Parenting Well Podcast

“Safety is found in parents providing those bumpers, but eventually there is a line. I love you enough to know that this is our line right now. And I’m sorry that’s hard. And I am here to help you find solutions within those parameters.”

Adolescence asks parents to hold two things at once: stay close enough to help, and step back enough to let a teenager grow into an adult. In this episode, therapist Jennifer Jaeger joins us to talk about what that balance actually looks like in practice, from telling the difference between normal teen moodiness and something more concerning, to knowing when to step in and when to let a teen sit with a consequence.

About Our Guest

Jennifer Jaeger is a therapist with Key Concierge Therapy, partnering with Boulder Psychological Services. She works primarily with adolescents, young adults, and parents navigating developmental challenges and life transitions, with areas of focus that include stress, anxiety, depression, attachment, and neurodivergence, including the transition to college and launching into adulthood.

Jennifer is also an equine and animal assisted therapist, incorporating the unique relationship between people and horses, dogs, and other animals into her therapeutic work. She provides therapeutic services in a concierge format to better reach resistant clients, and her work offers parents a valuable perspective on how to support teens while helping them build the confidence, resilience, and independence they need to navigate adulthood.

In This Episode, We Cover

• What teens are struggling with most right now, and the pressures parents may not fully understand
• Telling normal teen behavior apart from something concerning, including anticipatory anxiety around transitions, by looking at a behavior’s recovery time and duration rather than the behavior itself
• What anxiety actually looks like in teenagers, and the signs parents commonly miss because it doesn’t always look like worry or fear
• How to respond when a teen is struggling, what unintentionally makes it worse, and how to help them recenter
• Staying emotionally connected and co-regulated when a teen doesn’t want to talk, without constantly asking “what’s wrong?”
• Knowing how much to intervene: providing guardrails and bumpers, letting teens face consequences and advocate for themselves, and using the “who cares” strategy so not everything becomes an issue
• What attachment looks like during adolescence, why it reverts to early childhood patterns under stress, and how it’s revisited at every developmental stage
• Boundaries as “what you are going to do” to manage a situation, and why holding the line builds safety and strengthens attachment
• Engaging teens who are resistant: holding space, staying flexible on plans, and giving real conversations time
• What equine and animal assisted therapy reveals about a teenager that traditional talk therapy sometimes can’t, and why the horse-human relationship is therapeutically powerful
• Preparing teens for college and adulthood: the skills they need, and what parents sometimes do that gets in the way
• Finding your own tribe for parent support, and what “parenting well” looks like during adolescence

Resources Mentioned & Related Reading

• Jennifer Jaeger, LCSW, Boulder Psychological Services: guest’s therapist bio and contact page

#teens #anxiety #parenting tips #equinetherapy

“Parents, I love you. I feel you. It is something to navigate these waters of parenting. It's not for the faint of heart, and we are thrown into it.” Batya Greenwald

After 27 years as an educator, Batya Greenwald realized the parents she was talking to needed something more than another behavior chart. They needed a way to understand what their child's behavior was actually telling them. In this episode, Batya, a transformative parent and life coach with more than 30 years of experience, joins us to talk about why “behavior really is communication,” and what changes when parents start responding to that message instead of just the behavior itself.

Batya walks us through what transformative parenting means in practice: shifting from reacting to responding, holding boundaries without abandoning empathy, and staying grounded when a child's questions about identity, gender, or independence catch a parent off guard. She also gets honest about the toll of the job itself, telling parents everywhere, “It's not for the faint of heart.”

About Our Guest

Batya Greenwald is a transformative parent and life coach with more than 30 years of experience helping children, parents, and individuals navigate life's biggest challenges and transitions. After 27 years as an educator, she transitioned into coaching, combining behavioral, cognitive, and awareness-based approaches to help people unlock resilience, strengthen relationships, and live with greater purpose.

Born in South Africa, shaped by years in Australia, and now based in Boulder, Colorado, Batya brings a global perspective and deep compassion to every conversation. She holds a B.A. in Psychology, an M.A. in Education, and a certificate in Integrative Coaching. She serves on faculty for PassageWorks and Girls Leadership, is a TEDx speaker, and received the 2023 Impact on Education Award.

In This Episode, We Cover

• What led Batya to leave 27 years in education to become a parent and life coach
• The parenting challenges showing up today that weren't as common 10 or 20 years ago
• Why so many parents feel like they're failing, and where that lack of confidence comes from
• What “transformative parenting” means, and how it differs from simply correcting behavior
• Learning to read a child's behavior as communication, not just something to fix
• Responding instead of reacting when emotions run high at home
• The role of self-awareness in becoming a better parent
• A mindset shift that helps families thrive through major transitions
• Supporting kids through questions about sex and gender identity
• Building stronger connections with teenagers without pushing them away
• Balancing acknowledgment of a child's feelings with holding firm boundaries
• Helping kids learn to integrate their own feelings
• Finding the right combination of structure and flexibility
• Navigating school transitions
• Making space for quiet time in a fast-paced world
• Why warmth and repair matter more than getting it perfect

Other Lines Worth Remembering

“Behavior really is communication.”

“At the end of the day, what is the long view? For me, the long goal with most of my families is that they want to keep that relationship.”

“Sometimes teenagers need us to just sit down with them and say, ‘I’ve got you and I hear you.’”

Resources Mentioned & Related Reading

• Batya Greenwald Coaching: her website [link needed, not included in source doc]
• TEDx Talk, “What Kindergarteners Taught Me About Gender”: watch on YouTube [link needed, not included in source doc]
• Teen Behavior: What's Typical, What Are the Signs of a Problem?: ColumbiaDoctors article

 

“We don't want to remove all the obstacles your kids are going to go through. We want to teach them that they can handle whatever obstacles come their way, even if they are feeling anxious.”

When your child is anxious, the instinct to reassure, rescue, or remove the stressor feels like love. But according to Dr. Allie Morford, licensed clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in Child Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, that instinct can accidentally teach anxiety that it's in charge.

I am Dr. Shelly Mahon, your host, and in this episode Dr. Allie Morford breaks down how to tell the difference between everyday worry and an anxiety disorder, why OCD in kids is so often mistaken for being neat or organized, and how exposure therapy, including Exposure with Response Prevention for OCD, actually works. We also dig into one of her specialties: School accommodations, what makes them genuinely helpful, which ones quietly reinforce avoidance, and how parents and schools can build a plan to reduce them over time.

About Our Guest

Dr. Allie Morford, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in Child Psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. She specializes in the assessment and treatment of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder in children and teens, and completed a child psychology fellowship in Anxiety and OCD at Children's Hospital Colorado. Her clinical work covers anxiety, worry, panic attacks, phobias, OCD, parent coaching, and broader mental health and behavior concerns in children and adolescents.

In This Episode, We Cover:

• What draws a clinician to specialize in childhood anxiety and OCD
• How to tell the difference between normal "worrier" behavior and an anxiety disorder
• How anxiety shows up differently across ages and stages of development
• The physical, behavioral, and cognitive signs of anxiety in kids, through a CBT lens
• Common misconceptions about OCD in children (it's not about being neat)
• Why OCD shows up, and what it actually looks like day to day
• Why reassurance, rescuing, and removing stressors can make anxiety stronger over time
• The difference between validating a feeling and agreeing with the anxious thought
• What exposure therapy is and why it works for anxiety and OCD
• Exposure with Response Prevention (ERP) as a treatment for OCD
• What makes a school accommodation genuinely helpful vs. accidentally reinforcing avoidance
• How parents and schools can work as a team when anxiety affects attendance, tests, presentations, separation, or participation
• Building a plan to reduce or remove accommodations over time
• "Supportive statements" parents can use in the moment: "I know this is hard for you, and I know you can handle this"
• Why removing blame and shame from parenting matters in this work

Other Lines Worth Remembering:

“We never want to get rid of anxiety. It's a really healthy emotion for us to have. But we are looking for when it becomes the thing driving the bus or making decisions for kids.”

“You're never going to have 100% certainty, but you can control something.”

“Parents are not the problem, but they are a huge part of the solution.”

Resources Mentioned & Related Reading:

• Allie Morford: faculty profile, University of Colorado School of Medicine
• The Rosenberry Conference: Pediatric Anxiety: Children's Hospital Colorado CE conference where Dr. Morford was faculty, covering exposure with response prevention (ERP) and evidence-based anxiety treatment
• SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions): The parent-based treatment program developed by Dr. Eli Lebowitz at the Yale Child Study Center, referenced in your notes as "Dr Ellie Lebawits"
• Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD: A Scientifically Proven Program for Parents by Eli R. Lebowitz: His most popular parent-facing book, and the closest match to this episode's themes
• Treating Childhood and Adolescent Anxiety: A Guide for Caregivers by Eli R. Lebowitz and Haim Omer: A more clinician-oriented companion for anyone who wants to go deeper

#Anxiety #OCD #parentingtips #allages

What Looks Like Misbehavior Might Be Something Else Entirely, with Lisa Shanken

What if the behavior you're seeing isn't defiance, laziness, or a phase, but a sign of something happening underneath?  I'm Dr. Shelly Mahon, your host. In this episode we sit down with Lisa Shanken, executive functioning coach and founder of Tri-Wellness, to unpack what's really going on for kids who struggle with focus, follow-through, emotional regulation, and independence, including neurodivergent kids and those navigating ADHD, autism, anxiety, and more.

Lisa brings over two decades of experience as a health counselor, personal trainer, yoga instructor, and executive functioning coach, and she breaks down how working memory, impulse control, and cognitive flexibility show up in daily life. She also explains why the mind-body connection, emotional regulation, and firm-but-loving boundaries matter just as much as any system or chart. 

In This Episode, We Cover

• The three tenets of executive functioning: Working memory, impulse control, and cognitive flexibility
• How to tell the difference between a real deficit and “typical” kid behavior
• The connection between executive functioning and mental health: ADHD, autism, anxiety, and depression
• The impact of screens and phones on confidence, social skills, and concentration
• When to seek a neuropsych evaluation
• The role of emotional regulation in daily functioning, and why sitting with discomfort matters
• How to act from a loving place while still holding firm boundaries
• The mind-body connection: how food, sleep, movement, and socialization shape behavior
• Building independence in kids by giving them real responsibility

A Line Worth Remembering

“Giving a child responsibilities leads to independence. If you can follow through with the responsibilities I give you, then I trust you to make some of your own decisions. Start small and build on this.”

Resources Mentioned & Related Reading

• Tri-Wellness: Lisa Shanken's practice
• Social Bloom & Love Bloom: Lisa's programs for building social confidence and relationships in neurodivergent-friendly environments
• Understood.org: Resources on ADHD, learning differences, and neurodiversity
• CHADD: Children and Adults with ADHD
• Child Mind Institute: Anxiety, emotional regulation, and guidance on neuropsych evaluations
• Smart but Scattered by Peg Dawson & Richard Guare: Executive functioning basics for parents
• The Whole-Brain Child and No-Drama Discipline by Daniel Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson: emotional regulation and boundary-setting
• Common Sense Media: Screen time guidance by age

 

“Am I helping my child succeed today or am I helping them succeed tomorrow?”

Welcome to the Parenting Well Podcast. I am Dr. Shelly Mahon, your host, and today's well source is Dr. Nicole Hipp.

Dr. Hipp is a licensed psychologist, executive function coach, and educational consultant with a passion for helping children, teens, and families thrive. As Executive Director of Collegiate Coaching Services, she specializes in the assessment and treatment of ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, learning disabilities, executive functioning challenges, and emotional well-being. Dr. Hipp earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from La Salle University and has dedicated her career to helping parents better understand their children’s unique strengths and challenges. Through her work with families, she provides practical, evidence-based strategies that empower parents to support their children’s development, build resilience, and navigate educational and behavioral challenges with confidence. Her approach combines clinical expertise with compassionate guidance, helping families create stronger connections and lasting success.  

#Neurodiversity #ChoresandLifeSkills #ScreenTime #allages #paretingtips

In this podcast, we talk about:

• The natural variations of the human brain
• The positive ways in which people with neurodiversity think differently - the gifts
• How to help neurodiverse kids make major life transitions
• Specific executive functioning skills for young people to develop in early adulthood
• Scaffolding: Teaching without stepping in too much. Not stepping back too quickly
• Strategies for teaching problem solving and critical thinking
• How to navigate obtaining a comprehensive diagnostic assessment
• Rethinking labels as a way to understand and gain access to support
• The importance of self understanding
• Unique challenges for highly intelligent students who have 
• The impacts of social media and the drop in face-to-face time with same aged peers
• Young people with ADHD are the group that is most vulnerable to overuse of social media
• The impact of social media on social isolation for young people with autism
• Mistakes well-meaning parents often make

Resources

• Collegiate Coaching Service
• Dr. Nicole Hipp
• LinkedIn
• Digital Media Treatment Team

 

"I hear you, I see you, and I am present with you."

I'm Dr. Shelly Mahon, your host, and today we are joined by Dr. Lisa Templeton. Dr. Templeton is a licensed clinical psychologist, author, and founder of The Interpersonal Healing Center in Colorado. Her work brings together mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral tools, acceptance, and compassionate relational care. She helps individuals and families slow down, listen inwardly, and meet life’s challenges with more awareness and connection.

Dr. Templeton is the author of Letting It Be: Mindful Lessons Toward Acceptance, and her public work includes writing, speaking, music, poetry, and teaching practices that support self-care, deeper listening, and relational harmony.

#Relationships #Confllict #Connection #allages #practicaltips

In this podcast, we talk about:

• Slowing down and finding balance in a fast-paced world
• Asking the right questions so that you are in your children’s world
• Using gratitude on creating balance
• The difference between acceptance and resignation
• Shifting perceptions to create agency    
• Acknowledging the context of the situation in your response to challenges
• Taking space to pause, reflect, and revisiting a conflict
• Focusing on repair when emotions are regulated 
• Building relationships around trust, love, and respect.
• The practice of deep listening
• Self care as a practice of caring and relating to yourself - Being compassionate, loving and respectful to yourself.
• Being present in the moment, on purpose, and without judgement
• Bringing creativity into your life 

Resources: 

• Book: Letting It Be: Mindful Lessons Toward Acceptance
• Website
• The Interpersonal Healing Center
• Jon Kabat-Zinn - Mindfulness

I'm Dr. Shelly Mahon, your host, and you are listening to The Parenting Well Podcast. Today's guest is Dr. Jazzmon Trotty-Herring. Jazzmon is the creator of The Connected Family System, a parenting and family-development framework focused on emotional stability, structure, communication, and healthy connection within the home. Through her work, she helps parents move away from reactive parenting and toward intentional family leadership rooted in consistency, values, and emotional awareness. Her message emphasizes that strong families are built through systems, not survival mode, creating environments where both parents and children can thrive emotionally and relationally.

In today's podcast, we talk about:

• Jazzmon’s background in mental health, safety management, infant and toddler education, and child protective services
• Why families need a “system to return to” when life feels stressful or chaotic
• How to create a family system rooted in your values, needs, routines, and expectations
• Using values as the blueprint for discipline, communication, rules, and daily family life
• Moving from reactive parenting to intentional, values-aligned parenting
• The role of emotional regulation, pausing, and the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 grounding technique
• Why repair matters after reactive or difficult parenting moments
• How consistency, safety, and emotional steadiness help children feel secure
• The importance of self-awareness, presence, and intentionality when showing up for kids
• How strong family systems can positively impact schools, communities, and the world beyond the home

Resources:

• Book: The Connected Family System
• The Connected Family System toolkit includes:
  
  • A weekly podcast that explores how values, guiding principles, consistency, emotional regulation, and communication work together to create a home that holds.
  • A book that offers a new way to think about parenting including foundational principles, real life examples of the framework applied, and more.  
  • A live, two-hour virtual educational workshop designed to bring greater clarity, alignment, and structure into a family’s home.
  • A four week-long intensive program for 1:1 coaching with families including guided framework development, application discussion, and limited email support between sessions.

“If we don’t pay attention and aspire to a life where we are all living better, happier, healthier lives that are sustainable, then I don’t know that we reach it accidentally,” Martin Ogle

I'm Dr. Shelly Mahon, your host, and today's Well Source is Martin Ogle. Martin is an environmental educator, naturalist, and founder of Geo sapiens, an initiative focused on helping people become “Earth-wise humans” by integrating environmental and energy literacy into everyday life, work, and community.

This podcast centers around how parents can help children build a meaningful relationship with nature, develop a sense of wonder, and see themselves as connected, capable contributors to a healthier world through whatever work and careers they are interested in.

#EnvironmentalLiteracy #Communication #mentalhealth #AllAges #PracticalTips

In this Podcast we talk about:

• Developing a relationship with nature
• Understanding how living systems work and how humans fit in
• The social & emotional, mental, and physical benefits of being outside
• The connection between the health of a living system and your own well being
• Creating an economy that is in balance with all living systems
• Developmental approaches to talking to kids about the nature, environmental factors, and sustainability practices
• Specific ways that businesses are creating sustainability and the opportunities young people have to contribute to that in their career
• Managing advancements in technology with being in balance with living systems
• Incorporating living processes in all we do, including schools curriculum and careers
• The importance of putting the concepts together
• Simple ways to integrate these concepts into your day-to-day life 

Resources: 

• Martin’s Website: Entrepreneurial Earth, LLC
• Project Drawdown: The World’s Leading Guide to Science-Based Solutions  
• The Biggest Little Farm Documentary
• Book: Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
• Book: The Nature Principle by Richard Louv

“The complex is simple and the simple is complex” 

Welcome to The Parenting Well Podcast. I'm Dr. Shelly Mahon, your host, and today's conversation is with Mark Talaga. Mark hosts the podcast Hopelessly Gifted, a deeply personal and thought-provoking exploration of intelligence, identity, achievement, and emotional well-being. Through candid storytelling and hard-earned insight, Mark examines what it means to grow up labeled as “gifted”  and the pressures, expectations, and emotional complexities that often come with that label.

Drawing from his own experiences, Mark challenges the assumption that gifted children naturally thrive. Instead, he highlights the hidden struggles many high-achieving kids face, including perfectionism, anxiety, isolation, burnout, and the difficulty of developing resilience when achievement becomes tied to self-worth.

Mark’s work resonates with parents, educators, and anyone raising children in achievement-oriented environments. His perspective offers a compassionate reminder that emotional health, curiosity, character, and connection matter just as much as academic success.

#resilience #positiveyouthdevelopment #braindevelopment #practicaltips

In this podcast, we talk about:

• The impact of labeling kids
• Understanding where children are either ahead or behind developmentally so you can address gaps
• Ways in which gifted children are misunderstood 
• The impact of giftedness on perfectionism, anxiety, identity development, and resilience 
• Early signs of giftedness
• Behaviors kids exhibit when they need additional support
• A systemic approach to helping children thrive
• The difference between skill development and psychology
• Aligning with larger systems like schools to advocate for your child
• The importance of curiosity, connection, and play

Resources

• Podcast: Hopelessly Gifted
• LinkedIn
• Center for Identity Potential

“There are many ways to show up in the world, so pick the one that feels good” Dr. Darla Bishop

I'm Dr. Shelly Mahon, your host, and today's conversation is about raising money smart kids with Dr. Darla Bishop.

Dr. Bishop- known as the “FinanSis”-  is a mother, a former high school educator/bilingual elementary school reading coach, children’s book author, and passionate entrepreneur who founded Finansis LLC. Inspired by her challenging childhood in Detroit, she is passionate about helping families build strong financial foundations and empowering children to develop a positive money mindset early in life. Dr. Darla is all too aware of the correlation between low credit scores and short lifespan, her mission is to change that narrative.

Blending humor, insight, and tough love, Dr. Darla works to transform how communities think about wealth, believing financial literacy is key to creating resilient futures. With over 15 years in public health leadership, she also serves as a consultant, professor, mentor, and real estate investor. 

Among her proudest achievements are co-authoring Madeline’s Money Adventure with her daughter and helping young bilingual students succeed in reading.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Making money fun
• Strategies for building money conversations into daily life
• Teaching how to make responsible choices with money
• School curriculums for financial literacy
• How to think about and build credit
• Staying curious when it comes to perceptions of money

Additional Resources:

• Dr. Darla's Book: How to Afford Everything
• Madeline's Money Adventure by Madeline Bishop and Dr. Darla Bishop
• America's Awesome Kids