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Parenting teenagers untangled. 🏆 The audio hug for parents of teens and tweens.
Welcome to your weekly audio hug where you can quit the comparison, calm your nerves, and grow confidence in your own ability to parent.
I'm a former BBC Correspondent, and mum, on a mission to make parenting teens ans tweens much less stressful, and dare I say enjoyable?
Each week, I take a topic, research it, and find you the best answers. Whether interviewing experts, chatting with my mindfulness guru friend Susie, or getting the lowdown from my own teenagers.
Mantra for us all: No question is a bad question, and curiosity beats judgment every time.
No one has this parenting thing mastered—even parents or experts who seem like they do. Making mistakes isn’t failing, it’s learning. And good parenting? It’s a lifelong journey.
At the heart of it all, our kids just want to be loved for who they are, not just what they do so ditch perfection and choose connection.
💌 Do you have a question, a story, or just need to vent? Drop me a line at teenagersuntangled@gmail.com (total privacy, no judgment, promise).
What the Independent Podcasting Awards Said:
“The advice in this podcast is universally helpful—not just for parents of teenagers.”
“A great mix of personal stories and professional insight—refreshing, informative, and packed with extra resources.”
“The chemistry between Rachel and Susie is fantastic. It’s like sitting down with smart, funny friends who actually get it.”
Join the conversation! Find me on Facebook & Instagram.
Want more from Susie? Check out her courses at www.amindful-life.co.uk
Episodes
157 episodes
Conflict resolution skills for parents. Vintage
Conflict 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 t...
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Season 5
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33:30
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Teens Talk: The good and bad of smart phones and social media.159
FREE GUIDE: HOW TO THINK THROUGH DEVICE USE FOR YOUR TEENShttps://open.substack.com/pub/teenagersuntangled/p/teens-and-screens-the-big-h...
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Season 5
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Episode 159
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1:04:22
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Complaints. Parents vs Teachers: The school drama nobody enjoys, with the Good Schools Guide. 158
When 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...
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Season 5
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Episode 158
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42:09
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Mental Health, and Teen Phone Use with Oxford Psychologist Lucy Foulkes. 157
How 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 ...
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Episode 157
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43:11
Lessons in parenting from adult kids who go no contact: 156
Do 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 ...
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Episode 156
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42:55
Teens, screens and mobiles: bans and boundaries: 155
The 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,...
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Episode 155
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37:35
Can we offer other parents support without making them feel criticised or judged? 154
Judgment 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...
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Episode 154
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37:52
Why Mothers Aren't Happy: Burnout, Mental Load and the Second Shift. 153
Women'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...
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Episode 153
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32:18
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Angry teenagers: How to parent tweens and teens through their anger - Vintage. 152
We 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 l...
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Episode 152
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32:25
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How to Set Boundaries That Actually Work With Teens: Vintage. 151
Featuring Mindfulness expert, Susie AsliHaving 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...
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Episode 151
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29:49
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Motivation: How to motivate a young person, teen or tween: Vintage. 150
We'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 ...
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Episode 150
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46:12
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Alcohol. A Smart Parents' Guide to Helping Teens Take a Healthy Approach - 149
More 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, th...
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Episode 149
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22:43
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Vintage: How to talk so your teenager will listen, and teens wanting to sleep together. 148
Remember 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 be...
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Episode 148
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27:17
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Puberty, toxic friendships, 'Pick me' girls - top tips for parenting teenagers from teenagers. 147
It's a rare luxury to have both my girls available for half an hour to record an episode, and when I do I love to talk about listeners questions. Poor Amelia had a really bad cold, but she was still keen to help, so sorry about the sniffles.
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Season 3
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Episode 147
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38:19
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Support Your Teen Starting University: Including the thing that makes all the difference. 146
Long 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 t...
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Episode 146
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42:23
145: How to stop a downward spiral before it happens with Dr Greg Walton 'One of psychology's greatest'
Wouldn't it be great if we knew when and how we parents and teachers can make a massive long-term difference by doing something relatively small? What if we could catch those moments that might set off either an upward or downward spiral, and h...
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Episode 145
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51:09
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144: First love, breakups & LGBTQ. How to support your teen.
First love can be immensely powerful; a profound and unforgetable journey that shapes who we are. It teaches us about intimacy, boundaries and heartbreak and as parents it challenges all of our skills and perceptions.In this episode my d...
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Episode 144
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51:26
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143: Underage sex, loneliness, puberty and finding hobbies. Support for you and your teen.
In this episode I asked Susie to come in and help me tackle some listener questions:QUESTION: After a recent chat with my 13 year old daughter, I'm extremely concerned that she thinks she is ready to have sex with her boyfriend. H...
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Episode 143
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39:10
142: Why school exam systems need to change and how to support our own kids now
The intense, content-heavy exam system in the UK kicks off at this time of year with GCSEs and A levels; high-stakes exams that can feel like a make-or-break moment for teenagers. I've already discussed with Susie how we can support...
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Episode 142
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35:27
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141: Success: What nobody tells us about the role of siblings. Are parents that important?
What really shapes success — nature, nurture, luck? It's a perennial question. The Family Dynamic is a brilliant, captivating exploration of families in which all of the children became high-achievers. The award-winnin...
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Episode 141
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38:00
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140: Respect, artifical intelligence and toxic femininity - the teenage view
When I asked listeners for their questions one stood out as a worthy of almost an entire episode: 'What does it take to respect people around you, especially your parents?'There's so much that could be said on this topic that...
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Episode 140
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41:58
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139: Secondary school, friendship groups, and those awkward talks about porn and sexting
In this episode my teens, Phoebe and Amelia, joined me in the studio to help answer some questions emailed in by listeners, and sent to me on social media. We kick off by chatting about exploring their identity and what they think i...
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Episode 139
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32:15
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138: How to get your teenager out of their bedroom - even one who's into gaming.
So many parents feel a deep loss when their teenager begins to separate from them; staying in their room and behaving as if the person they used to adore is the most embarassing thing they have ever witnessed. In today's episode I b...
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Episode 138
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50:21
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137: Identity formation - the main job of a teenager?
In psychology, the term "identity" is most commonly used to describe the distinctive qualities or traits that make an individual unique. Identities are strongly associated with self-esteem, and individuality and - for a teenager - forming their...
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Episode 137
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47:41
136: Are education and hard work less important now than parents?
I grew up believing in a meritocracy; with hard work - and government funding of my university education - I eventually escaped a difficult home and poor schooling to succeed in journalism. But times have moved on, and the reality ...
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Episode 136
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40:48
