Power Your Parenting: Moms With Teens

What if your teen’s extreme behavior isn’t proof that you’re failing as a mom—but a sign that you simply need different tools?

When your teen is disrespectful, defiant, anxious, aggressive, using substances, or struggling emotionally, it’s easy to wonder, Where did I go wrong? In this episode of Power Your Parenting: Moms of Teens, I talk with Dr. Scott Sells, family therapist and author of the newly revised Parenting Your Out-of-Control Teenager: Eight Strategies to Reestablish Authority and Reclaim Love. Dr. Sells reminds parents that extreme behavior often isn’t a “bad parenting” problem—it’s a tools problem. Drawing from decades of working with families as well as his own experience parenting twin teenage sons, he explains why parents need a balance of love and limits—or connection with correction.

Dr. Sells explains why gentle parenting alone may fall short with teens who have extreme behavioral or emotional challenges. Teens need connection, but they also need clear guardrails. As he puts it, “rules without relationships lead to rebellion.” You’ll hear practical strategies for rebuilding connection, including catching your teen doing something right, creating intentional special outings, and staying committed to the relationship even when your teen initially pushes you away.

We also explore the complicated question many moms face: Is this anxiety, trauma, neurodivergence, a mental health issue—or simply oppositional behavior? Dr. Sells discusses looking at both skill and will, reducing over-accommodation of anxiety, and examining how smartphones, instant gratification, nutrition, and family patterns may contribute to emotional struggles.

Most importantly, this conversation offers hope. You don’t have to parent perfectly, and trying harder with the same strategies isn’t always the answer. Sometimes you need a new tool—one that helps you lower the drama, restore your authority, and rebuild the loving connection underneath all the conflict.

Scott Sells, PhD, is the founder and developer of the evidence-based treatment models Parenting with Love and Limits and Family Systems Trauma, used by therapists across the United States and Europe. He earned his PhD and MSW from Florida State University and has served as a professor of social work at Savannah State University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He has delivered keynotes for major mental health organizations and authored more than 20 professional publications. Dr. Sells is the author of three books, including the newly revised Parenting Your Out-of-Control Teenager: Eight Strategies to Reestablish Authority and Reclaim Love, Treating the Traumatized Child, and Treating the Tough Adolescent.

3 Key Takeaways

1. It may not be a parenting problem—it may be a tools problem.
When the strategies you’ve always used stop working, trying harder isn’t necessarily the solution. You may need a different, more specialized tool.

2. Teens need both love AND limits.
Connection without boundaries can leave teens without needed guardrails, while rules without a relationship can fuel rebellion. The goal is balanced parenting: connection with correction.

3. Look beneath the behavior.
Disrespect, defiance, anxiety, or withdrawal may be the surface problem. Getting curious about what is driving the behavior—and then choosing the right tool—can help parents move from constant firefighting toward real change.

Learn more at https://familytrauma.com/dr-scott-sells/

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What if the secret to doing it all isn’t trying harder—but finally putting yourself back into the equation?

In this episode of Power Your Parenting: Moms with Teens, Colleen O’Grady talks with Dr. Anne Welsh, psychologist, executive coach, working mother of four, and author of Ambitious Mother: From Surviving to Thriving in Your Career and at Home. Dr. Welsh understands firsthand the invisible pressure women feel to succeed at work, show up fully for their families, and somehow keep everything running—often at the expense of themselves. Her work challenges the idea that mothers must choose between success and sanity and offers a new way to think about ambition, motherhood, and what it means to thrive.

Colleen and Dr. Welsh explore the “ambition paradox”—the belief that work takes away from your kids, kids take away from your work, and the only solution is to stretch yourself thinner and thinner until you virtually disappear from your own life. Dr. Welsh encourages moms to redefine ambition, moving away from the traditional “ladder” of achievement toward a more flexible “web,” where there is room to pivot, rest, prioritize relationships, pursue meaningful work, and change direction as life changes. They also discuss the surprising “motherhood advantage”—how parenting develops empathy, leadership, negotiation, problem-solving, and other skills that can actually make women stronger in their careers.

The conversation gets especially relevant for moms of teens and tweens as Colleen and Dr. Welsh unpack the often-overlooked mental and emotional load of this stage of parenting. Teens may need less hands-on care, but their heartbreaks, academic pressures, mental health struggles, changing friendships, and unexpected crises can require tremendous emotional energy. Moms need safe places to share that load and permission to adjust their careers and ambitions as family needs change. And as kids move toward college and adulthood, moms may also find themselves wondering, What do I want now? Dr. Welsh encourages women to start small—notice the “breadcrumbs of joy,” reconnect with their preferences and desires, and give themselves time to discover what they want their next chapter to become.

3 Takeaways

1. Put yourself back into the equation.

When work and family both need something, moms often sacrifice themselves first. Your needs, desires, friendships, interests, and ambitions matter too. Taking care of yourself isn’t separate from taking care of your children—it helps you show up as a more whole and fulfilled person.

2. Redefine what ambition means to you.

Ambition doesn’t have to mean climbing a corporate ladder, earning more money, or achieving a prestigious title. You can be ambitious about connection, relationships, meaningful work, impact, creativity, peace, or having more breathing room in your life. And what you're ambitious about can change in different seasons.

3. Your kids are watching how you live your life.When moms pursue what matters to them, they model something powerful: You are allowed to have a meaningful, fulfilling life. Instead of teaching children that adulthood and parenthood require burnout and self-sacrifice, moms can demonstrate self-respect, flexibility, purpose, and fulfillment.

Learn More at: https://www.drannewelsh.com/ambitious-mother-book

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Have you become so busy taking care of everyone else that you've forgotten how to take care of yourself?

In this inspiring conversation, Colleen welcomes Cherie Ashana, author of The Sacred She Reset, to discuss why so many moms feel depleted, overwhelmed, and disconnected from themselves during midlife. Cherie shares her own story of burnout and how it led her to create a framework for helping women move from exhaustion to radiance. Together, they explore how suppressed anger often carries an important message, why self-care is not selfish but essential, and how reconnecting with yourself ultimately benefits your entire family. They also offer practical tools—including breathwork, journaling, and creating daily moments of stillness—to help moms reset their nervous systems and rediscover joy.

Three Key Takeaways

1. Your anger may be pointing to unmet needs.
Many moms spend years putting everyone else first. Over time, unexpressed needs can build into frustration or rage. Instead of judging your anger, get curious about what it's trying to tell you.

2. Small daily resets restore your nervous system.
Even five minutes each morning to breathe, place your hands over your heart, and ask yourself, "How am I feeling today?" can calm your nervous system and help you approach your family from a place of peace rather than depletion.

3. When moms become radiant, everyone benefits.
Taking care of yourself isn't selfish—it's one of the greatest gifts you can give your children. The joy, peace, and healthy boundaries you cultivate become the model your family experiences every day.

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

Learn more at: https://awakenedshe.com/

Free Gift:
https://gifts.awakenedshe.com/ebook-879895

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How do we raise teens to be critical thinkers so they won't believe everything they read online?

In this episode I have a conversation with Julie Bogart who recently published, Raising Critical Thinkers: A Parents Guide to Growing Wise Kids In the Digital Age.

Julie Bogart is the creator of the award-winning, innovative Brave Writer program, teaching writing and language arts to thousands of families every year. She homeschooled her five now-grown children for seventeen years and is the founder of Brave Learner Home, which supports homeschooling parents through coaching and teaching. She has also taught as an adjunct professor of theology at Xavier University. Bogart is the author of The Brave Learner.

Julie helps us think about self-aware critical thinking. As you know today everyone feels like an expert. Our teens look to the internet for their answers and think they have found the truth. In Raising Critical Thinkers, Julie gives us tools to help teens navigate the misinformation they find online so that teens can identify a fact, versus a fiction, or outright lie?

Also, she helps us identify the difference between fact, interpretation, evidence, perspective, opinion, prejudice, bias, belief, story, worldview, and what role they play in critical thinking.

To learn more about Julie and get her free downloads from her new book go to: ⁠https://raisingcriticalthinkers.com/ ⁠

Follow her on Instagram at: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/juliebravewriter/
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Have you ever looked at your teen's angry outburst and wondered, "What's really going on underneath?"

When our teens slam doors, snap at us, or seem completely irrational, it's easy to react to the behavior we see. But what if those explosive moments are actually covering fear, anxiety, embarrassment, or overwhelm? In this episode, clinical psychologist Dr. Lori Kaufman shares how parents can stop taking their teen's emotions personally, regulate their own reactions, and use emotional moments as opportunities for deeper connection instead of conflict.

Guest Bio

Dr. Laurie Kaufman is a licensed clinical psychologist, certified high school teacher, and certified mindfulness educator with nearly 30 years of experience working with teenagers, parents, and families. She is the founder of Ebb and Flow Mental Health, where she provides therapy and leads parenting groups based on the internationally recognized Tuning In to Teens program. Dr. Kaufman also serves as a part-time faculty member in the University of Rhode Island's psychology department. Drawing from both her professional expertise and her experience parenting four teenagers, she helps families navigate big emotions with kindness, curiosity, and practical tools.

Three Takeaways

1. Every Behavior Has an Emotion Underneath

Teens' behaviors often don't make sense until parents understand the emotions driving them. Anger is frequently a mask for anxiety, fear, embarrassment, loneliness, or disappointment. Instead of reacting to the behavior alone, parents can become curious about what lies beneath the surface.

2. Regulate Yourself Before You Parent

When emotions escalate, the most important job isn't fixing your teen—it's calming yourself first. Taking a pause, breathing, or stepping away briefly allows you to respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively. A regulated parent teaches emotional regulation simply by modeling it.

3. Trade Control for Connection

As teens grow, parents shift from being managers to becoming trusted consultants. By asking authentic questions, listening with empathy, and maintaining firm but warm boundaries, parents build influence instead of relying on control. The strongest parent-teen relationships combine high expectations with high support.

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

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