Claim OwnershipParenting teenagers untangled. 🏆 The audio hug for parents of teens and tweens.
Subscribed: 211Played: 6,567
Subscribe
© 2025 Parenting teenagers untangled. 🏆 The audio hug for parents of teens and tweens.
Description
Welcome to your weekly audio hug where no question is a bad question, and curiosity beats judgment every time.
I'm a former BBC Correspondent, and mum, on a mission to bring parents of tweens and teens stability, calm and humour. Most of all, I want to help us all get better at connecting with our teens so we can genuinely enjoy parenting them.
Each week, I take a topic, research it, and find you the best answers. Whether interviewing experts, chatting with my friend Susie, or getting the lowdown from my own teenagers.
Susie - friend, Mindfulness guru, and fellow parent in the trenches - brings her wisdom and personal stories to help us contemplate a different perspective.
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
157 Episodes
Reverse
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Smartphones 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 smartphone, and at what age is it suitabl...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? 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 Secretary. Jason Elsom, CEO of charity Parentkind, says there's been a surge in parental complaints, that are being amplified via WhatsApp: Quoted in The Times “We are se...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? The suicide of a young man at Oxford University has prompted a warning letter to the UK Government about 'cancel culture' on campus. The review into his death 'identified evidence of a concerning practice of social ostracism among students, often referred to as a cancel culture,' according the coroner. '[The review's] evidence was that this behaviour, where individuals are isolated and excluded from social group...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Friendships, and fitting, in are everything to teenagers. You could argue that understanding the dynamics, and supporting our kids through the turmoil of the teen years, is one of the best things we parents can do. Former Headteacher of 18 years, Andrew Hampton FRSA, is no stranger to the issue. He's not only raised two girls he's also had to deal with the fall-out in school when friendships go wrong.&nb...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? If we genuinely think about how many of us are emotionally mature before we become parents the number is probably pretty low. The act of caring for someone else, and having to manage our own feelings, can be incredibly challenging, particularly when we were raised by parents who were immature themselves. Being able to spot the difference between being emotionally immature, and the normal pressures of parenting,...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? What we see on TikTok often starts on message boards in fringe groups then spills over into the mainstream. This is true of the Looksmaxxing social media trend that's been gaining more and more currency among teen boys. The goal of looksmaxxing is to meet a set of criteria for physical attractiveness, with a focus on the eyes, jawline, and physique and the ultimate currency is SMV, or Sexual Market Value. Th...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Boundaries exist, regardless of whether we're conscious of them or not. The first place we experience them is in our own home, and the way they are created, managed and enforced can set us up for a lifetime of healthy relationships, or difficulty coping with other humans. In this episode Susie and I discuss what a boundary is, how we uncover our own boundaries and create and uphold healthy ones within our own ...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? When kids hit puberty they become driven by a core motivation that many of us adults don't fully appreciate. It's not simply fun, or sex; they're looking for experiences that give them social status and respect. According to David Yeager, author of 10-25: The Science of How to Motivate Young People, a societal belief that teens and young adults are lazy and incompetent causes us to misunderstand the power of t...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Over the last decade, parents have been consistently more likely to report experiencing high levels of stress compared to other adults, according to a report issued by the US Surgeon General, Dr Vivek Murthy. According to the advisory, 'When stress is severe or prolonged, it can have a harmful effect on the mental health of parents and caregivers, which in turn also affects the well- being of the children...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? How to parent kids who struggle with ADHD, anxiety and life Nobody wants their child to struggle, but it's inevitable at some point. Many of the problems our kids face will be part of a well-worn path through the teenage years. But some kids have more complex needs. Parenting them can be far more challenging, and require a far great draw on our own resources, which is why I've been looking out for advice that w...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? A recent Tweet focused my mind on something I've only really glimpsed with a side-eye. We hear so much about the challenges of the early teen years that it's easy to forget young adults have their own issues. As the Tweeter said, when our kids are 18-22 they're dealing with adult emotions, disappointing experiences and us parents have zero control; making it terrible to witness. The response to the remark was ...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? When an anonymous listener posted this question we thought it would be a great topic to discuss; one that many of our listeners could be wondering about. The listener said, Hello, I absolutely love your podcast. And here’s the question. Do you think all teens should go to therapy, just so they have a space to talk that isn’t a parent, family member or friend. I’ve been pondering this lately and trying to ...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Grades are used in education the world over, but why? With the growing mental health crisis in teenagers I've been exploring how experts are asking whether perhaps it's time we looked again at the role grades play in helping or hindering the learning of our children. In my interview with Josh Eyler, author of Failing Our Future: How Grades Harm Students, and What We Can Do about It we discuss the negative impa...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? As your child turns from a tween to a teen it's obvious to everyone that their body and mind are undergoing massive changes. It's destablising for our kids and can be very uncomfortable for us parents watching as the changes take place. Some of our discomfort can come from our own fears about how to guide them through the changes and what sort of person will come out the other side of the transformation.&...
1What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Music festivals are a rite of passage for many teens. Whilst some love the music, the lack of restriction and opportunities to mingle in a way that they could have only dreamt of during Covid, others decide to give them a miss or go and positively hate the experience. I was never a festival kid growing up. I didn't have the money, or the opportunity. As an adult, I've found them to be joyous events, but w...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? 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. This time we talked about: Puberty and Body Changes Helping girls navigate early stages of pubertyDiscussing body changes with daughtersApproaches to talking about wearing f...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? What is school for, and are exam grades a good measure of a human? Does someone's grades tell us what we should know, or are we being misled? Do grades help children grow and engage with learning, or do they simply destroy interest and entrench social divisions? These are the sort of questions that perplex many of us who are parenting teenagers. It’s coming to the end of summer in the UK which means there’s bee...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? Whether your teen is currently learning to drive, or those days are in the future, it helps to prepare ahead. Both Rachel and Susie have teens learning, so it's a great time for Rachel to go through all of the tips and data to help us all think ahead about what is involved and how to make their life behind the wheel as safe and smooth as possible. The free RISK ANTICIPATION driving course: https://www.teendri...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? It doesn't matter how much we know, and how much we work at it, we'll all struggle to parent well at times; it's just part of being human. To mark the 100th episode of the podcast I decided to give you a top ten of the best lessons I've learned, and continue to mess up. In case you can't be bothered to listen, you're bored by me waffling, or you just want the list, here goes: Connection over correction.It's no...
What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover? In the West, we tend to see success for late teens as passing exams, getting into further education or getting a job, and moving on with life. So when we received an email from a mother, concerned for the welfare of her two step-sons who've performed poorly in their final high school exams, and who don't seem to be interested in finding work, we thought it would be a really interesting topic to unpack. H...
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States
Great episode! Question 'what do you want to change for the better in your next learning year?' is so meaningful!