Power Your Parenting: Moms With Teens

Were you a “good kid” growing up—and did anyone ever ask how you were really doing on the inside?

In this eye-opening episode, Colleen O’Grady sits down with trauma therapist and author Maggie Nick to explore the hidden cost of being the “good kid.” While these kids are often praised for being easy, responsible, and well-behaved, many are silently struggling with anxiety, perfectionism, and a deep fear of disappointing others.

Maggie shares her personal story of being a lifelong people-pleaser who looked “sunshine and rainbows” on the outside but felt intense pressure and self-criticism on the inside. Through her own healing journey, she discovered that shame—not behavior—is often at the root of the good kid pattern.

This conversation helps parents understand how well-intentioned parenting, combined with a child’s temperament and sensitivity, can unintentionally create kids who disconnect from their own needs in order to feel loved and accepted.

💡 3 Key Takeaways

1. “Good” Behavior Can Hide Internal Struggles
Good kids often look like they’re thriving—but many are anxious, self-critical, and disconnected from their own wants and needs. They’ve learned to focus outward—keeping others happy—while losing touch with themselves.

2. Shame Shapes Identity More Than We Realize
When kids receive messages like “I expected more from you” or “What’s wrong with you,” they don’t just change behavior—they internalize it. The takeaway becomes: “Something is wrong with me.” This can follow them into adulthood.

3. Small Parenting Shifts Can Break the Cycle
You don’t have to overhaul your parenting—just adjust your approach:

Move from criticism to curiosity

Allow your child to struggle without shame

Stay connected: “I don’t like the behavior, but I’m always on your side”

These small shifts help your teen stay connected to themselves—and to you.

Learn More at: https://www.instagram.com/maggiewithperspectacles?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D

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In this episode, Colleen O’Grady talks with pediatric obesity specialist Dr. Joey Skelton about one of the most sensitive topics for parents of teens: how to address weight and eating habits without causing shame or harm. Drawing from his new book, Your Child Is Not Their Weight: Parenting in a Size-Obsessed World, Dr. Skelton explains how well-meaning parents can unintentionally heighten body image struggles, disordered eating, and family tension when they focus too much on weight.

Dr. Skelton introduces the idea of “threading the needle”—supporting a teen’s health without feeding the cultural obsession with body size. He encourages parents to move away from comments, pressure, and restriction, and instead create a home environment built on love and structure. That means modeling healthy habits, setting consistent routines around meals and snacks, limiting food-related commentary, and avoiding moral labels like “good” and “bad” foods.

Colleen and Dr. Skelton also explore the difference between healthy eating, disordered eating, and eating disorders, the emotional impact of weight talk in families, when parents should be concerned, and how to help teens develop a healthier relationship with food and their bodies. This episode offers practical, compassionate guidance for moms who want to protect both their child’s physical health and emotional well-being.

Three key takeaways from this episode:

1. Talking about weight can backfire.
Even loving comments like “Do you really need another cookie?” may be heard by teens as criticism or shame. Dr. Skelton encourages parents to focus less on weight and more on creating healthy family routines.

2. Replace pressure and restriction with love and structure.
Rather than policing food, parents can help by planning meals, setting snack and dinner routines, eating together when possible, and modeling a balanced relationship with food and movement.

3. Your teen’s worth is never defined by their body.
Helping teens build body confidence starts with what parents model at home—avoiding negative body talk, not commenting on appearance, and reinforcing that health, character, and identity matter far more than weight.

Learn More at:

https://school.wakehealth.edu/faculty/s/joseph-skelton

https://www.wakehealth.edu/specialty/b/brenner-fit

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How do we help our teens stay hopeful when life is hard?

In this episode, I talk with psychologist and optimism expert Dr. Deepika Chopra, author of The Power of Real Optimism: A Practical Science-Based Guide to Staying Resilient, Curious, and Open Even When Life Is Hard.

We explore the difference between toxic positivity and real optimism, and why trying to cheer our teens up when they’re upset often backfires. Dr. Chopra explains that real optimism doesn’t deny hard feelings—it helps teens learn how to move through them.

We also discuss why teens need validation before solutions, how parents can unintentionally fall into pessimistic thinking about their kids, and how shifting our language and mindset can help teens build resilience and confidence.

Dr. Chopra shares practical ways parents can help teens develop optimism as a skill—by reminding them that emotions are temporary, helping them collect evidence of their strengths, and modeling optimism in our own lives.

This conversation will encourage parents who may feel discouraged with their teen and remind them that hope and growth are always possible.

3 Takeaways for Parents

1. Validate feelings before fixing the problem.
Teens aren’t looking for us to immediately cheer them up or solve their problems. They want to feel heard, understood, and safe expressing their emotions.

2. Optimism is a skill—not a personality trait.
Teens can learn optimism by recognizing that difficult feelings are temporary and by remembering past challenges they have overcome.

3. Focus on strengths, not just problems.
When parents constantly focus on what their teen is doing wrong, it can shape how both the parent and the teen see them. Looking for evidence of strengths helps teens build confidence and resilience.

Learn More at: https://www.drdeepikachopra.com/

Follow at: https://www.instagram.com/drdeepikachopra/

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Is your teen being disrespectful — or just dysregulated?Are power struggles in your home really about control… or miscommunication?

In this episode, Colleen sits down with adolescent psychologist Dr. Cam Caswell, also known as the “Teen Translator,” to unpack what it truly means to speak teen. They explore how small language shifts can completely change your relationship dynamic, why stricter consequences often backfire, and how behaviors like arguing, messy rooms, and pushback can actually be signs of healthy development. Dr. Cam shares practical tools parents can implement immediately — from handling screen time without making it the enemy, to phrases that de-escalate conflict and build emotional safety. This conversation is packed with wisdom to help you shift from control and fear to connection and confidence.

Dr. Cam Caswell is a nationally recognized adolescent psychologist, parent coach, TEDx speaker, podcast host, and founder of the Parenting Teens Academy. With over 20 years of experience and a doctorate in developmental psychology, she has helped thousands of families navigate shutdowns, anxiety, attitude, and emotional blowups. As a single mom of a 20-year-old daughter, she brings both clinical expertise and personal insight — along with humor, heart, and zero judgment.

🔑 3 Key Takeaways

1. Disrespect is often dysregulation.
When teens push back, argue, or use tone, they’re usually overwhelmed — not malicious. If parents regulate themselves first, it changes everything.

2. Connection is not a reward — it’s the foundation.
Withdrawing warmth, time, or relationship to punish behavior actually increases disconnection. Emotional safety builds cooperation.

3. “I see you. I get you. I’ve got you.”
When teens feel understood and emotionally secure, power struggles decrease and trust increases.

Learn more at: https://www.askdrcam.com/

Follow at: https://www.instagram.com/drcamcaswell/?hl=en
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You are going to love this episode. Today we are going to dive into a teenager's emotional life. I think what makes parenting teens so challenging is dealing with their intense emotions. Sometimes you're the target of their emotional storms and sometimes they turn their emotions inward. You worry about them being depressed or anxious.

How many times have we brought up a simple request to our teen, but it turns out to be not so simple because it triggers a huge emotional response? Moms can find themselves avoiding talking about important topics because they don’t know how to handle their emotions.

I invited Dr. Lisa Damour, the author of The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, to talk about this nuanced subject of teenage emotions. In this episode we focus on her chapter called Managing Emotions, Part One: Helping Teens Express Their Emotions and the following chapter called Managing Emotions, Part Two: Helping Teens Regain Emotional Control

Recognized as a thought leader by the American Psychological Association, Lisa Damour, Ph.D., co-hosts the Ask Lisa podcast, writes about adolescents for the The New York Times, appears as a regular contributor to CBS News, works in collaboration with UNICEF, and maintains a clinical practice. She is the author of three New York Times bestsellers, The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents, Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood and Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls. She and her husband have two daughters and live in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

To find out more about the Emotional Lives of Teenagers go to ⁠https://drlisadamour.com/ ⁠

And while you are there go to the tab that says How Can I Help to get your downloadable bookmarks.

Follow Lisa on Instagram at ⁠https://www.instagram.com/lisa.damour/
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