In this episode of the Parenting Your Teens Podcast, I teach parents the underlying psychological mechanisms that cause their teens to have negative behaviors. I walk parents through the 3 primary needs that all teens have. By understanding what causes negative behaviors in teens, parents can learn what to do so they can stop their teen’s behaviors before they start.
Read MoreIn this episode of the Parenting Your Teens Podcast,parents learn how to effectively motivate their teens without getting angry, arguing, yelling, nagging or using a single consequence. Parents will learn what prevents their teen from listening and how to create a highly effective plan that ensures your teen will do their chores and homework without the fights. Parents can end their frustration and teens will feel empowered, respected and in control. Its a win-win across the board.
Read MoreIn this episode of the Parenting Your Teens Podcast, I give parents techniques for how to help their teen stay on track. ADHD can be so disruptive to a teen’s academic success so it is critical that parents have tools to help organize their kids. With these approaches you can help your teen by allowing for their brain to work in its natural way. Its about parents partnering with their teens and not constantly fighting with them to get homework completed.
Read MoreIn this episode of the Parenting Your Teens Podcast, I help parents understand why their teenagers respond to simple requests with attitude. Understanding teen mental health and the underlying psychological factors will help parents develop the foundation they need to be able to address their teen’s issues. Parents will receive practical tools to help deal with teen anger and conflict in their relationships. Learn the exact strategies I use in my teen therapy practice that I have used for over 16 years as a teen expert.
Read MoreMotivation is based on what we attach value to. The old way of trying to ensure teens follow through was to slam them with a consequence. Well the new generation of teens are smarter and don’t care about consequences most of the time. Sure they may initially throw a fit and yell and scream but generally they fall into apathy quickly and parents feel hopeless that their approach failed. So here are the 3 ways to ensure your teen is motivated without nagging, arguing or using consequences.
Read MoreIn today's society of frequent divorce and remarriage the term blended family has become a norm. While "The Brady Bunch" highlighted the reality of this arrangement back in the 60's, it is more often than not a more painful transition and ongoing experience for both the children and the parents. Thankfully, by incorporating these 5 critical strategies, you can have the best plan to eliminate many of the challenges that might otherwise derail your new family dynamic.
Read MoreAs parents we are tasked to protect our children from mistakes that can have repercussions that last their lifetime. We understand that most poor choices can offer excellent learning opportunities but there are some pitfalls that keep us up at night with thoughts of dread. In my experience, there is no greater point of worry than the thought that your teenage son or daughter is experimenting with drugs.
Read MoreIn sports it is said that one rises to level of his competition. I suppose it could be conversely stated that one can also lower them to inferior completion. Overall I think this means that when presented a challenge that we are encouraged or expected to meet, we generally will outperform our expectations. This does not exempt us from failing to succeed or that we always reach our desired outcome, but it does make us think twice about how we set the bar for our challenging teens.
Read MoreThe year it all comes together. Yes, being a senior in high school is a time for reflection, a time to prepare for the next chapter, a time to say goodbye, and a time to celebrate. Wait a minute; it is still a school year, isn’t it? Doesn’t that mean there are still expectations to perform well and finish strong? With college admissions often based on the condition of maintaining academic performance, and scholarships dependent on performance as well, it is critical that senior year be taken just as seriously as all others. Enter the dreaded senior-itis.
Read MoreNoted psychologist, Erick Erikson, described the period of adolescence in psycho-social terms of ego-identity vs. role confusion. I think all of us can relate to this explanation if we remember what life was like as a teenager. What clothes do I wear? What music do I listen to? How do I stay current with movies and shows so I don’t seem out of place?
Read MoreAs of 2017 6.4 million children in the United States had been diagnosed with ADHD. That translates to roughly 11% of all kids. So for those families, we need to give parent strategies that are practical and successful.
Read MoreConsequences are built on deterrence theory. The idea is that if you cause pain to me, I will cause pain of equal or greater value in return. Structuring a behavioral modification plan for your teen around this concept is doomed for failure. Over time your teen will develop consequence fatigue and lose interest in changing because the threat of losing no longer holds the same weight.
Read MoreWe have all heard, you are what you eat. What we don’t often realize is that our minds operate on the same premise that what we feed it will be used to build it. Now obviously our minds don’t actually eat, but they do process external messages and internal thoughts every moment of the day. So what do you do when you notice your teen has a poor self-concept, low self-esteem, or does not deal well with failure?
Read MoreThe risk posed by online predators to our sons and daughters is extraordinary. These men often pose as teens themselves and promise money, escape, and the attention that so many teens desperately crave. They have infiltrated every crevice of online life and are experts on how to appeal to the teen psyche.
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