Shows
Parenting Post-Wilderness: Parenting a Struggling Teen Before, During and After Treatment138. Life After Treatment: How Your Kid Can Find the Peer Support They NeedOne of the most overlooked challenges after treatment? The loss of community. Teens and young adults often return home (or head off to college) and suddenly find themselves without the peer support they had in treatment, even though that kind of support, being seen and understood by someone who’s been through it too, can be one of the most powerful parts of the healing process.“Especially for young people, the need to belong is so important” - Ciara FanloYour child may be craving a sense of normalcy, wanting to reconnect with friends and blend...2025-04-1536 minParenting Post-Wilderness: Parenting a Struggling Teen Before, During and After Treatment127. When Nothing Seems to Work for Your Struggling TeenWhat do you do when you’ve tried everything? Your teen has been to wilderness programs, therapeutic boarding schools, partial hospitalization programs, and more—and yet, the struggles persist. The behaviors, the fears, the maladaptive patterns, they all return in some way or form when your teen comes back home. What now?In this episode, I’m joined again by the incredible Ciara Fanlo, a former “troubled teen” turned mentor and coach for struggling teens. Together, we delve into the feelings of exhaustion, frustration, and fear that come when walking this path as a parent. But also the deep s...2025-01-2836 minParenting Post-Wilderness: Parenting a Struggling Teen Before, During and After Treatment123. Recognizing Your Teen’s Progress With Ciara FanloHow do you know if your teen is truly making progress? As parents, we often cling to our own standards, like better grades or sticking to curfews. These are the markers we cling to as evidence that the therapy or treatment is “working.” But what if the signs you’re looking for aren’t the ones that matter most? Because, our teens? They’re navigating their own priorities and often finding progress in ways that are less visible to us. They often grow in ways that don’t align with our expectations as parents.In this episode...2024-12-3122 minParenting Post-Wilderness: Parenting a Struggling Teen Before, During and After Treatment122. Your Kid Shouldn’t Take Your Advice: Here’s Why - With Ciara FanloIt’s SO frustrating when your kid doesn’t take your advice, isn’t it?! As parents, we have more life experience and we can share our advice with our kids to give them an easier and smoother life experience, at least that’s how it feels to us, right?That’s not how it works though. Together with Ciara Fanlo (a former “troubled teen” turned mentor for adolescents and their families), I explore why teens often don’t take advice, how to shift from frustration to understanding, and how to support teens as they build their library of life...2024-12-2431 minParenting Post-Wilderness: Parenting a Struggling Teen Before, During and After Treatment111. The Emotional Stages Your Struggling Teen Goes Through in TreatmentWhat’s it actually like for your teen to be in wilderness or other treatment?As parents, we can never truly know. But today’s guest, Ciara Fanlo, has been through it herself. According to her, the emotional stages our teens go through in treatment are very similar to the seven stages of grief: shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance & hope, and processing grief. So what does that look like for your teen? In this episode, Ciara shares her thoughts and experiences going through each of these steps. Like when she was going through the ‘denial’...2024-10-0853 minParenting Post-Wilderness: Parenting a Struggling Teen Before, During and After Treatment101. Believing in Your Teen’s Potential Is Everything - With Formerly Struggling Teen Ciara Fanlo“Parents have so much influence on their child’s concept of themselves.” - CiaraWhat if your struggling teen could look at themselves with hope and confidence, knowing they have the power to overcome their challenges?This second conversation with formerly struggling teen Ciara Fanlo is focussed around one main questions: What can parents do to best support their struggling teen? When asked what her own parents could have done differently, she replied: "Relate to me as someone who was capable, whole, and healed,". It sounds simple, but you and I both kn...2024-07-3046 minParenting Post-Wilderness: Parenting a Struggling Teen Before, During and After Treatment100. Why Teens Turn to Destructive Behaviors: A Conversation With Previously Struggling Teen Ciara FanloFrom a very young age, Ciara felt like she didn’t belong. Cutting was just one of her destructive behaviors to cope with the pain she felt: not knowing how to be in the world with how sensitive her heart was.Ciara Fanlo is a previously struggling teen who spent the majority of her adolescence in treatment, including inpatient hospitalization, wilderness, and therapeutic boarding school. Reflecting on her past, she recognizes how sensitive she was as a child and teenager. She often felt like an alien, like she didn’t belong, and couldn't articulate her feelings at this...2024-07-2350 min