Teen Savvy Coaching
Helping teens and the adults who care for them to thrive
What is mom guilt, really? Mom guilt is that feeling that no matter what you’re doing… it’s not enough. It’s not always about something you did wrong. Sometimes it’s just the quiet fear that you’re not getting it right. In this episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, we talk about both–the real mistakes, and the imagined …
If your child is experiencing teen bullying, it can feel overwhelming, confusing, and deeply personal. As parents, this stuff makes us feel helpless. Our instinct may be to jump in and fix it. And eventually, that may be necessary. But at the outset, the most effective support starts with understanding what’s really happening. What Actually …
Talking to teens about depression can feel overwhelming, but avoiding it often creates more confusion than clarity. In this week’s Parenting Shrink Wrapped episode, Sam and Melissa sit down with Kendall Concini, author of Cloudy Day Chronicles, to explore a powerful truth: teens don’t need perfect parents… they need honest ones. And Kendall’s honest experience …
If you’re parenting a teen right now, you’ve probably seen moments where their emotions feel bigger than the situation. And sometimes… those emotions might turn into behaviors that scare you. Self-harm. Shutting down. Explosive reactions. Here’s what most parents don’t realize: Self-harm isn’t usually about wanting to die.It’s about trying to cope. In this episode …
If you’re a parent of a teen, chances are college conversations are either already happening… or right around the corner. And here’s the truth: Paying for college without debt is top of mind for most families—but figuring out how to actually make that happen is more complicated than ever. Between FAFSA changes, rising tuition, and …
If you have a teen or young adult who feels overwhelmed about their future, you’re not imagining it–the landscape they’re stepping into is completely different from the one we entered. The pressure to “figure it out” can feel intense. But what if the goal isn’t clarity right away?What if the goal is actually curiosity? In …
When we think about parenting, we tend to focus on what we say to our kids. But what if the most powerful lessons we’re teaching them have nothing to do with our words? What if they’re learning from how we show up in our relationships? It’s Not About the Broccoli (or the Gummy Bears) In …
Work-life balance for parents isn’t just a scheduling problem.It’s a systems problem. In this week’s episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, we spoke with Dr. Rosina McAlpine, founder of Win-Win Parenting, about why working parents experience some of the highest levels of stress and burnout…and what needs to change The Impossible Expectation Parents are often expected …
If you want to teach your child healthy financial habits, start with this truth: They are learning about money from you long before you ever hand them a debit card. In this week’s episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, we spoke with Lori Atwood, founder of Fearless Finance, about what it really takes to raise financially …
Blended families and step-parenting are no longer the exception. They are part of everyday family life for millions of parents and kids. And yet, many adults step into these roles without a clear roadmap for how to build trust, manage discipline, and support kids who are already navigating change. In a recent episode of Parenting …
If you’re trying to help an anxious teen, you’ve probably asked yourself this question at least once: Is this just normal stress… or is something actually wrong? That uncertainty alone can make parents feel anxious too. Teen anxiety is incredibly common. But not all anxiety is the same, and not all of it needs to …
Parent conversations about bodies and boundaries can feel awkward, overwhelming, and easy to avoid. Many parents worry about saying the wrong thing or sharing too much too soon. But the truth is, these conversations don’t need to be perfect to be powerful. When parents focus on connection instead of correctness, kids feel safer asking questions, …
Parents today are navigating an overwhelming amount of information about teen mental health diagnosis. Anxiety, ADHD, depression, autism — labels are everywhere, and many kids are learning to define themselves by them. But what if some of what we’re seeing isn’t pathology at all? In this episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, we speak with researcher …
Parenting has never just been about what we do. It’s also about what we carry. The mental load of parenting–the constant thinking, anticipating, worrying, remembering, and managing–is often invisible to everyone except the person holding it. And for many parents, especially those raising teens, that load can feel overwhelming. In this episode of Parenting Shrink …
My husband hates ceremonies. Like–hates them. Our oldest is graduating from college this spring, and I’m just waiting for the “Can’t’ they just mail the diplomas and call it a day?” conversation that will inevitably go down. It’s not that he’s not proud of our son, or happy about whatever accomplishment is being “ceremonied”. He …
If you’ve ever received a text from another parent and instantly felt that sinking I really don’t want to say yes feeling… you’re not alone. One of the trickiest parts of parenting isn’t just navigating our kids’ needs—it’s navigating what other parents expect from us. Birthday parties. Sleepovers. Playdates. Curfews. Group outings.And eventually… substance use, …
When Melissa and I sat down to record this episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, she decided to flip the script and interview me about parent coaching — what it is, how I got here, and why it can make such a dramatic difference for families. And because she didn’t warn me ahead of time (true …
Somehow—and I’m still wrapping my head around this—Parenting Shrink Wrapped Turning One feels both surreal and wildly exciting. One full year of weekly episodes, expert conversations, tech hiccups, poorly coordinated recording schedules, and plenty of laughter later… and here we are. When Melissa and I sat down in the kitchen of my rental house (remember, …
If you’ve ever found yourself standing in the kitchen, staring at your child’s homework meltdown and thinking, “What on earth is actually happening here?”—you’re in good company. In our latest episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, Dr. Melissa Wellner and I sat down with clinical psychologist Dr. Eryn Krueger for a deep, practical, myth-busting conversation about …
Parenting teens and substance use has changed dramatically in the last decade. Today’s teens are navigating vapes that look like flash drives, marijuana products with far higher potency than past generations ever encountered, and gas-station synthetics like kratom that are shockingly easy to get. The result is a landscape that feels more complex—and more confusing—than …
When most parents think about their teen’s development, they picture emotional ups and downs, shifting friend groups, or maybe the battle over sleep and screen time. But what if some of your teen’s current struggles trace back to something as simple as how they used their mouth as a toddler? In this week’s Parenting ShrinkWrapped …
This week on Parenting Shrink Wrapped, we talked with Dr. Rebecca Vickers, a pediatrician who blends conventional and functional medicine to help kids truly heal. After years of practicing traditional pediatrics, Dr. Vickers began to notice a troubling trend: kids are sicker than they used to be. Allergies, anxiety, ADHD, and chronic digestive issues are …
If your teen is dreading school—or you’ve started getting those “stomachache” texts every morning—here’s something important to remember: it might not be your teen that’s broken. It might be the system. In this week’s episode of Parenting Shrink Wrapped, Dr. Melissa Wellner and I talked with Rebecca Luhm and Tonya Gardner from Fusion Academy in …
Halloween might look like candy and costumes on the surface, but parenting through Halloween offers a surprisingly rich snapshot of our kids’ growth—and our own. When my children were small, I was the one steering the ship: planning the route, managing meltdown and candy consumption, and creating the costumes (When he was two, my son …
