Power Your Parenting: Moms With Teens

Is your teen’s behavior a sign that something is “wrong”… or could it be part of normal development in a high-pressure world?When should parents seek help—and when might labels actually do more harm than good?

In this powerful and thought-provoking episode, Colleen O’Grady sits down with child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Sami Timimi, author of Searching for Normal. With over 35 years in the UK’s National Health Service, Dr. Timimi challenges many of the assumptions parents have been taught about teen mental health. Together, they explore why diagnoses like ADHD, autism, anxiety, and depression have exploded—and why medicalizing distress can sometimes steal hope instead of restoring it. This conversation reframes teen behavior through the lens of context, development, relationships, and resilience, reminding parents that emotions are not emergencies and that most teens are not broken—they’re responding to a stressful world.

About Dr. Sami Timimi

Dr. Sami Timimi is a British child and adolescent psychiatrist with more than three decades of clinical experience in the UK’s National Health Service. He has authored numerous academic papers and books and is widely known for his critiques of the over-medicalization of mental health. In Searching for Normal, Dr. Timimi offers a deeply humane, evidence-based challenge to psychiatric labeling and invites families to reclaim a more hopeful, relational understanding of distress.

Three Takeaways for Parents


Distress is not the same as disorder. Many teen struggles are understandable responses to pressure, change, and context—not signs of lifelong pathology.


Labels shape identity—and not always in helpful ways. Diagnoses can unintentionally limit teens, increase fear, and turn temporary struggles into permanent stories.


Relationships matter more than control. Teens don’t need to be “fixed”—they need connection, patience, and adults who aren’t afraid of emotions.

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Learn More at: https://www.samitimimi.co.uk/

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Do you have a teen whose emotions feel huge and explosive—and nothing you say seems to calm things down?Do you find yourself reacting out of fear, walking on eggshells, or second-guessing whether you’re doing any of this “right”?

In this episode, Colleen O’Grady talks with therapist and author Katie K. May about what’s really happening when teens have big, intense emotions—and why common parent responses (like “You’re fine” or “Relax”) often backfire. Katie introduces the concept of “fire feelers,” teens who experience emotions as all-consuming, and explains how self-destructive behaviors can become a desperate attempt to shut down emotional pain. You’ll learn why validation is the fastest way to lower emotional intensity, how “radical acceptance” helps parents stop fighting reality and start rebuilding connection, and why parents need a plan to regulate their own nervous system so they can respond instead of react—especially when safety is a concern.

Guest Bio: Katie K. May

Katie K. May is a licensed therapist, author, speaker, and group practice owner. She founded Creative Healing, a multi-location teen support center in the Philadelphia area, and is the author of You’re On Fire, It’s Fine: Effective Strategies for Parenting Teens with Self-Destructive Behaviors. With lived experience as a teen who turned to self-harm, Katie is one of a select few board-certified DBT clinicians in Pennsylvania. She equips parents and clinicians with practical, trauma-informed tools to decode behavior as survival and create lasting change.

Three Takeaways


Validation lowers the emotional “fire.” Before problem-solving, teens need to feel seen and understood—validation helps calm the nervous system and opens the door to change.


Radical acceptance reduces parental suffering. Accepting “this is where we are” doesn’t mean approving—it means stopping the fight with reality so you can respond more effectively.


Parents need their own regulation plan. A “stress meter” and a proactive calming strategy help moms manage fear, avoid catastrophic thinking, and stay steady when emotions run high.

Learn More at: https://katiekmay.com/

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What are things you tolerated in 2025 that you don't want to tolerate in 2026?

Today we are going to explore tolerations, messes, and irritations. You know the things that annoy you on a daily basis and steal your I feel good energy.

If I ask you the question what are you tolerating? What’s the first thing that comes to mind?

Maybe the first thing that comes to your mind is something about your teen, your boss, or your partner. In other words you are tolerating your relationships.

Or, maybe the first thing that you thought of is the color of your kitchen wall, all those piles of papers on the table, or the kitchen disposal that hasn’t worked in a year. You are tolerating things in your physical space.

Heres the thing. All of us tolerate things we shouldn't, instead of handling them. Every time we tolerate things instead of managing them they drain our energy. It steals our attention away from what we really want to do and what we want to achieve. And if we don’t handle these little things in life we can go into resignation. Like if I can’t handle these little irritations then I can’t have what I want and we feel this at a deep unconscious level.

This episode helps you become aware of what you're tolerating and gives you a plan to clean up your irritations and messes in your physical space and your relationships.
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What if grief isn’t something you “get over,” but something you learn to carry—without losing yourself in the process?

In this powerful conversation, Colleen O’Grady talks with grief expert and widowed mom Krista St. Germain about what grief really looks like—beyond the outdated “five stages” idea. Krista shares her personal story of losing her husband suddenly and what she learned the hard way: grief doesn’t end, it changes—and healing comes from integrating loss into your life with compassion, emotional safety, and realistic expectations. Together, they explore how grief shows up differently in families (including anger, shutdown, clinginess, and conflict), why time doesn’t “heal” on its own, and how parents can support grieving teens without forcing conversations or pressuring anyone to “be okay.”

Krista St. Germain is a Master Certified Life Coach, post-traumatic growth and grief expert, widow, mom, and host of the Widowed Mom Podcast. After her husband was killed in a crash caused by an impaired driver, Krista rebuilt her life using tools from life coaching, nervous system regulation, and modern grief science. She now coaches and teaches widows—and educates the broader public—so people can move forward without being harmed by outdated, isolating grief myths.


Grief isn’t a problem to solve—it’s an experience to understand.
When a teen becomes clingy, angry, or shuts down, start with: “How does this make sense?” Instead of pushing for words, offer steady presence, reassurance in the present, and emotional permission.


Healthy grieving includes both sorrow and restoration.
The Dual Process Model helps families stop judging themselves: you’ll naturally move between “loss-oriented” moments (crying, remembering, handling logistics) and “restoration” moments (laughing, hobbies, friends). Healing lives in the back-and-forth.


Watch for secondary losses—and name them.
Grief isn’t only the big loss. It’s also the “paper cuts” that keep coming: milestones, holidays, weddings, traditions, even taking something down in the house. Naming a moment as a secondary loss reduces shame and helps you respond with compassion instead of “What’s wrong with me?”


When your teen won’t talk but is acting different:
“I notice you’ve been wanting to stay close lately. That makes a lot of sense after what happened. You don’t have to talk about it, but I’m here—and we’ll get through this together.”


When anger shows up (yours or theirs):
“Something big is underneath this. We can take a pause. I’m not here to fight you—I’m here to understand what’s going on.”


When you feel guilty for laughing or having a good moment:
“This is the restorative bucket. I’m allowed to breathe. Grief and joy can exist in the same life.”

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

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In this episode I interview Dr. Charles Sophy, author of FAMILY VALUES: Reset Trust, Boundaries, and Connection with Your Child . He is the medical director of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and a regular contributor on the Dr. Phil show. Dr. Sophy has helped all kinds of families break harmful patterns. Based on his wealth of experience as a psychiatrist and as a father, Dr. Sophy assures every parent: “No matter how complicated life gets or how off course your family dynamics become, it’s never too late to hit the reset button and move forward with confidence, love, and authenticity, with your family values leading the way.”

 For more information on Dr. Charles Sophy: ⁠https://drsophy.com/⁠.

Follow on Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/sophyonthestreet/
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