vocab homework behind....

Lisa Heffernan, co-founder and author of Grown & Flown , shares her vast knowledge on parenting during the late-teens and even early 20s. Our Kids may be more grown up, but it doesn’t mean parents don’t still have an important role to play! Full show notes The day will come when you have to drop off your child in their new room and go home without them. They’ll likely be smiling, waving as you...

Dr. Laura Markham, author of Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids , and Peaceful Parent, Happy Sibling , founded Aha! Parenting as a resource for parents who are struggling to control their disobedient, disrespectful, and/or depressive kid. Dr. Markham shares her secrets for how to flip punishment on its head and get the best possible results--and relationship--with your teen. Full show notes You caught yo...

Dr. Amy Alamar, author of The Parenting Project and Parenting for the Genius , takes insight from the educational sphere and applies it to practical parenting techniques to get through to your teen. Whether you have a teen that shuts down, or one that over-shares, Dr. Alamar has suggestions for exactly what to say when the tough conversations get going! Full show notes Do you notice your teen shut...

Jenifer Fox, author of Your Child’s Strengths and an education expert, covers the three areas to watch for strengths: learning, relationships, and activities. The key is to embrace your teens strengths, even though on the surface they might seem “different.” Full show notes Riiiiiing! Out of nowhere, your phone disrupts another day at work. The name of your teen son’s high school flashes across th...

Mike Adamick, author of Raising Empowered Daughters , shares his insights on avoiding negative cultural narratives to raise strong girls. And how we raise boys is an important piece of the puzzle too. Full show notes As parents, we want our kids to grow up with a sense of equality. We want them to know that both boys and girls are capable of greatness, that regardless of their gender, they’re free...

Dr. Robert Keith Wallace, author of Dharma Parenting and an expert in the physiology-psychology connection, joins us for a lively discussion on how your teen's (and your) brain-body type may be affecting your relationship. Dr. Wallace clues us into the scientifically backed Ayurvedic doshas - vata, pitta, and kapha - and how to deal with each type. Full show notes Parents Just Don’t Understand May...

Audrey Monke, author of Happy Campers , shares the wealth of knowledge she’s gained from mentoring kids and camp counselors for the past 30 years. It’s incredible just how many tricks from counseling campers can be applied in the home! Full show notes Unhappy Camper Everyone loves compliments, right? So you thought until you said to your teen, “You look so cute in the new sweater I gave you!” and...

Barbara Schneider, co-author of “Becoming Adult” , speaks with Andy about her research on how teens’ environment can influence their thoughts and beliefs on college, work, and what’s possible for them. Full show notes Here’s a surprising fact: most teens have NO idea what they want to do when they “grow up.” And even the ones who do have no idea how to get there. Unfortunately, this can make it mo...

Linda McGurk, author of There's No Such Thing As Bad Weather , clues us in on the surprising benefits of outdoor time...and how to get your kid out there in the first place! Full show notes After another long day of quarantine, you exit your office and see your two teenagers sitting on the couch, engrossed in their phones. How can they look at the screen for so long? If you were them, you’d be run...

Erin Clabough joins us for a discussion on the importance of giving teens the right amount of power...and making sure they know how to use it! Instilling a value of empathy is key to making sure teens wield power fairly. And how do you do that? Erin says bribing is an option! Full show notes Your Punk Kid Do you ever have moments where you look at your teen and think “Wow, sometimes you can be a t...

Joanna Guest shares the lessons she (re)learned about meaningfully connecting with your kids while curating her book, Folded Wisdom , a collection of the best of Joanna’s dad’s 4775 notes to her and her brother. An inspiring story packed with parenting take-aways. Full show notes Do you ever feel like the week goes by and you haven’t really connected with your teen? You might look back to find tha...

Author Katherine Lewis speaks with Andy about why kids lack resilience and capability more than ever. By rescuing kids from every micro stressor they may encounter, parents are doing more harm than good - and when it comes to behavior, we want the good stuff! Full show notes There are teens out there that have NO idea how to do the laundry, cook a meal, manage their time, pay bills–the list goes o...

Christine Koh, author of Minimalist Parenting , reveals how to get more out of your family life by doing LESS. She says “minimalism” isn’t about getting rid of apps and toilet paper, it’s about making room for the stuff that helps your family thrive while cutting back on everything else. Full show notes Does your life reflect your strongest values? You can value travel, and still spend 50 weeks of...

Catherine Pearlman, author of Ignore It , explains how to make bad behavior stop by pretending you don't notice it. Discover Catherine's secret strategies for eliminating annoying behaviors on this episode. Learn what you can ignore and what you can't as well as how to re-engage after the behavior stops. Full show notes Parenting is a hard job on the best of days. It’s even harder when your child...

Dr. Jennifer Salerno shares communication tactics that you can put into practice today to start reshaping your relationship with your teen. As founder of the non-profit Possibilities for Change, Jennifer knows a thing or two about impacting the lives of teens! Full show notes At some point as a parent, you’ve gone into your child’s room and stumbled across something that left you shocked. You neve...

Susan Groner, founder of the Parenting Mentor , shares her wisdom and parenting “hacks” with us. Discover my favorite tips from Susan’s latest book Parenting: 101 Ways to Rock Your World, and Susan’s #1 reason why fights break out between parents and teens. Plus, what to say instead of “Because I said so.” Full show notes What kind of support do you need as a parent? When you pick up a parenting b...

Lisa Damour, bestselling author of Untangled and Under Pressure , reveals a startling trend on this episode: stress and anxiety are on the rise among teenage girls. Learn why this is happening and what parents can do about it from the psychologist who writes the adolescence column for the New York Times. Full show notes Imagine this: Your young teen has been practicing piano for almost a year now,...

Michelle Mitchell, author of 5 parenting books, shares some surprising facts from her newest book, Self Harm . She says teens act reckless and harm themselves when they can't find a better way to deal with strong negative emotions. Thankfully, there's a lot parents can do to help. Full show notes A surprising 10% of teens today are participating in self harm, but about 87% of those teens never tal...

Stephanie Sarkis, author of Gaslighting, explains how parents should handle emotionally manipulative teenagers, partners, and ex-partners. She also shares strategies for preparing your teen to deal with emotionally manipulative people in their own lives. Full show notes What is Gaslighting? Has anyone ever dismissed you as crazy when you made a perfectly valid point? Have you ever been accused of...

Gia Lynne, author of On Blossoming , thinks the current model of sex education does more harm than good. In this episode, she reveals how to adopt a "pleasure-focused", or "sex positive education", approach instead. Use these tips to set your teen up for sexual success. Full show notes Words like sex and sexuality can sometimes make us squirm. There’s a lot of social stigma when it comes to talkin...

David Sortino, author and psychologist, talks about the lessons he learned working at a school for problem teenagers during his twenties. He developed a unique approach, using kinesthetic activities to engage the students. This episode also covers his book on the neuroscience of learning. Full show notes It’s no secret that teens can be moody and irritable from time to time, but it can become a la...

Bill Beausay, the author of Teenage Boys! , talks about how to build a strong connection with a tough teen and how to challenge teens to step up and handle their own problems. He also reveals how to teach manners to teens. Full show notes When it comes to parenting today’s teens , our goal is to raise our kids to be able to survive without us. We want to imbue our teens with the ability to adapt t...

Judy Arnall, the author of four parenting books including Discipline without Distress and Parenting with Patience , explains how to stop teenage rebellion and attitude problems instantly using non-punitive parenting strategies. Your teens will surely respond to these counter-intuitive approaches. Full show notes Parenting with patience can be hard when your teen has a snarky, dismissive, or otherw...