Welcome back to unpopular PARENT, the podcast where we help parents focus on what really matters and let go of the rest. Today, we’re having an honest conversation about therapy.
While therapy can sometimes be hard to talk about, a good therapist can be an invaluable resource for your teen and a key player in supporting you as a parent. Whether you’re looking for the right support for your teen or navigating your own feelings about the process, therapy can be life-changing—but it doesn’t always start that way.
I’m joined by Scout, a high school senior (and my youngest daughter), who will share her own therapy journey, including times when it wasn’t helpful and how finding the right therapist made all the difference. We’ll discuss what she’s learned, the tools she still uses today, and the lasting impact therapy has had on her life. Let’s get into it.
00:00 - introduction
00:48 - excitement around therapy
02:02 - first exposure to therapy - strike one
03:02 - second exposure to therapy - strike two
05:41 - third time’s a charm
07:29 - initial feelings and reservations
08:15 - meet meghan mcmackin, phd
08:57 - lying to your therapist may be normal, but it isn’t recommended
10:42 - tip for parents and teens (and therapists, too)
12:23 - walking the fine line as a parent of a teen who is in therapy
13:41 - getting to the actual issues
15:41 - starting the real work
16:18 - what real progress looks like
18:54 - environmental factors
24:38 - a year of healing
27:15 - tools and strategies scout still uses today
30:55 - if i had to start over today…
32:05 - old habits die hard…but they fewer and far between
36:36 - graduating therapy
37:52 - full circle moment
38:32 - not all therapy is the same - find a really good (and smart) therapist
41:19 - overcoming resistance to therapy
42:27 - switching therapists
43:30 - approaching your teen about therapy
46:42 - are parents really important when it comes to therapy?
48:07 - the value of having trusted backup adults
50:47 - it all unfolds the way it should
52:08 - the impact therapy has had on preparing for the next chapter
54:44 - next week’s topic
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