65: Tips on Ways to Understand and Connect with Your Teenager with Vickie Vann

Parenting your pre-teens and teenagers has its own unique set of challenges. While there might not be any more diapers to change or tantrums to manage, older children still need a specific kind of love and attention. Most of the time, parents end up frustrated! This phase of life can often be isolating for Solo Parents. Without carpool lines and trips to the park, it can be difficult to find a place to commiserate with fellow teen parents. This is exactly the kind of thing that my guest, Vickie Vann, is trying to fix! Vickie is a fellow therapist in the area who loves to work with adults and families. She has a teen son and felt she was missing a safe place to express her concern, get advice, and vent a little. After finding there were no opportunities for parents of teens to connect and support each other, Vickie cofounded with Deb Blum parent support groups at her son’s high school. The groups have taken off, and many parents are finding comfort and confidence through genuine connection with one another. Vickie is going to share just how powerful communities really are. She’ll dive deep into the mind of a teenager, and come up to bat for the dreaded “helicopter parents.” She is a wealth of advice on everything from scheduling sleepovers to pushing through homework blocks. If you are a teen parent, you are definitely going to want to give this show a listen! Parents of little ones, this episode is a glimpse into what’s coming for you in just a few short years. Pre-teens and teenagers require parenting in a different way. Don’t be afraid of these challenges! Instead, Vickie encourages us all to seek out opportunities to shape your children into the adults they will become. Deny it all they want, these teens still need mom and dad. We promise! More in this episode: Vickie loves working with parents by creating discussion groups and support networks. Understanding the teenage brain. Our kids are exposed to so much so early, they seem more mature than they are. Parenting gets more intensive when your children get older. We can help our children develop and grow by “lending them” our frontal lobes. Letting our kids fail is not always the best method to teach them. Move out of negative thinking and into positive change. Stay in the game! Find your common ground and get into their world.