Parenting Teenagers Untangled
If you've found yourself wondering why is my teenager suddenly so angry? How much screen time is too much? Should I take their phone away at night? Why have they lost all motivation? What do I do about vaping, friendship problems, anxiety, parties, dating, exams… or a teenager who simply won’t talk to me? You're in the right place.
This podcast helps you become a Fearless Parent: One who fears less and wonders more. Whatever the problem, message us and we'll either discuss it on the podcast or let you know which episode is best for you because there’s a very good chance we’ve already talked about it on this podcast.
Teenagers Untangled has a huge and growing library of episodes covering the questions, worries and challenges that come with raising tweens and teenagers. Rather than scrolling through hundreds of episodes trying to find the right one, use the search bar to search for what’s happening in your family right now.
How to search:
Simply type a keyword or short phrase into the search box.
Try things like:
anger • anxiety • phones • motivation • sleep • ADHD • vaping • alcohol • friendship • school • exams • lying • boundaries • consequences • social media • first love • university • leaving home
You can also try different words if your first search doesn’t bring up exactly what you need. For example, if you’re worried about your teenager being rude, you might also search respect, anger, conflict or communication.
The search will bring up relevant Teenagers Untangled episodes so you can go straight to the conversations that are most useful to you.
Think of it as a parenting database, So don't feel you need to start with our newest episode — start with your question.
And if I haven't covered your question yet, tell me. Some of my best episodes begin with a question from a parent just like you.
Whatever stage you're at, you don't have to figure it all out from scratch. Chances are, we've already started untangling it.
For those of you who want to read my thoughts beyond the podcast, or who just want to help me feel like the pebbles I have dropped in the ocean of life are making a difference, why not join my community on Substack?
You’ll get one-to-one support and printable PDF’s that give you the top tips from each podcast episode so you have your own little, bespoke manual.
COMMUNITY: I’ll be offering regular extras, including tips and thoughts, that help you tune into what matters.
NOTES: So many listeners say they have rewound the episodes to write down notes, well now there’s no need. Paid subscribers will have a weekly, downloadable, summary of the top tips from each episode, so you don’t have to take notes.
Please let me know if there are any old episodes for which you’d like the notes. I’m very happy to supply them.
Episodes
218 episodes
Stressed About Parenting Your Teen? Reduce Perfectionism
Are 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...
A Better Way for Parents to talk to Teens About Screen Time: Fear Less & Wonder More
We’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.
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Banning Social Media Won't Work: How Parents Can Actually Help Teens
Are 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 h...
Nagging Your Teenager? We Parents Talk Family Routines, in the Wonder Room
As 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 fe...
Teen Girls Mental Health, Intense Pressure, and How Parents Can Help
If 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 s...
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Curiosity: What’s wrong with my teen? At the Big Hug Community Cafe
Thank 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 curiousi...
Starting Secondary School: How to Help Your Child With Friends, Homework & the Big Transition
They'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 ...
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Teenagers, AI & Friendship: Is ChatGPT Changing How Our Kids Connect? Parenting Unpacked in the Wonder Room
Is 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 ...
Teen Friendship Problems: How to Help Your Teen Make and Keep Friends
So 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...
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Empty Nest Syndrome: How to Cope When Your Child Leaves Home Vintage
What 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,...
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Exam Results: What if my teen doesn't get the grades they want? Vintage
A 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 ...
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Is Your Teen Ready for University? What Parents Need to Know INTERVIEW WITH MY TEEN
Sending 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 n...
How to Stop Yelling at Your Teen: Stay Calm, Set Boundaries & End Power Struggles
Are 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 he...
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Step-Parenting Teens: Why Connection Matters More Than Discipline
If 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 ...
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Parenting Guilt: Bad Parenting Science, The Motherhood Myth & What Actually Matters
Are 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 a...
The vital parenting shift: becoming a mentor to your teen
Welcome 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, n...
Reading Festival Advice From Teens: Vintage INTERVIEW WITH MY TEENS
Announcing 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 t...
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Teaching Teens About Money: Investing, Gambling & the Money Lessons Schools Miss
Seven 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...
Teen Exam Stress: How to Help Without Nagging, Pressuring or Taking Over
Exam 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 par...
How to Raise a Good Citizen: Teaching Teens Critical Thinking, Politics & Civic Responsibility
Who'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 Corm...
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What's a Good Parent? A Bonus Episode in Which I Ask My Own Teenager
In 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 epis...
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Why Teenage Boys Pull Away: The Crisis of Connection With Dr Niobe Way
What 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
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Teen Gambling Is Surging: How Gaming & Loot Boxes Are Hooking Our Kids
There's been an alarming rise of teen gambling, according to Commonsense Media, with half of 16-17-year-old boys re...
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Teen Brain Health: Screens, Dopamine, Junk Food & How to Raise a Thriving Teen
If 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 overwhe...
Teenagers and Grief: How to Support Your Teen Through Death or Serious Illness: Vintage
Parenting 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 ...
