Teenage Kicks Podcast

Today Helen Wills talks to teacher and tuition coach Jemma about her experiences of undiagnosed dyslexia through her teenage years. Also on the podcast is Karen Hautz, a learning coach who provides counselling and skills-based coaching for adults and teenagers with dyslexia. She gives some wonderful tips about how to understand and support someone with dyslexia, Jemma was diagnosed with dyslexia a...

In this episode Helen Wills and Lorena Salazar talk about how stress can affect teenagers, the long-term implications of unmanaged worry, and how to support a teenager with anxiety. When Lorena was 14 she was diagnosed with gastritis, caused by stress. Eventually she was told she had a gastric ulcer, and by the time she was in college her anxiety was so bad it had affected her immune system, and i...

*Trigger warning - episode contains references to sexual abuse. Has your teenager been groomed? Or are you a young person experiencing grooming? In this episode Emma Cantrell talks about her experience of grooming at the age of 12 over a number of years. What does grooming mean? The NSPCC defines grooming as follows: Grooming is when someone builds a relationship, trust and emotional connection wi...

Nathan Todd was born with cerebral palsy. He describes so charmingly how this affected him growing up. As he got older, he began to experience loneliness as a result of the labels others placed on him, including the adults around him. Nathan is now a connection coach, helping his clients to find meaningful connections with other people and combat loneliness in their lives. Nathan also campaigns ag...

How do you get the best GCSE results you can during Covid-19? If your child was expecting to be sitting GCSEs in 2021 the chances are they and you have been been feeling quite stressed since the announcement that GCSEs will not go ahead "as normal" in 2021. Teachers Emily and Paul Hughes answer the question of how to pass your GCSEs in straightforward terms: 6 Tips to do well in GCSEs Impress your...

What happens when the unthinkable happens, and you suddenly have to become the 'parent' to your own sibling? This is what happened to Taylor James, who was just 25 when his mum suffered terrible brain injury following a routine operation. On the day his sister started her GCSEs Taylor was faced with needing to tell her their mum might not live, and subsequently making the decision to turn off her...

This week on the Teenage Kicks podcast I have a rather exciting guest - and actual, real, live teenager! Kk is a teen podcaster, and she reached out to me because she wanted parents to "understand what teens really think and feel" about things like bullying, friendships, and school. She talked to me about growing up with social media, and the impact it has on teenagers' mental health. What teenage...

I had a fascinating chat with Olivia (not her real name) about how she felt as a child and teenager witnessing the difficulties in her parents' marriage after her father was unfaithful to her mother over the course of several years. Olivia's parents are still together, but throughout her teenage years she was affected by the impact her father's affairs had on her own life, and on her mother's emot...

Do you think your teenager is moody and negative? Becky Goddard Hill is co-author of Be Happy, Be You - a teenage guide to happiness . Her book - and this podcast episode - is packed with small tips that teens can easily fit into their lives to help improve how they're feeling. Our teens are happier than we think they are However, beneath the sometimes surly demeanor, Becky says our teenagers are...

Victoria Metal is a music teacher from North Carolina. At 25, she’s one of the youngest guests on Teenage Kicks , and much closer in age to my teenagers than she is to me. She talks about something I think is common to lots of teenagers, and adults, Depression. Teenage depression and anxiety facts Depression and anxiety among teens is common, with nearly a third presenting with symptoms of an anxi...

Gina Lee Lyons had a perfectly normal childhood until her Dad left her Mum when she was 12. That started a chain of events including the family losing their home, and her brother spending time in a category A prison . When she was 17, Gina's older brother was killed suddenly in a car accident. We talk about how Gina's mum gradually became an alcoholic , and how Gina herself "got through" those yea...

Ryan Gallagher is a firefighter from Burlington in Canada. When he was just 16, Ryan’s father died as Ryan himself was performing CPR. Ryan talks about how he never really 'coped' with what happened, just getting on with his teenage life, doing his usual things. It was only when he was a little older, and started drinking, that he realised alcohol made him feel 'better,' and he started using it to...

Callum Schofield said his own name for the first time at the age of 18 without stuttering. He spent his childhood and teenage years without a voice, which he says had a massive impact on his mental health. Callum is now a podcast host, motivational speaker and stammering activist raising awareness of the needs of children (and adults) with a stammer. He also advocates for male mental health on his...

As our kids move towards the teenage years it can be difficult for parents to adjust . Starting secondary school is a huge deal for parents as well as kids, and in addition to the physical independence they’re going to need from you, it’s also likely that they’re going to start accessing areas of the online world that you might feel more than a bit twitchy about. Elizabeth Milovidov is the founder...

Sam Thomas is an award winning mental health campaigner, writer and public speaker. He lives in Brighton and is in recovery from bulimia and alcohol addiction.  I first found Sam in Happiful Magazine, where he's a contributor on mental health issues. What is bulimia? Sam is very open in this podcast episode about how his experiences of eating disorders began. Listen to the podcast to hear his...

Is your teenager struggling with their weight or body image? My guest today knows all about feeling uncomfortable in her body, and the negativity from friends and peers at school that can come with that. Margaret Steffie says she was never the fit kid – she openly admits that as a teen, she was more likely to be found curled up with a book than playing sports, but she also suffered with food intol...

Has your teenager dropped out of education? And if so, are you worried about their future prospects? I’m hoping that this episode will give you some comfort, and maybe a little bit of inspiration to help your child move forwards. Tracy Edwards MBE is a sailor, author, motivational speaker, mature student and charity founder. Incredibly, all of these achievements came from a girl who was expelled f...

I got goosebumps listening back to the clips in the introduction for this podcast – Michelle has such a fantastic outlook on life – I promise this one is a must listen! Michelle Perry’s father was black, but he left the family home when she was 3, and she grew up in her mother’s white Jewish community. As a child she had no black influences in her life at all. Michelle talks about how until she wa...

Welcome to the Teenage Kicks Podcast, where we take the fear out of parenting – or becoming – a teenager. I’m Helen Wills, and together with my guests I explore the ups and downs of the teenage years – both as a parent, AND as the teens going through it! When I started the podcast in Series 1 I had NO idea how much it was going to resonate with listeners. As a mum I’ve always turned to other paren...

If your child has experienced the loss of a parent, or someone very close to them, I hope this episode will help. My guest in this episode is Mark Lemon, an award-winning children’s author who talks openly about his own grief after the murder of his Dad. A bit about Mark Lemon Mark is the host of the brilliant podcast, Grief is My Superpower , where he chats with his guests about their losses, in...

In this bonus episode I talk to Lee David, a GP with a specialist interest in young people's mental health, and in using Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help with anxiety and depression. I chatted to Lee about how distressing the Covid 19 pandemic is for teenagers and young adults; many have had the rug pulled out from under them, missing exams, proms, and important rituals of moving on fro...

Trigger warning: In this episode Natasha tells me about some of the domestic violence she experienced as a child and teenager.   In the final episode of this series, I have the privilege of talking to Natasha, who was physically and psychologically abused by her mother’s boyfriend from quite a young age, until she left home to go to university. Now a photographer and writer, Natasha has taken...

Has your teenager had to deal with something life-changing? Life can be tough, and when something big happens to change your child’s landscape it can suddenly throw them right off the track they thought they were on, and into what can feel like quite a scary place for the whole family. Daniel Newman is HR Advisor at JDRF, the charity dedicated to Type 1 Diabetes awareness and research. He was diag...

*Trigger warning: Jenny (not her real name) tells me about her experience of being raped in her teens. This is an incredibly personal interview. Jenny talks about what happened, how she felt about herself after the incident, and how it felt to go through legal proceedings afterwards. She also tells me about how - with the support of her friends - she recovered from her experience, and believes it...

Emma Bradley is a Parenting Expert and mum of three. She has a long career as a teacher behind her expertise, but what's really given her the title is her ability to empathise with young people. And that comes from her own personal experiences as much as from her work. Emma didn't get the GCSE grade she'd been predicted, and this started a course of events that saw her spiral into depression. Even...