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Your Zen Friend
Ever wish you had a zen friend? Someone who could help you ease your tween or tween’s anxiety, while also supporting you, so parenting was more peaceful?
Well good news, host Lauren Wolfe, a therapist and mom who’s made it through those anxious teen years is here to offer parents some zen!
A full-length episode comes out every Tuesday. And "A Drop of Zen," a short guided meditation or a "Zen Bonus Boost," a mini episode, come out every Friday.
Episodes
203 episodes
Drop of Zen ~ A Joyful Moment
Parenting a tween or teen with anxiety is challenging! This Drop of Zen, a short guided mediation, is designed to offer you support and self care. This mediation is perfect to do anytime you would like to connect with joy. Perfect f...
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5:38
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The Parent's Roadmap to OCD Treatment: Choosing a Therapist, ERP, and Home Support
In this episode, I focus on how parents can find qualified therapists who treat OCD in children and teens, understand ERP therapy (the gold standard in OCD treatment) and support their child's recovery journey.✨ What's Bringing Me Mor...
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Season 3
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Episode 124
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31:16
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Anxiety or Something More? A Parent's Guide to Recognizing OCD
In this episode, I explore the key differences between OCD and anxiety in tweens and teens. Learn how to recognize the signs and identify when your child might need specialized support. ✨ What's Bringing Me More Zen
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Season 3
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Episode 123
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41:21
Smartphones & Anxiety: Setting Healthy Boundaries for Tweens & Teens
In this episode, I explore the link between smartphone use and anxiety in tweens and teens. I'll introduce the term "problematic smartphone use," explain what it looks like, how to recognize if your child is struggling with it, and share practi...
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Season 3
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Episode 122
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32:08
To Reassure or Not to Reassure: What to Do When Your Tween or Teen is Worried
In this episode, I tackle a common dilemma parents face: should you reassure your anxious tween or teen when they're worried, or could that actually make their anxiety worse? I'll share practical strategies to help you know when it's ok to offe...
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Season 3
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Episode 121
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21:14
Parenting is Ridiculous, Keeping it Real as a Therapist Mom
In this episode, I'm taking off my therapist hat and getting real about the challenges of parenting - especially when it comes to raising tweens and teens. Join me for some honest conversation about the ups and downs of this parenting journey! ...
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Season 3
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Episode 120
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27:42
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Easing Sunday Scaries for Tweens and Teens
In this episode, I'm tackling the Sunday Scaries - those end-of-weekend worries that so many tweens and teens experience. If your child's weekend joy turns to anxiety as Monday approaches, this episode is for you! 😰✨ I'll share wit...
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Season 3
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Episode 119
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22:19
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How to Stop Walking on Eggshells with Your Anxious Tween or Teen
In this episode, I'm diving into something SO many parents tell me about - that feeling of walking on eggshells around their anxious tween or teen. That sense that you're literally tiptoeing through your own house, scared that saying or doing t...
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Season 3
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Episode 118
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24:13
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Social Anxiety in Tweens and Teens and How to Help as a Parent
In this episode, I’m talking about a struggle that’s super common for tweens and teens: social anxiety. I’ll cover what it is, how to spot it, and, most importantly, how you can help your child to take healthy risks in social situations.
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Season 3
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Episode 117
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24:03
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Supporting Your Anxious Teen While Managing Your Anxiety
In today’s episode, I’m answering our first listener question from Anna, a fellow Zen Friend, who’s struggling with her own anxiety triggered by her daughter’s anxiety.✨ Here’s what we’ll cover in this episode:Why your a...
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Season 3
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Episode 116
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40:10
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Zen Bonus Boost ~ The Importance of Validating Feelings: Yours and Your Children's
Welcome to your Zen Bonus Boost! This is a short (and hopefully sweet) episode designed to offer support, strategies and tips for parents of anxious tweens and teens.On this episode I'll tell you why it is important and helpful to valid...
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8:53
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Have Less Anxiety and More Balance in 2025
In this episode, we’re diving into 3 ways to bring more balance to you and your tween/teen in 2025! 🎉 ✨ Here’s what we’ll cover in this episode:1️⃣ Reducing the pressure (on yourself and your kids)2️⃣ Tack...
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Season 3
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Episode 115
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33:36
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Anxiety, Routines and Holiday Traditions
In this episode, I’m diving into routines and predictability—how they can help (and sometimes hinder) your anxious tween or teen—and exploring the joy and connection that holiday traditions bring. I’ll also share a peek into my family’s Christm...
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Season 3
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Episode 114
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18:50
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Setting Boundaries During the Holiday Season with Vicki Smith
Feeling overwhelmed with all the holiday to do's? Guest and friend of the pod, Vicki Smith will help us to clear our schedules of the stuff that doesn't serve us so that we have more time to do the things we enjoy. Self care isn't just about li...
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42:04
Have More Zen and Less Stress for the Holidays
In this festive episode, I’m sharing how I’ve shifted my holiday traditions to create more peace and joy during this busy season. Whether you're juggling the magic-making or supporting an anxious tween or teen, it can feel like a lot (...
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Season 3
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Episode 112
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32:07
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Helping Anxious Tweens and Teens Navigate Holiday Stress
Welcome, Zen Friend! ✨ In this episode, we’re exploring why the holiday season can be particularly tricky for tweens and teens with anxiety. From high expectations to social stress and academic pressures, we’ll dive into what makes this ...
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Season 3
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Episode 111
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24:13
Anxiety and Perfectionism and What Parents Should Know
Welcome, Zen Friend! ✨ In this episode, we’re diving into perfectionism—how it ties to anxiety, how to spot it in your tween or teen, and what you can do to help.Perfectionism isn’t just about wanting to do things well; it’s often...
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Season 3
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Episode 110
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32:22
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Anxiety in Kids and Teens and 3 Common Mistakes Parents Make
When your child struggles with anxiety, it’s natural to want to make the anxiety go away. But sometimes our efforts result in making anxiety bigger. In this episode, I'm talking about three common mistakes parents (and sometimes even therapists...
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22:55
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Is it Anxiety or Bad Behavior? What Parents Need to Understand
In this episode, I’m talking about how anxiety often looks confusing in tweens and teens—sometimes appearing as irrational fears or even "bad behavior." Many parents question whether their child’s reactions are actually anxiety or just acting o...
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Season 3
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Episode 108
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31:46
Understanding Anxiety Recovery and How It’s a Journey, Not a Destination
In this episode, we’re getting real about healing. Whether you or your tween or teen are dealing with anxiety, chronic pain, or just about anything else, I’ve got you covered. I’ll talk about some common misconceptions I see in my work with cou...
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Season 3
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Episode 107
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26:25
My Story with Chronic Pain and Mind-Body Symptoms
In this final part of our series on Anxiety, Physical Symptoms, and Chronic Pain, I’m sharing my own journey with chronic pain—what I’ve learned, how I’m doing now, and what I’m still working on. Stay tuned for "What’s Bringing Me More Zen" thi...
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Season 3
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Episode 106
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42:05
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Understanding Chronic Pain, the Mind-Body Connection and How to Heal
In today's episode, we're talking all about chronic pain, what it is, why it happens, and, most importantly, how you can find hope and healing!I'll start this episode by telling you how anxiety and pain act like alarm bells, signaling d...
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Season 2
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Episode 105
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38:55
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Drop of Zen ~ Somatic Tracking Mediation for Pain or Anxiety
Parenting a tween or teen with anxiety is challenging! This Drop of Zen, a short guided mediation, is designed to offer parents some needed support and self care. This mediation is perfect to do anytime you (or your tween or teen) are e...
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8:33
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The Mind-Body Connection: Understanding Anxiety, Pain and Physical Symptoms in Tweens, Teens, and Adults
In this episode, I tell you what anxiety and has in common with pain and physical symptoms like headaches, stomachaches and back pain —not just in kids, but adults too. I’ll break down the concept of neuroplastic pain, which happens when the br...
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Season 3
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Episode 104
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27:33
Zen Bonus Boost ~ What I Wish More Parents Would Do to Help Their Tweens and Teens Decrease Anxiety
Welcome to your Zen Bonus Boost! This is a short (and hopefully sweet) episode designed to offer support, strategies and tips for parents of anxious tweens and teens.On this episode I'll tell you what I wish more parents would for their...
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5:27
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