PODCAST · kids
Parenting Teenagers Untangled
by Rachel Richards
If you've found yourself wondering why is my teenager suddenly so angry? How much screen time is too much? Should I take their phone away at night? Why have they lost all motivation? What do I do about vaping, friendship problems, anxiety, parties, dating, exams… or a teenager who simply won’t talk to me? You're in the right place. This podcast helps you become a Fearless Parent: One who fears less and wonders more. Whatever the problem, message us and we'll either discuss it on the podcast or let you know which episode is best for you because there’s a very good chance we’ve already talked about it on this podcast. Teenagers Untangled has a huge and growing library of episodes covering the questions, worries and challenges that come with raising tweens and teenagers. Rather than scrolling through hundreds of episodes trying to find the right one, use the search bar to search for what’s happening in your family right now. </p
Episodes
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A Better Way for Parents to talk to Teens About Screen Time: Fear Less & Wonder More
Ask Rachel anything We’re living through an age where it can feel like our teenagers’ entire lives are happening behind a screen we can’t see. Meanwhile mental health problems in teens are a rising problem that is being blamed on their devices. The instinctive response for many of us is to clamp...
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Banning Social Media Won't Work: How Parents Can Actually Help Teens
Ask Rachel anything Are smartphones and social media really damaging our teenagers’ mental health – or are we looking in the wrong place? In this episode, Rachel Richards talks with Professor Candice Odgers, a leading expert on adolescent mental health in the digital age, to unpack what decades…
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Nagging Your Teenager? We Parents Talk Family Routines, in the Wonder Room
Ask Rachel anything As a teenager, I grew up in a home with almost no routines. No one talked about what needed to happen when, and I remember constantly thinking, “What am I supposed to do now?” Life felt like reinventing the wheel every day. I didn’t feel safe, and I felt a lot of energy went...
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Teen Girls Mental Health, Intense Pressure, and How Parents Can Help
Ask Rachel anything If your teenage daughter says, “I have anxiety,” “my ADHD was out of control today,” or calls a friend “toxic,” it can feel both strangely sophisticated and oddly shallow at the same time. She has language. She has labels. But somehow, you’re still not sure what’s really going...
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Curiosity: What’s wrong with my teen? At the Big Hug Community Cafe
Ask Rachel anything Thank you, thank you, thank you, Wirohugo for your incredible donation. You are so kind! Here’s the question posed by one of our community using the Ask Rachel Anything button: My fifteen year old boy seems to show no curiousity about the world. Does not know countries,...
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Starting Secondary School: How to Help Your Child With Friends, Homework & the Big Transition
Ask Rachel anything They're the oldest in their primary and suddenly our babies have to cope with being the youngest in their senior school. It's a big leap, and it comes just at the point when our kids are becoming much more aware of themselves and others with a big dollop of puberty-driven...
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Teenagers, AI & Friendship: Is ChatGPT Changing How Our Kids Connect? Parenting Unpacked in the Wonder Room
Ask Rachel anything Is AI changing the way teenagers understand friendship? Should we worry about teens turning to chatbots for advice and emotional support? And what can parents do to help their children build strong, real-world relationships? Welcome to a new Teenagers Untangled Community...
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Teen Friendship Problems: How to Help Your Teen Make and Keep Friends
Ask Rachel anything So many parents come to me saying 'My teen has no friends. What should I do?' and I can't help wondering if we are missing one of the most important ways to help them. Being good at friendships ourselves. Think about it. If we're not good at making and maintaining friends...
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Empty Nest Syndrome: How to Cope When Your Child Leaves Home Vintage
Ask Rachel anything What happens when the children we’ve poured our hearts, time, and energy into finally leave home? If you’re facing the prospect of a child heading off to university or moving out—and feeling anything from pride and excitement to grief, anxiety, or a loss of identity—this…
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Exam Results: What if my teen doesn't get the grades they want? Vintage
Ask Rachel anything A listener parenting a teen son wrote to say both of them felt pretty stunned when he was rejected from the university he'd set his heart on. She asked for the best way to help our teenagers cope with this sort of disappointment. I thought it was a great question and a good...
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Is Your Teen Ready for University? What Parents Need to Know INTERVIEW WITH MY TEEN
Ask Rachel anything Sending your teen off to university can feel both exciting and terrifying. In this episode of Parenting Teenagers Untangled, I talk with my 19-year-old daughter Phoebe, home after her first year at Oxford University, about what parents really need to know to prepare their…
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How to Stop Yelling at Your Teen: Stay Calm, Set Boundaries & End Power Struggles
Ask Rachel anything Are you tired of yelling at your teen – and hating yourself afterwards? In this episode of Teenagers Untangled, I talked with parenting and relationship coach Diane Sorensen about how to stay calm with teens, stop power struggles, and set healthy boundaries without becoming a...
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Step-Parenting Teens: Why Connection Matters More Than Discipline
Ask Rachel anything If you’ve ever fallen in love with someone who already has children, or tried to blend two families and thought, “Why is this so hard? What’s wrong with me?” – this episode is for you. You are not broken, and you are definitely not alone. I was joined by Masha Rusanov, coach,...
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Parenting Guilt: Bad Parenting Science, The Motherhood Myth & What Actually Matters
Ask Rachel anything Are women naturally good at being mothers or is that a cultural myth? It matters because if we believe women are naturally good at it then they deserve no kudos for the work they do and when we do struggle it lays the blame firmly at our feet, rather than the society we live…
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The vital parenting shift: becoming a mentor to your teen
Ask Rachel anything Welcome to a special mini-series from Teenagers Untangled — seven simple, practical "parenting seeds" to plant over a week, preparing for when your child moves into secondary school or returns from summer. These are gentle shifts, not rules to perfect: They're designed to help...
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Reading Festival Advice From Teens: Vintage INTERVIEW WITH MY TEENS
Ask Rachel anything Announcing my summer top tips series where I give you a short episode of tips organised around themes to help you focus on what you and your tween or teen needs to prepare you for the new school year. Make sure you’re following the show to ensure you don’t miss any and if you...
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Teaching Teens About Money: Investing, Gambling & the Money Lessons Schools Miss
Ask Rachel anything Seven in ten teenagers say they're very or extremely interested in investing. Not just curious, genuinely, actively interested. The problem is that most of us parents didn't become aware of investing until we were young adults or older, and half of parents say they wish they'd...
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Teen Exam Stress: How to Help Without Nagging, Pressuring or Taking Over
Ask Rachel anything Exam stress — are your teen’s exams quietly overwhelming them (and you)? In this episode of Teenagers Untangled I spoke with Katherine Radice, author of The Parent’s Guide to Exam Stress, to explore: * Why teens withdraw and how parental questions can shut down conversations...
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How to Raise a Good Citizen: Teaching Teens Critical Thinking, Politics & Civic Responsibility
Ask Rachel anything Who's teaching our teens how to be good citizens; someone who feels a part of society and enagages meaningfully in creating a world we all want to live in rather than someone who just buys stuff? In this episode I talked with Lindsey Cormack, political scientist and author of...
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What's a Good Parent? A Bonus Episode in Which I Ask My Own Teenager
Ask Rachel anything In this bonus episode Amelia and I discussed how hard it is to get parenting right, focusing on the misconceptions of gentle parenting and the importance of setting high expectations with support. The full listen to the full episode and read all of my thoughts on it by…
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Why Teenage Boys Pull Away: The Crisis of Connection With Dr Niobe Way
Ask Rachel anything What are we really telling boys about how to be a man? And why do so many teens seem to be struggling with how to be in the world, from masculinity to friendship, and mental health? In this conversation with Professor Niobe Way (NYU developmental psychologist, author of Deep...
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Teen Gambling Is Surging: How Gaming & Loot Boxes Are Hooking Our Kids
Ask Rachel anything There's been an alarming rise of teen gambling, according to Commonsense Media, with half of 16-17-year-old boys reporting gambling in the past year; surpassing alcohol, nicotine, and marijuana use. Commonsense media says 'we're at a pivotal moment for boys' well-being. We can...
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Teen Brain Health: Screens, Dopamine, Junk Food & How to Raise a Thriving Teen
Ask Rachel anything If you’ve ever looked at your teen glued to a screen, living on junk food, or melting down over “nothing” and thought, What am I doing wrong? — this episode will change how you see everything. In today’s fast-paced, often overwhelming world, understanding how to foster...
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Teenagers and Grief: How to Support Your Teen Through Death or Serious Illness: Vintage
Ask Rachel anything Parenting tweens and teens is challenging enough, but when someone in the family becomes seriously ill or dies, it can feel overwhelmingly difficult. In all honesty, we Westerners are terrible at talking about death, often avoiding it, so when it comes to talking with…
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Is Your Teen Being Manipulated Online? Teaching Critical Thinking in the Age of AI
Ask Rachel anything Our teenagers are growing up in a world saturated with information, outrage, and algorithms designed to keep them scrolling. As parents, it can feel overwhelming: How do we help our kids navigate AI, social media, fake news, and online manipulation—without either...
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Parenting Teens With an Angry or Critical Partner: How to Handle Conflict at Home
Ask Rachel anything “My husband is highly critical of the teenagers, gets angry over little things and yells, so I’m having to make up for his behavior, and I often avoid involving him in parenting decisions." This message came into my Substack. It was a plaintiff request for support and a plea…
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Is the Manosphere Teaching Your Son to Hate Women? How Parents Can Respond
Ask Rachel anything “Is my son secretly being taught to hate women?” If you’ve ever heard your boy casually repeat a line from Andrew Tate… seen him disappear into his room with his phone… or wondered what on earth he’s absorbing on TikTok and YouTube, this episode is for you. The manosphere is...
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Teen Exam Stress & Motivation: What Actually Helps (and What Makes It Worse) INTERVIEW WITH MY TEEN
Ask Rachel anything It's exam season and so important to keep a steady ship with all of the stress in the house. I thought it would be a great time to interrupt my youngest, Amelia, for an honest chat about what she sees as both good and bad strategies for supporting teenagers through exams, and...
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Phones: Bedtime Battles for Parents of Teens AMA
Ask Rachel anything When taking phones at night turns into a power struggle One of the hardest things about parenting teenagers is that the battles that matter most often happen at exactly the moment we have the least capacity to deal with them. A mum wrote to me about the nightly struggle over...
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How to Connect With Your Teen: Stop Trying to Be the Perfect Parent
Ask Rachel anything So many parents of teens quietly worry that they’re “failing” — not doing enough, not staying calm enough, not getting the outcomes they hoped for. This episode is an invitation to step off that perfectionist treadmill. Instead of parenting for perfect grades, perfect…
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Teen Dating, First Love & Heartbreak: What Parents Need to Know
Ask Rachel anything When parenting teens through their first experience of love and attraction it can bring up a lot of feelings we thought we'd neatly packed away; the intensity of that first crush, the humiliation of not being chosen, the heartbreak that felt like it would swallow us whole. As…
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When Your Teen’s Dream Falls Apart: Helping Them Cope With Failure & Rejection
Ask Rachel anything A listener parenting a teen son wrote to say both of them felt pretty stunned when he was rejected from the university he'd set his heart on. She asked for the best way to help our teenagers cope with this sort of disappointment. I thought it was a great question and a good...
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Andrew Tate, the Manosphere & Teen Boys: What Parents Need to Know - Vintage
Ask Rachel anything Parenting teen boys wrote three years ago asking us to discuss how we can talk to boys about influential online figures like Andrew Tate. The 'bros' act both as an inspiration to achieve great things, and a lightning rod for disgruntled men who blame feminism for their ills…
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Think You’re Failing as a Parent? You’re Probably Doing Better Than You Imagine
Ask Rachel anything If you’ve ever lain awake at night wondering whether you’re getting this parenting thing horribly wrong, you need to hear this conversation with surgeon and author Gabriel Weston. Gabriel is a mother of four – including tween twins – a prize‑winning writer and a working…
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Sextortion & AI Fake Nudes: What Every Parent of a Teen Needs to Know”
Ask Rachel anything A teenager no longer has to send a nude for a sexual image of them to end up online. AI can now take an ordinary photograph of a child or teenager and create a convincing fake nude. Add sextortion, online grooming and the sharing of intimate images, and the digital landscape…
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Teen Anxiety & Achievement Pressure: How to Raise Successful Kids Who Know They Matter
Ask Rachel anything We all want our teenagers to do well. But what happens when encouragement turns into achievement pressure — and our kids start believing their grades, popularity, appearance or success determine how much they're worth? Award-winning journalist and bestselling author Jennifer...
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Estranged Adult Children: Why They Cut Parents Off & What We Can Do Now
Ask Rachel anything When Brooklyn Beckham publicly announced he didn't want to reconcile with his parents he was joining a painful catalogue of family stories that have gone wrong. Estrangement is reportedly on the rise in Western societies but what's behind it? Dr Joshua Coleman spends his life...
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Teen Body Image & Social Media: How to Protect Their Self-Esteem. Vintage
Ask Rachel anything Puberty can make teenagers painfully aware of their changing bodies. Add Instagram, TikTok, advertising and the pressure to fit in, and it's little wonder that so many teens struggle with body image and self-esteem. So what can parents do to help? In this episode, Rachel talks...
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Teen Friendship Problems: How to Help When Your Child Is Struggling Socially
Ask Rachel anything 'Early adolescence is a friendship meat grinder, and your kid will eventually find their people,' according to Megan Saxelby of Wild Feelings. But oh boy it's tough! Megan wants parents to know that using words like “dramatic” to describe genuine social pain can accidentally...
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Help Your Teen Thrive: Science-Based Hacks for Focus, Anxiety, ADHD & Big Emotions
Ask Rachel anything We want our kids to do as well as possible, so when they mess up, do dumb things, or seem to be failing, it's easy to focus on their mistakes and what they should do instead. Naomi Glover, a leading applied neuroscientist and brain health specialist, says we'd get the best out...
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Is Your Child Being Groomed? 4 Warning Signs That Could Protect Your Child
Ask Rachel anything While counseling sex offenders, Anna Sonoda, LCSW learned firsthand that grooming, the prelude to child sexual abuse, is intentional, gradual, and observable. Her message to us is, we're not bad parents, we just have a skills gap and she wants to fill it. I grew up in an era…
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How parents of teens can raise happy, successful adults
Ask Rachel anything Hint: it depends on how you define happy and successful. We all want our kids to be happy and successful but what does that mean? In today's episode, I'm joined by Giselle Goodwin, author of Can Women Really Have it All? to talk about our definitions of success and happiness,...
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The One Thing Your Teen Really Needs From a Parent: Emotional Regulation
Ask Rachel anything This episode will change how you see “bad behaviour” and might just change how you see yourself, too. In this powerful conversation, with Dr Jody Carrington unpack what every parent and teacher needs to know about emotional regulation – and why you’re probably doing better…
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How to Be a Better Dad: Connection, Presence and Raising Emotionally Healthy Kids
Ask Rachel anything How can building our own community of people we admire dramatically change our future and help us break from a difficult past? What does it actually mean to be a good dad? Is it providing for your family? Protecting them? Being successful at work? Or could one of the most...
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Anxious Teens: The vital role we parents can play. Vintage
Ask Rachel anything The anxiety epidemic: In 2020 the UK charity Mental Health Foundation surveyed more than 2,000 children and found 50 per cent of teenagers aged 13-19 were experiencing anxiety they found hard to control. Substack notes and PDF to go with this episode:...
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Parenting Teens Without Overreacting: How to handle emotions calmly - Vintage
Ask Rachel anything None of us likes blowing a fuse when our teen does something that triggers us, but we all do it at some point. Nicky asked us to discuss this topic after she felt she'd overreacted to bad feedback from her son's teachers. We know it fixes nothing and leaves us feeling worse…
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Do Fathers Really Matter? Why Dads Are More Important Than We Think
Ask Rachel anything How much do fathers really matter to their children? We talk endlessly about mothers and the enormous influence they have on their children. But have we inadvertently started treating fathers as the optional parent — the assistant rather than an equally capable caregiver?...
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Teen Friendship Problems: How to Help Without Making Things Worse INTERVIEW WITH MY GIRLS
Ask Rachel anything What do you do when your teenager has no friends — or tells you they feel lonely, left out or as if they just don't fit in? Watching your child struggle with friendships can be incredibly painful. Our instinct as parents is often to jump in with advice, suggest what they…
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Motivational feedback, a happiness hack, and letting your teen sleepover after a party
Ask Rachel anything The happiess hack article by Dana Millbank: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/10/24/happiness-purpose-community-contribution/ Checkout my Substack: teenagersuntangled.substack.com Support the show Please hit the follow button if you like the podcast, and...
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Christmas and other family gatherings with teens. Magic or misery? Vintage
Ask Rachel anything We all have traditional times when our extended families come together to celebrate, give thanks, and share the warmth of mutual love. In the UK, December is a non-stop reel of songs about 'Simply having a wonderful Christmas time', and Instagram is awash with pictures of…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
If you've found yourself wondering why is my teenager suddenly so angry? How much screen time is too much? Should I take their phone away at night? Why have they lost all motivation? What do I do about vaping, friendship problems, anxiety, parties, dating, exams… or a teenager who simply won’t talk to me? You're in the right place.
This podcast helps you become a Fearless Parent: One who fears less and wonders more. Whatever the problem, message us and we'll either discuss it on the podcast or let you know which episode is best for you because there’s a very good chance we’ve already talked about it on this podcast.
Teenagers Untangled has a huge and growing library of episodes covering the questions, worries and challenges that come with raising tweens and teenagers. Rather than scrolling through hundreds of episodes trying to find the right one, use the search bar to search for what’s happening in your family right now.
</p
HOSTED BY
Rachel Richards
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Parenting Teenagers Untangled have?
Parenting Teenagers Untangled currently has 221 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Parenting Teenagers Untangled about?
If you've found yourself wondering why is my teenager suddenly so angry? How much screen time is too much? Should I take their phone away at night? Why have they lost all motivation? What do I do about vaping, friendship problems, anxiety, parties, dating, exams… or a teenager who simply won’t talk...
How often does Parenting Teenagers Untangled release new episodes?
Parenting Teenagers Untangled publishes regularly with 221 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Parenting Teenagers Untangled?
You can listen to Parenting Teenagers Untangled on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Parenting Teenagers Untangled?
Parenting Teenagers Untangled is created and hosted by Rachel Richards.
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