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Parenting Teenagers Untangled: The award-winning podcast for parents of tweens and teens, offering realistic, science-backed
Parenting Teenagers Untangled: The award-winning podcast for parents of tweens and teens, offering realistic, science-backed
Parenting Teenagers Untangled is an award-winning podcast hosted by Rachel Richards, a teen parenting specialist and former BBC correspondent. The show offers realistic, science-backed advice for parents of tweens and teens, emphasizing curiosity and self-compassion over perfection. Rachel shares personal experiences and practical strategies to make parenting teenagers less stressful and more enjoyable.
Episodes
Cancel Culture: Helping Your Teen Handle Disagreement and Exclusion
Ask Rachel anythingHas your teenager come home upset because their friends have suddenly turned against them? Or have you heard that your child is part of a group chat where everyone is being urged to stop talking to someone? When a friendship conflict spreads through a whole group—and onto social media—it can be hard for parents to know what to say, when to step in, and how to help without making
Are we parents too soft on our teens or too hard on ourselves? Weekend Wonder Room
Ask Rachel anythingIt’s one thing hearing what experts think, but I’m always left wondering how their advice translates into the real life of a parent. If you’re wondering too then you’re going to love this chat between Katharine Radice and me. In it, we discuss what was said in my interviews with Dr Leonard Sax and Dr Tara Porter. Basically we cover the reality of setting healthy boundaries aroun
Motivating Boys in a World of Gaming, AI & Porn.
Ask Rachel anythingIf your son seems apathetic, glued to gaming, or strangely unbothered by school, you are not alone, and you are not imagining it. I decided to create this discussion because I have been contacted by so many parents about the lacklustre attitudes they are seeing in their sons, looking for advice on what to do.Around the world, boys are falling behind academically, drifting social
Stressed About Parenting Your Teen? Reduce Perfectionism
Ask Rachel anythingAre you trying so hard to be a good parent that you might be doing too much for your tween or teen, and accidentally making life harder for both of you?In this episode of Parenting Teenagers Untangled, Rachel Richards talks with clinical psychologist and author Dr. Tara Porter about her new book "Good Enough" and why good enough parenting is actually the best kind of p
A Better Way for Parents to talk to Teens About Screen Time: Fear Less & Wonder More
Ask Rachel anythingWe’re living through an age where it can feel like our teenagers’ entire lives are happening behind a screen we can’t see. Meanwhile mental health problems in teens are a rising problem that is being blamed on their devices. The instinctive response for many of us is to clamp down: ban certain apps, monitor every move, or take away devices altogether.But as Professor Candice Odg
Banning Social Media Won't Work: How Parents Can Actually Help Teens
Ask Rachel anythingAre smartphones and social media really damaging our teenagers’ mental health – or are we looking in the wrong place? In this episode, Rachel Richards talks with Professor Candice Odgers, a leading expert on adolescent mental health in the digital age, to unpack what decades of research actually show about teens, tech and wellbeing.We explore why today’s teenagers are doing bett
Nagging Your Teenager? We Parents Talk Family Routines, in the Wonder Room
Ask Rachel anythingAs a teenager, I grew up in a home with almost no routines. No one talked about what needed to happen when, and I remember constantly thinking, “What am I supposed to do now?” Life felt like reinventing the wheel every day. I didn’t feel safe, and I felt a lot of energy went into trying to cope in the chaos.Now, as a parent and host of Teenagers Untangled, I’ve come to see routi
Teen Girls Mental Health, Intense Pressure, and How Parents Can Help
Ask Rachel anythingIf your teenage daughter says, “I have anxiety,” “my ADHD was out of control today,” or calls a friend “toxic,” it can feel both strangely sophisticated and oddly shallow at the same time. She has language. She has labels. But somehow, you’re still not sure what’s really going on inside her.In this episode with psychiatrist Dr Suzanne Garfinkel-Crowell, author of Girlhood Transl
Curiosity: What’s wrong with my teen? At the Big Hug Community Cafe
Ask Rachel anythingThank you, thank you, thank you, Wirohugo for your incredible donation. You are so kind! Here’s the question posed by one of our community using the Ask Rachel Anything button:My fifteen year old boy seems to show no curiousity about the world. Does not know countries, capitals, does not read (except when incentived). Today, he didn't recognise the neighbouring village whic
Starting Secondary School: How to Help Your Child With Friends, Homework & the Big Transition
Ask Rachel anythingThey're the oldest in their primary and suddenly our babies have to cope with being the youngest in their senior school. It's a big leap, and it comes just at the point when our kids are becoming much more aware of themselves and others with a big dollop of puberty-driven insecurity.It's easy to worry about them making friends, coping with their newfound indepenen
Teenagers, AI & Friendship: Is ChatGPT Changing How Our Kids Connect? Parenting Unpacked in the Wonder Room
Ask Rachel anythingIs AI changing the way teenagers understand friendship? Should we worry about teens turning to chatbots for advice and emotional support? And what can parents do to help their children build strong, real-world relationships?Welcome to a new Teenagers Untangled Community Catchup, where Rachel Richards is joined by teacher, author and mum of two teenagers Katherine Radice to talk
Teen Friendship Problems: How to Help Your Teen Make and Keep Friends
Ask Rachel anythingSo many parents come to me saying 'My teen has no friends. What should I do?' and I can't help wondering if we are missing one of the most important ways to help them. Being good at friendships ourselves.Think about it. If we're not good at making and maintaining friends ourselves, who will our babies learn their friendship skills from?In this episode of Teen
Empty Nest Syndrome: How to Cope When Your Child Leaves Home Vintage
Ask Rachel anythingWhat happens when the children we’ve poured our hearts, time, and energy into finally leave home? If you’re facing the prospect of a child heading off to university or moving out—and feeling anything from pride and excitement to grief, anxiety, or a loss of identity—this episode is for you.First, I revisit a powerful conversation with mindfulness coach Susie Asli, where we unpac
Exam Results: What if my teen doesn't get the grades they want? Vintage
Ask Rachel anythingA listener parenting a teen son wrote to say both of them felt pretty stunned when he was rejected from the university he'd set his heart on. She asked for the best way to help our teenagers cope with this sort of disappointment. I thought it was a great question and a good opportunity to also look at how we parents can best navigate when our teen has worked for years towar
Is Your Teen Ready for University? What Parents Need to Know INTERVIEW WITH MY TEEN
Ask Rachel anythingSending your teen off to university can feel both exciting and terrifying. In this episode of Parenting Teenagers Untangled, I talk with my 19-year-old daughter Phoebe, home after her first year at Oxford University, about what parents really need to know to prepare their teens for university life. We cover the big worries parents Google most: how teens make friends in Freshers’
How to Stop Yelling at Your Teen: Stay Calm, Set Boundaries & End Power Struggles
Ask Rachel anythingAre you tired of yelling at your teen – and hating yourself afterwards?In this episode of Teenagers Untangled, I talked with parenting and relationship coach Diane Sorensen about how to stay calm with teens, stop power struggles, and set healthy boundaries without becoming a pushover.If you’re dealing with eye-rolling, “disrespectful” attitudes, shouting matches, and constant te
Step-Parenting Teens: Why Connection Matters More Than Discipline
Ask Rachel anythingIf you’ve ever fallen in love with someone who already has children, or tried to blend two families and thought, “Why is this so hard? What’s wrong with me?” – this episode is for you. You are not broken, and you are definitely not alone.I was joined by Masha Rusanov, coach, writer, and author of Repatterned.Together we unpack:Why step‑parenting can feel so emotionally different
Parenting Guilt: Bad Parenting Science, The Motherhood Myth & What Actually Matters
Ask Rachel anythingAre women naturally good at being mothers or is that a cultural myth? It matters because if we believe women are naturally good at it then they deserve no kudos for the work they do and when we do struggle it lays the blame firmly at our feet, rather than the society we live in. In this episode, I was joined by historian and postnatal practitioner Alex Bollen, author of Motherdo
The vital parenting shift: becoming a mentor to your teen
Ask Rachel anythingWelcome to a special mini-series from Teenagers Untangled — seven simple, practical "parenting seeds" to plant over a week, preparing for when your child moves into secondary school or returns from summer. These are gentle shifts, not rules to perfect: They're designed to help you focus on what really matters, and reduce your stress. They'll help you to move
Reading Festival Advice From Teens: Vintage INTERVIEW WITH MY TEENS
Ask Rachel anythingAnnouncing my summer top tips series where I give you a short episode of tips organised around themes to help you focus on what you and your tween or teen needs to prepare you for the new school year.Make sure you’re following the show to ensure you don’t miss any and if you want to get them early and have the tips delivered weekly directly to you just click here Send me the fre
Teaching Teens About Money: Investing, Gambling & the Money Lessons Schools Miss
Ask Rachel anythingSeven in ten teenagers say they're very or extremely interested in investing. Not just curious, genuinely, actively interested. The problem is that most of us parents didn't become aware of investing until we were young adults or older, and half of parents say they wish they'd started sooner. That's a regret a lot of us are carrying around quietly, and withou
Teen Exam Stress: How to Help Without Nagging, Pressuring or Taking Over
Ask Rachel anythingExam stress — are your teen’s exams quietly overwhelming them (and you)?In this episode of Teenagers Untangled I spoke with Katherine Radice, author of The Parent’s Guide to Exam Stress, to explore:* Why teens withdraw and how parental questions can shut down conversations about school* What makes exams uniquely stressful (risk, public outcomes, long timelines)* How parents can
How to Raise a Good Citizen: Teaching Teens Critical Thinking, Politics & Civic Responsibility
Ask Rachel anythingWho's teaching our teens how to be good citizens; someone who feels a part of society and enagages meaningfully in creating a world we all want to live in rather than someone who just buys stuff?In this episode I talked with Lindsey Cormack, political scientist and author of How to Raise a Citizen, about why we parents must see it as our job to raise capable, engaged citize
What's a Good Parent? A Bonus Episode in Which I Ask My Own Teenager
Ask Rachel anythingIn this bonus episode Amelia and I discussed how hard it is to get parenting right, focusing on the misconceptions of gentle parenting and the importance of setting high expectations with support. The full listen to the full episode and read all of my thoughts on it by clicking here. It doesn't cost you anything, it's just a better place for me to store it.We thought i
Why Teenage Boys Pull Away: The Crisis of Connection With Dr Niobe Way
Ask Rachel anythingWhat are we really telling boys about how to be a man? And why do so many teens seem to be struggling with how to be in the world, from masculinity to friendship, and mental health?In this conversation with Professor Niobe Way (NYU developmental psychologist, author of Deep Secrets and Rebels with a Cause), we dug into 40 years of research with adolescents. Her work is extraordi
Teen Gambling Is Surging: How Gaming & Loot Boxes Are Hooking Our Kids
Ask Rachel anythingThere's been an alarming rise of teen gambling, according to Commonsense Media, with half of 16-17-year-old boys reporting gambling in the past year; surpassing alcohol, nicotine, and marijuana use.Commonsense media says 'we're at a pivotal moment for boys' well-being. We can either let gambling become normalized during a critical period of their development,
Teen Brain Health: Screens, Dopamine, Junk Food & How to Raise a Thriving Teen
Ask Rachel anythingIf you’ve ever looked at your teen glued to a screen, living on junk food, or melting down over “nothing” and thought, What am I doing wrong? — this episode will change how you see everything.In today’s fast-paced, often overwhelming world, understanding how to foster resilience, well-being, and cognitive development is key to raising thriving childrenToday's guest, Dr Katy
Teenagers and Grief: How to Support Your Teen Through Death or Serious Illness: Vintage
Ask Rachel anythingParenting tweens and teens is challenging enough, but when someone in the family becomes seriously ill or dies, it can feel overwhelmingly difficult. In all honesty, we Westerners are terrible at talking about death, often avoiding it, so when it comes to talking with teenagers about the subject most of us don't feel equipped.Many who have suffered a loss, or are suffering
Is Your Teen Being Manipulated Online? Teaching Critical Thinking in the Age of AI
Ask Rachel anythingOur teenagers are growing up in a world saturated with information, outrage, and algorithms designed to keep them scrolling. As parents, it can feel overwhelming: How do we help our kids navigate AI, social media, fake news, and online manipulation—without either over-controlling them or throwing up our hands?In this episode, I talk to Dr Maree Davies, senior lecturer at the Uni
Parenting Teens With an Angry or Critical Partner: How to Handle Conflict at Home
Ask Rachel anything“My husband is highly critical of the teenagers, gets angry over little things and yells, so I’m having to make up for his behavior, and I often avoid involving him in parenting decisions."This message came into my Substack. It was a plaintiff request for support and a plea to know how others deal with the problem. When I posted it (with her permission), a flood of parents
Is the Manosphere Teaching Your Son to Hate Women? How Parents Can Respond
Ask Rachel anything“Is my son secretly being taught to hate women?”If you’ve ever heard your boy casually repeat a line from Andrew Tate… seen him disappear into his room with his phone… or wondered what on earth he’s absorbing on TikTok and YouTube, this episode is for you. The manosphere is grooming boys to believe women are the enemy—and most parents don’t even realise it’s happening. In this c
Teen Exam Stress & Motivation: What Actually Helps (and What Makes It Worse) INTERVIEW WITH MY TEEN
Ask Rachel anythingIt's exam season and so important to keep a steady ship with all of the stress in the house. I thought it would be a great time to interrupt my youngest, Amelia, for an honest chat about what she sees as both good and bad strategies for supporting teenagers through exams, and homework; particularly those with dyslexia and ADHD. We wanted to give parents hope, an honest insi
How to Connect With Your Teen: Stop Trying to Be the Perfect Parent
Ask Rachel anythingSo many parents of teens quietly worry that they’re “failing” — not doing enough, not staying calm enough, not getting the outcomes they hoped for. This episode is an invitation to step off that perfectionist treadmill. Instead of parenting for perfect grades, perfect behavior, or perfect choices, we explore how to parent for connection: building daily rituals of togetherness, m
Teen Dating, First Love & Heartbreak: What Parents Need to Know
Ask Rachel anythingWhen parenting teens through their first experience of love and attraction it can bring up a lot of feelings we thought we'd neatly packed away; the intensity of that first crush, the humiliation of not being chosen, the heartbreak that felt like it would swallow us whole. As a parent trying to support our kids through it can be tricky because our teens’ first love stories
When Your Teen’s Dream Falls Apart: Helping Them Cope With Failure & Rejection
Ask Rachel anythingA listener parenting a teen son wrote to say both of them felt pretty stunned when he was rejected from the university he'd set his heart on. She asked for the best way to help our teenagers cope with this sort of disappointment. I thought it was a great question and a good opportunity to also look at how we parents can best navigate when our teen has worked for years towar
Andrew Tate, the Manosphere & Teen Boys: What Parents Need to Know - Vintage
Ask Rachel anythingParenting teen boys wrote three years ago asking us to discuss how we can talk to boys about influential online figures like Andrew Tate. The 'bros' act both as an inspiration to achieve great things, and a lightning rod for disgruntled men who blame feminism for their ills and cheer on his particular form of aggressive misogyny.Now that Louis Theroux has shone a light
Think You’re Failing as a Parent? You’re Probably Doing Better Than You Imagine
Ask Rachel anythingIf you’ve ever lain awake at night wondering whether you’re getting this parenting thing horribly wrong, you need to hear this conversation with surgeon and author Gabriel Weston.Gabriel is a mother of four – including tween twins – a prize‑winning writer and a working surgeon. She talks with disarming honesty about:How she parents without pretending to be endlessly patient or p
Sextortion & AI Fake Nudes: What Every Parent of a Teen Needs to Know”
Ask Rachel anythingA teenager no longer has to send a nude for a sexual image of them to end up online.AI can now take an ordinary photograph of a child or teenager and create a convincing fake nude. Add sextortion, online grooming and the sharing of intimate images, and the digital landscape our children are navigating has changed dramatically.So what do parents actually need to know — and how ca
Teen Anxiety & Achievement Pressure: How to Raise Successful Kids Who Know They Matter
Ask Rachel anythingWe all want our teenagers to do well. But what happens when encouragement turns into achievement pressure — and our kids start believing their grades, popularity, appearance or success determine how much they're worth?Award-winning journalist and bestselling author Jennifer Breheny Wallace has spent years researching achievement culture, anxiety and the pressures facing you
Estranged Adult Children: Why They Cut Parents Off & What We Can Do Now
Ask Rachel anythingWhen Brooklyn Beckham publicly announced he didn't want to reconcile with his parents he was joining a painful catalogue of family stories that have gone wrong. Estrangement is reportedly on the rise in Western societies but what's behind it? Dr Joshua Coleman spends his life working with estranged parents so he sees, first hand, the main factors that can lead to it. H
Teen Body Image & Social Media: How to Protect Their Self-Esteem. Vintage
Ask Rachel anythingPuberty can make teenagers painfully aware of their changing bodies. Add Instagram, TikTok, advertising and the pressure to fit in, and it's little wonder that so many teens struggle with body image and self-esteem.So what can parents do to help?In this episode, Rachel talks with mindfulness coach and mum of three Susie Asli about teenage body image, social media, compariso
Teen Friendship Problems: How to Help When Your Child Is Struggling Socially
Ask Rachel anything'Early adolescence is a friendship meat grinder, and your kid will eventually find their people,' according to Megan Saxelby of Wild Feelings. But oh boy it's tough! Megan wants parents to know that using words like “dramatic” to describe genuine social pain can accidentally give us permission to dismiss their emotional reality and teach our kids that their exper
Help Your Teen Thrive: Science-Based Advice for Focus, Anxiety, ADHD & Big Emotions
Ask Rachel anythingWe want our kids to do as well as possible, so when they mess up, do dumb things, or seem to be failing, it's easy to focus on their mistakes and what they should do instead. Naomi Glover, a leading applied neuroscientist and brain health specialist, says we'd get the best out of our kids by doing the opposite; focusing on their strengths.Coming from a neurodivergent
Is Your Child Being Groomed? 4 Warning Signs That Could Protect Your Child
Ask Rachel anythingWhile counseling sex offenders, Anna Sonoda, LCSW learned firsthand that grooming, the prelude to child sexual abuse, is intentional, gradual, and observable. Her message to us is, we're not bad parents, we just have a skills gap and she wants to fill it. I grew up in an era of stranger danger, but the truth is the vast majority of abuse happens inside our homes, online and
How parents of teens can raise happy, successful adults
Ask Rachel anythingHint: it depends on how you define happy and successful.We all want our kids to be happy and successful but what does that mean? In today's episode, I'm joined by Giselle Goodwin, author of Can Women Really Have it All? to talk about our definitions of success and happiness, and how they impact the way we parent. In this changing landscape where what we inherit can mea
The One Thing Your Teen Really Needs From a Parent: Emotional Regulation
Ask Rachel anythingThis episode will change how you see “bad behaviour” and might just change how you see yourself, too.In this powerful conversation, with Dr Jody Carrington unpack what every parent and teacher needs to know about emotional regulation – and why you’re probably doing better than you think.In this episode, we cover:What emotional regulation really isThe “flipped lid” model and the
How to Be a Better Dad: Connection, Presence and Raising Emotionally Healthy Kids
Ask Rachel anythingHow can building our own community of people we admire dramatically change our future and help us break from a difficult past?What does it actually mean to be a good dad?Is it providing for your family? Protecting them? Being successful at work? Or could one of the most important things a father gives his children be something much simpler: his presence?Mitchell Osmond thought h
Anxious Teens: The vital role we parents can play. Vintage
Ask Rachel anythingThe anxiety epidemic:In 2020 the UK charity Mental Health Foundation surveyed more than 2,000 children and found 50 per cent of teenagers aged 13-19 were experiencing anxiety they found hard to control. Substack notes and PDF to go with this episode:https://substack.com/@teenagersuntangled/note/c-193100671?r=2u24i0&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=webhttps://tee
Parenting Teens Without Overreacting: How to handle emotions calmly - Vintage
Ask Rachel anythingNone of us likes blowing a fuse when our teen does something that triggers us, but we all do it at some point. Nicky asked us to discuss this topic after she felt she'd overreacted to bad feedback from her son's teachers. We know it fixes nothing and leaves us feeling worse than before, but can we keep smoothing it over with an apology? Click the link at the bottom to
Do Fathers Really Matter? Why Dads Are More Important Than We Think
Ask Rachel anythingHow much do fathers really matter to their children?We talk endlessly about mothers and the enormous influence they have on their children. But have we inadvertently started treating fathers as the optional parent — the assistant rather than an equally capable caregiver?Michael Ray thinks we have.Michael became a father at 50 and, just 18 months later, became the sole parent to
Teen Friendship Problems: How to Help Without Making Things Worse INTERVIEW WITH MY GIRLS
Ask Rachel anythingWhat do you do when your teenager has no friends — or tells you they feel lonely, left out or as if they just don't fit in?Watching your child struggle with friendships can be incredibly painful. Our instinct as parents is often to jump in with advice, suggest what they should do, or panic that something has gone terribly wrong.But is that actually what teenagers need from
Motivational feedback, a happiness hack, and letting your teen sleepover after a party
Ask Rachel anythingThe happiess hack article by Dana Millbank:https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/10/24/happiness-purpose-community-contribution/Checkout my Substack:teenagersuntangled.substack.comSupport the showPlease hit the follow button if you like the podcast, and share it with anyone who might benefit. You can review us on Apple podcasts by going to the show page, scroll
Christmas and other family gatherings with teens. Magic or misery? Vintage
Ask Rachel anythingWe all have traditional times when our extended families come together to celebrate, give thanks, and share the warmth of mutual love. In the UK, December is a non-stop reel of songs about 'Simply having a wonderful Christmas time', and Instagram is awash with pictures of happy celebrations. Being with our family can give us a welcome chance to relax and be accepted fo
Homework and Motivation for the ADHD Child: How to Help Your Teen Get Things Done
Ask Rachel anythingYour teenager knows they have homework. They know the assignment is overdue. They know they need to start.So why can't they just do it?If you have a teenager with ADHD or executive-function difficulties, evenings can easily become a cycle of procrastination, missing assignments, nagging, arguments and frustration — with parents wondering how much they should step in and tee
Why Teens Are Afraid to Speak Their Minds — and What Parents Can Do
Ask Rachel anythingIs your teenager afraid of saying the wrong thing?For many young people, navigating conversations about politics, identity, relationships and social issues can feel like walking through a minefield. Say the wrong thing, ask the wrong question or admit you don't know enough — and they fear being judged, rejected or even losing friends.But what happens when that fear follows
How to Get Your Teenage Boy to Talk: Sex, Screens, Anger, Drugs & More
Ask Rachel anythingHow do you get a teenage boy to actually talk to you — particularly about the things that really matter?Boys have just as rich an emotional life as girls, but many learn surprisingly young to hide vulnerability, suppress difficult feelings and rely on anger as one of the few emotions they feel comfortable showing.So how can we make sure our sons know they can talk to us — about
Is AI Making Our Kids Worse at Learning? What Parents Need to Know
Ask Rachel anything"Learning is struggle, and kids need to get comfortable struggling with learning." That's according to Jenny Anderson, who spends much of her time writing about what is happening at the frontline of parenting, education and AI. She explains that the big problem for educators and parents who want the best for their kids is that Silicon Valley is trying to take awa
The Science Behind the Teen Mental Health Crisis: It's Not Just Phones
Ask Rachel anythingWhy is it that so many teenagers today seem to be struggling with mental health?In this conversation, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Matt Richtel reveals the surprising science behind adolescent development, explaining why teens aren't 'difficult' they're doing an important job and how there's a fundamental mismatch between biological adolescent devel
Teens and Drugs: What Every Parent Needs to Know — Before It’s Too Late
Ask Rachel anythingTo lose a child is one of the worst things any of us an imagine. To lose him at 16 to a recreational drug is an unbearable pain. That's what happened to Fiona Spargo-Mabbs OBE, but she has turned her pain into an incredible quest to turn her 'I wish I'd known', suffering into a book, a drugs education foundation, and support for all of us parents so we never
Grief, university, rules and consequences, raising boys, chores and phones. Community Catch Up
Ask Rachel anythingFor this Sunday catch up I was joined by Susie Asli to discuss the challenges of parenting during times of personal loss, such as the death of a pet or a parent. We share our experiences of our children’s different reactions to grief and the importance of allowing them to grieve in their own ways. We also talk about the transition to university, the generational differences in p
Teen Sleep: Why Your Teen Isn’t Getting Enough — and How to Fix It
Ask Rachel anythingSleep's a FREE performance-enhancer, so why are so many teens not getting enough?For us parents, sleep is the thing we all obsess about when we first bring our babies home, but if you're anything like me by the time they hit teens we've become pretty lax around that solid bedtime routine. In fact, research shows that around 2/3rds of teenagers aren't getting
Teen Eating Disorders: How to Help Your Child Have a Healthy Relationship With Food
Ask Rachel anythingWhatever food fears we've inherited, or learned, will be passed on to our kids unless we understand and challenge our beliefs, according to food psychologist, Dr Anna Colton. As she rightly points out, fear-mongering about killer bars or toxic foods is way more dangerous, long-term, than the food itself.In this episode we talk openly about my own struggles with my family&ap
The parenting science of success, resilience, and reduced stress for teens.
Ask Rachel anythingIs your kid stressed or lacking motivation? What if the antidote was pushing them less and giving them more of a sense of control over their lives? It doesn't mean giving up your authority as a parent. As elite teen coach, Ned Johnson, explains the science tells us we can help our child sculpt a brain that is resilient, and ready to take on new challenges if we stop taking
Things Every Teen Needs to Thrive: Belonging, Purpose & Connection
Ask Rachel anythingWe all want our kids to feel they belong and have purpose, but what simple things can we do at home and in schools that will help them develop what they need?In this interview you'll hear so many great tips we can put in place at home that will help our kids thrive. In 2007, Tish co-founded Jamie’s Farm with her son Jamie, a teacher and farmer.LINK: https://jamiesfarm.org.u
Conflict resolution skills for parents of teens. Vintage.
Ask Rachel anythingConflict is normal - but it often escalates during teenage years because our kids are trying to assert their own wishes, and probably aren't very skilled at it.As parents, it's easy to fall into classic conflict traps if we don't have the skills for resolving disagreements.In this episode we talk about the key techniques we can use - and teach - to ease tension an
Social Media Through Teen Eyes: What Parents Don’t See INTERVIEW WITH MY GIRLS
Ask Rachel anythingSmartphones can be massively problematic in the hands of the young, mainly because of what kids can access through them. Social media can have a magnetic pull for adolescents who're trying to figure out their identity and fit in, meanwhile predators are well aware of the various access points provided.So are there any positives? Is it even justifiable to give our kids a sma
How to Complain to Your Child’s School Without Making Things Worse
Ask Rachel anythingWhen things go wrong at school parents are bound to feel stressed, wanting the problem to be resolved as soon as possible. But - in the UK at least - the current complaints system is "working for no one", according to the Government's Education Secretary.Jason Elsom, CEO of charity Parentkind, says there's been a surge in parental complaints, that are being a
Teen Mental Health: Is It Anxiety or Normal Teenage Struggle? | Dr Lucy Foulkes
Ask Rachel anythingHow we parents manage technology in our homes, and what we put in the hands of our kids, has turned into one of the most hotly debated topics amongst parents and experts. In this episode, I talk to Dr. Lucy Foulkes, Oxford academic psychologist and author, about social media’s role in adolescent mental health, challenging the narrative popularized by Jonathan Haidt and exploring
Adult kids who go no contact: Lessons in parenting
Ask Rachel anythingDo you ever worry about losing touch with your kids as they grow up? In this episode of Teenagers Untangled I'm joined by Catherine Hickem, a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and founder of Parenting Adult Children Today to explore the growing issue of family estrangement.Catherine is leading a conversation around one of the most overlooked family dynamics:
Teens, screens and mobiles: The online safety expert's view of bans and boundaries.
Ask Rachel anythingThe latest narrative around online safety, phones and devices, is pushing for bans to keep our kids safer and happier. The idea is to give them back their childhood and prevent them from accessing harmful content. Catherine Knibbs, a child psychotherapist and cyber trauma expert argues in her latest book that social media bans won't work because we can't even properly
Why Parents Judge Each Other — And How to Stop.
Ask Rachel anythingJudgment can be both useful and harmful. When it works well it's a safety mechanism for keeping kids from being harmed. When it works badly it can create feelings of shame and fear which stop parents reaching out for help, cause us to doubt our instincts and miss the vital importance of connection with our children. Sometimes, our fear of judgment can even paralyse us paren
Why Mothers Aren't Happy: Burnout, Mental Load and the Second Shift.
Ask Rachel anythingWomen's happiness has been in decline since the 1970's despite increased freedoms and opportunities, says Dr Giselle Goodwin. I've you've ever felt burnout out and the sense that you're somehow failing at being a woman and a mother you'll have a sense of it happening, but you may feel guilty, particularly given the opportunities we've been give
Angry teenagers: Parenting teens and tweens through their anger - Vintage.
Ask Rachel anythingWe all loose our cool sometimes. but teenagers can find it particularly challenging to stay calm or calm down when enraged. It takes self-awareness and skill, and a level of brain development that just isn't there for some of them.One listener contacted us for help with her son who is being goaded by friends at school and getting into trouble for losing his temper. We talk
Boundaries when parenting teens Vintage.
Ask Rachel anythingHaving kids can seem like a non-stop obstacle course trying to get another living being to do things, whether for their own good or our own sanity.Getting the right balance between love and discipline is incredibly tricky, and for many of us it's a constant haggle.So what do the experts say about it? What works, and what about the teenager who doesn't seem to care?READ
Motivation: The parent's guide to motivating a teen or tween: Vintage.
Ask Rachel anythingWe'd all love our children to breeze through school, enjoying a satisfying academic life, having lots of friends, and coming out at the end feeling a success. But what if you have a child that doesn't thrive in an academic environment? What if they can't or won't do the work? How do you deal with it and what techniques can you use to motivate them?According t
Alcohol. A Smart Parents' Guide to Helping Teens Take a Healthy Approach.
Ask Rachel anythingMore than half of kids who've drunk alcohol under the age of 15 in the UK were offered it by their parents. Alcohol has been proven to cause seven types of cancer, according the World Cancer Research. According to other research, the earlier kids try alcohol the higher the risk they'll indulge in binge drinking and any alcohol-related harm.Parents don't want to ha
Talk: How to talk so your teenager will listen, and teens wanting to sleep together.
Ask Rachel anythingRemember those years when your child followed you everywhere, and gazed at you with adoring eyes because you knew everything? Have they now turned into a teenager who simply grunts, or screams at you, when they occasionally emerge from their bedroom?Changes in a teenage brain help them to develop abstract thinking and self-reflection but they also make them hyper-critical and ke
Toxic Friendships, Puberty & ‘Pick Me Girls’: What Teen Girls Want Parents to Know INTERVIEW WITH MY TEENS
Ask Rachel anythingHow can you tell when your daughter is dealing with a genuinely toxic friendship rather than the normal ups and downs of teenage relationships? What should you do when puberty suddenly makes her self-conscious about her changing body? And what on earth is a “pick me girl”?In this episode of Teenagers Untangled, I’m joined by my teenage daughters, Phoebe and Amelia, to answer rea
Starting University and College: Parental support that makes all the difference.
Ask Rachel anythingLong term listener, Cathy, has asked us some very heartfelt and important questions about how to support her teen at university. It's an excellent topic for us to tackle since Susie currently has one at university, I have one about to go, and two who have already graduated, one of whom gave me some excellent tips.It's a topic that evokes mixed-emotions for everyone.Her
How to Build Your Teenager’s Confidence, Self-Esteem and Resilience — Dr Greg Walton
Ask Rachel anythingHow do we raise teenagers who believe in themselves, cope with setbacks and keep going when things get difficult? And could some of the things we do to boost their confidence actually be making things worse?In this episode of Teenagers Untangled, I talk to Stanford psychologist Dr Greg Walton, author of Ordinary Magic, about the surprisingly small interventions that can have a p
