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I'm Rachel Richards, Teen Parenting Specialist, former BBC Correspondent, CNBC Europe World News Anchor and mum, on a mission to make parenting teens much less stressful, and even enjoyable.
Do you ever feel like you don’t know what you’re doing? I've experienced that too, so have a big hug from me.
Here's the truth. You’re doing better than you think you are. No, really, you are. There’s too much talk about what a parent should be, and how we can optimise and perfect ourselves, and not enough about how well you’re coping in this complicated world as you hold your shizzle together.
I mean it, the most important message is that you CANNOT be perfect. You’re going to lose your rag, you’re going to get upset and say stupid things and make mistakes and hate your kids and your partner and your life from time to time.
Take it from me, if you’re going to worry about anything make it: ‘Am I being curious enough?’
Asking questions will get you everywhere as a parent of teenagers, and the place to do most of your practice is… yourself and your own thoughts and beliefs.
So, welcome, pull up a chair, drop your baggage, and make yourself comfortable. Let’s learn together.
The Podcast:
A fellow mum begged me to start my podcast because she wanted someone she trusted to help her through the teen years, and I’ll be forever grateful to her because the journey has transformed my own parenting and benefited my family beyond imagination.
Here’s the good news, this podcast is free and you can learn everything I learned just by starting at the beginning and going through every episode.
If you want to go a bit faster then scroll through and pick subjects that cover what you need right now. If you can’t find what you want then message me and I’ll tell you which one will help you most. If it’s not something I’ve covered then I’m like a dog chasing a stick, so you’ll soon get your answers.
My main aim is to help you stop trying to be perfect, or comparing yourself and your kids with others. Your only real job is to focus on getting to know the amazing people you have in your life, loving them unconditionally, and showing them you believe they can do hard things.
JOIN ME ON SUBSTACK:
For those of you who want more, or who just want to help me feel like the pebbles I have dropped in the ocean of life are making a difference, why not join my paid community? You’ll get one-to-one support and printable PDF’s that give you the top tips from each podcast episode so you have your own little, bespoke manual.
ASK ME ANYTHING: I’m very busy behind the scenes reading everything so you don’t have to, and when you subscribe you have the chance to ask me anything. If I don’t know the answer I’ll head out like an eager truffle pig, ready to snuffle out the best for you.
COMMUNITY: I’ll be offering regular extras, including tips and thoughts, that help you tune into what matters.
All of the community notes, and tips, will remain available to paid subscribers. I want to make this more about fun and less about fear.
PDF NOTES: So many listeners say they have rewound the episodes to write down notes, well now there’s no need. Paid subscribers will have a weekly, downloadable, summary of the top tips from each episode, so you don’t have to take notes.
Please let me know if there are any old episodes for which you’d like the notes. I’m very happy to supply them.
POINTERS: Ask me if there’s something you’re struggling with, I can tell you which episode is most suitable for you, because there are a lot to trawl through.
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
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The Worrying Rise of Teen Gambling — and What Parents Can Do
|
May 27, 2026 |
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Parenting Thriving Teens using Science
|
May 20, 2026 |
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Prepare for the Inevitable: The Guide to Grief for Parents of Tweens and Teens
|
May 13, 2026 |
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The Vital Skill Parents Can Teach Teens and Tweens: Critical Thinking
|
May 06, 2026 |
|
Parenting in High-Conflict Homes: Protecting Your Kids When Your Partner Won’t Change
|
Apr 29, 2026 |
|
The Manosphere for Parents of Teens: Signs Your Son Is Being Influenced (and How to Respond)
|
Apr 22, 2026 |
|
‘Lazy’ to Motivated: Parenting Revision, Homework & Exams. Hear a Teen On What Really Helps
|
Apr 15, 2026 |
|
Parenting teens for connection not perfection
|
Apr 08, 2026 |
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Parenting Teens Through Love & Heartbreak: What we do wrong and what helps
|
Apr 01, 2026 |
|
Parenting teens through failure and on to university
|
Mar 25, 2026 |
|
Parenting Teen Boys In The Age of the Manosphere - Vintage
|
Mar 18, 2026 |
|
Cutting it as a parent? Parenting teens as a surgeon, author and mother of four with Gabriel Weston
|
Mar 11, 2026 |
|
Parenting teens in an age of AI, Nudes and Online Blackmail
|
Mar 04, 2026 |
|
The Thing Parents, Tweens and Teens Need Most: Mattering with Jennifer Breheny-Wallace
|
Feb 25, 2026 |
|
Parenting Teens So They Don't Stop Talking to Us When They're Older
|
Feb 18, 2026 |
|
Tween and teen parenting for a healthy body image, and getting teens to do chores. Vintage
|
Feb 11, 2026 |
|
Intense tween and teen friendships and the most important things a parent can say
|
Feb 04, 2026 |
|
Positive Parenting: Using Strengths to Motivate and Understand our Tweens and Teens
|
Jan 28, 2026 |
|
Parenting Teens Who're Online: Protecting Them From Predators
|
Jan 21, 2026 |
|
How parents of teens can raise happy, successful adults
|
Jan 14, 2026 |
|
The One Thing Your Teen Really Needs From a Parent: Emotional Regulation
|
Jan 07, 2026 |
|
The secrets to real change, and parents breaking negative family cycles
|
Dec 31, 2025 |
|
Anxious Teens: The vital role we parents can play. Vintage
|
Dec 24, 2025 |
|
Parenting Teens Without Overreacting: How to handle emotions calmly - Vintage
|
Dec 17, 2025 |
|
The Parenting Gap: How Society Is Failing Dads (and Our Kids)
|
Dec 10, 2025 |
|
Top Friendship Tips for Teen Girls: Lessons from Real-Life Sisters.
|
Dec 03, 2025 |
|
Christmas and other family gatherings with teens. Magic or misery? Vintage
|
Dec 02, 2025 |
|
Motivational feedback, a happiness hack, and letting your teen sleepover after a party
|
Dec 02, 2025 |
|
The Parenting 'Super System' to Help Teens Stay on Task; Even Those With ADHD
|
Nov 26, 2025 |
|
Parenting Teens Who Can Speak Their Mind Without Fear
|
Nov 19, 2025 |
|
Talk to your boys: Parenting around masculinity, gaming, sexuality and emotions.
|
Nov 12, 2025 |
|
Your Teen Is Already Using AI: How Parents can Talk About It
|
Nov 05, 2025 |
|
Mental health problems in teenagers. Parents can't just blame phones.
|
Oct 29, 2025 |
|
Drugs: 1 in 2 teens exposed to them by 15. Parenting teens through the reality
|
Oct 22, 2025 |
|
Grief, university, rules and consequences, raising boys, chores and phones. Community Catch Up
|
Oct 19, 2025 |
|
Most teenagers aren't getting enough sleep. Here's how parents can fix it.
|
Oct 15, 2025 |
|
Parents teens and tweens in a way that keeps them from developing eating disorders.
|
Oct 08, 2025 |
|
Parents, stop pushing your kids: The science of success, resilience, and reduced stress.
|
Oct 01, 2025 |
|
Transforming difficult, disruptive teens
|
Sep 24, 2025 |
|
Conflict resolution skills for parents of teens. Vintage.
|
Sep 17, 2025 |
|
Teens Talk: Parents listen. The good and bad of smart phones and social media.
|
Sep 10, 2025 |
|
School Problems: Parenting teens through education issues
|
Sep 03, 2025 |
|
Mental Health, and Teen Phone Use with Oxford Psychologist Lucy Foulkes.
|
Aug 27, 2025 |
|
Lessons in parenting from adult kids who go no contact:
|
Aug 20, 2025 |
|
Teens, screens and mobiles: The online safety expert's view of bans and boundaries.
|
Aug 13, 2025 |
|
Why Parents Judge Each Other — And How to Stop.
|
Aug 06, 2025 |
|
Why Mothers Aren't Happy: Burnout, Mental Load and the Second Shift.
|
Jul 30, 2025 |
|
Angry teenagers: Parenting teens and tweens through their anger - Vintage.
|
Jul 23, 2025 |
|
Parenting teens with boundaries that actually work: Vintage.
|
Jul 16, 2025 |
|
Motivation: The parent's guide to motivating a teen or tween: Vintage.
|
Jul 09, 2025 |
|
Alcohol. A Smart Parents' Guide to Helping Teens Take a Healthy Approach.
|
Jul 02, 2025 |
|
Talk: How to talk so your teenager will listen, and teens wanting to sleep together.
|
Jun 25, 2025 |
|
Puberty, toxic friendships and 'Pick me' girls - teens talk.
|
Jun 18, 2025 |
|
Starting University: Parental support that makes all the difference.
|
Jun 11, 2025 |
|
Stop a downward spiral before it happens with Dr Greg Walton 'One of psychology's greatest'.
|
Jun 04, 2025 |
|
Teen love, breakups & LGBTQ: What parents can do and say.
|
May 28, 2025 |
|
Parenting teens around sex, loneliness, puberty and finding hobbies.
|
May 21, 2025 |
|
Why school exam systems need to change and how to support our own kids now.
|
May 14, 2025 |
|
Success: Are siblings and community more important than parents?
|
May 06, 2025 |
|
Respect, artifical intelligence and toxic femininity - the teenage view.
|
Apr 30, 2025 |
|
Secondary school, friendship groups, and those awkward talks about porn and sexting.
|
Apr 23, 2025 |
|
Parenting teens to get them out of their bedroom, even one who's into gaming.
|
Apr 16, 2025 |
|
Identity formation - the main job of a teenager?
|
Apr 09, 2025 |
|
Inheritocracy: Are education and hard work less important now than parents?
|
Apr 02, 2025 |
|
Adolescence: Help for parents with the core themes.
|
Apr 01, 2025 |
|
Empty nest? Plan ahead for an life that's full of possibility.
|
Mar 11, 2025 |
|
Work: Parents can help our kids end up with a meaningful role in society.
|
Mar 05, 2025 |
|
Parenting the Teen You Have, Not the One You Imagined
|
Feb 26, 2025 |
|
Skin care obsession: The social media 'Sephora' kid craze from a teen perspective.
|
Feb 19, 2025 |
|
Parenting stages: Coaching and mentoring teens and young adults.
|
Feb 12, 2025 |
|
Life skills: How to supercharge them with a working holiday.
|
Feb 05, 2025 |
|
Using facts to be a good parent to teenagers: The evidence.
|
Jan 29, 2025 |
|
Stress and guilt: reducing the overwhelming mental load.
|
Jan 22, 2025 |
|
Motivating teens: why parents are the missing piece of the puzzle.
|
Jan 15, 2025 |
|
Enduring sibling relationships: Why some last and others fall apart.
|
Jan 08, 2025 |
|
New Year 2025: resolutions, stress, being more fun and the most interesting books.
|
Jan 01, 2025 |
|
Family gatherings without the fireworks, and staying connected with your young teen.
|
Dec 23, 2024 |
|
Suicide: How to talk about it with teens, and offer proper support.
|
Dec 18, 2024 |
|
Support: It takes a village to raise a child... as long they do it my way.
|
Dec 11, 2024 |
|
Girls: Sexism, beauty standards, entitlement and misogyny.
|
Dec 04, 2024 |
|
Cancel Culture and Teens: When Calling Out Goes Too Far
|
Nov 27, 2024 |
|
Parenting teen & tween girls: Friendships, frenemies and banter.
|
Nov 20, 2024 |
|
The damage of an emotionally immature parent.
|
Nov 13, 2024 |
|
Masculinity and image: the Looksmaxxing hashtag that boys follow but parents don't see.
|
Nov 06, 2024 |
|
Boundaries: How to set them and why they’re so important.
|
Oct 30, 2024 |
|
Motivation: How to motivate your teenager. With eminent Psychologist David Yeager.
|
Oct 23, 2024 |
|
Stress - the major health issue for parents in our 'culture of comparison'.
|
Oct 16, 2024 |
|
Parent complex teens and tweens with ADHD or other differences.
|
Oct 09, 2024 |
|
The hardest part of parenting a teen? We discuss the 18-22 year stage.
|
Oct 02, 2024 |
|
Therapy. Should all teens get it? Also, do boys actually need male role models?
|
Sep 25, 2024 |
|
How grades harm kids and what we parents can do about it.
|
Sep 18, 2024 |
|
Teen weight and body image: The teen view.
|
Sep 11, 2024 |
|
Reading Festival tips - straight from the mouths of teenagers.
|
Sep 04, 2024 |
|
Exams and Grades. Parenting teens in a world obsessed with them.
|
Aug 28, 2024 |
|
Driving lessons - Top tips for a smooth road ahead.
|
Aug 21, 2024 |
|
Rachel's top ten lessons to celebrate 100 episodes!
|
Aug 14, 2024 |
|
Boys who're failing exams and seem apathetic.
|
Aug 07, 2024 |
|
Teen boys: Emotions, masculinity vaccinations, and online influencers.
|
Jul 31, 2024 |
|
Shyness: How to support a teen who lacks self-belief and confidence.
|
Jul 24, 2024 |
|
Sleeping in until late during the holidays.
|
Jul 17, 2024 |
|
Public displays of affection and sex in your home.
|
Jul 10, 2024 |
|
Switching parental gears for their new school year.
|
Jul 03, 2024 |
|
Screen time advice for parenting teens & tweens: What works and what doesn't.
|
Jun 26, 2024 |
|
Summer flip or summer flop? What will your teen be doing with their summer?
|
Jun 19, 2024 |
|
Is your teen being lazy, or could they be lacking a key executive skill?
|
Jun 12, 2024 |
|
Values, and how being strong about our own can help teens navigate a society of desires.
|
Jun 05, 2024 |
|
Exams, depression, work, national service, Sigma and Bigorexia,
|
May 29, 2024 |
|
Parenting teens who're 'failing to launch': What we can learn from struggling young adults.
|
May 22, 2024 |
|
Missing out: The pain of FOMO. Why it’s particularly bad for teens.
|
May 15, 2024 |
|
Nagging: Using routine to reduce the friction of parenting teens.
|
May 08, 2024 |
|
School: Angry kids, bad behaviour, and school avoidance.
|
May 01, 2024 |
|
Where’s my village? The stress of parenting in the ‘sandwich generation’.
|
Apr 24, 2024 |
|
Perfectionism: Overcoming a parent and teen's need to be perfect.
|
Apr 17, 2024 |
|
Money: Giving teens and tweens an allowance. Two years on.
|
Apr 10, 2024 |
|
Fun: Having fun with our teens, and the bonding power of laughter.
|
Apr 03, 2024 |
|
Parenting teens to develop GRIT: Growing Resilience In Teens
|
Mar 27, 2024 |
|
Concentration, and the troubling effect of too many choices.
|
Mar 20, 2024 |
|
Eldest daughter syndrome and the trouble with parentification.
|
Mar 13, 2024 |
|
Taking things personally, coping with adversity, teen love and changing our minds when we get new information.
|
Mar 06, 2024 |
|
Manners: Parenting to help teens succeed in life by teaching the importance of good manners.
|
Feb 28, 2024 |
|
Admitting our mistakes - talking to our kids about our own teen years.
|
Feb 21, 2024 |
|
Standards: Parenting teens setting high expectations without too much pressure.
|
Feb 14, 2024 |
|
Social media and girls posting bikini photos. Help!
|
Feb 07, 2024 |
|
Diet: Does my teen need to lose weight? Diet culture.
|
Jan 31, 2024 |
|
Regrets? Things we parents would do differently.
|
Jan 24, 2024 |
|
Coping with an Inconsistent or Alcoholic Parent: Guidance for the Parent Who’s There
|
Jan 17, 2024 |
|
Back to school, third places, manners and our favourite podcasts, shows, books and apps.
|
Jan 10, 2024 |
|
New year's resolutions. Making them work for us.
|
Jan 01, 2024 |
|
Presents: Why is my teen so ungrateful?
|
Dec 27, 2023 |
|
Favourite lessons: Online, education, anxiety, consequences, and the pressures of parenting.
|
Dec 13, 2023 |
|
Online grooming and sextortion: protecting our teens and tweens.
|
Dec 06, 2023 |
|
Eating disorders: An interview with Beat representative Umairah Malik.
|
Nov 29, 2023 |
|
Parenting styles that enable teens to grow into capable adults.
|
Nov 22, 2023 |
|
How to Talk to Your Teen About Porn Without Shame or Panic.
|
Nov 15, 2023 |
|
Living at Home, Paying Bills, Growing Up: Global Truths About Today’s Teenagers
|
Nov 08, 2023 |
|
Exercise: are teens doing enough?
|
Nov 01, 2023 |
|
‘Trans’ and gender confusion: what to say to teens when we’re often more confused than they are.
|
Oct 25, 2023 |
|
Triggers and emotional spirals, mobile phone bans and do schools know what to teach kids anymore?
|
Oct 18, 2023 |
|
Navigating divorce while raising teens.
|
Oct 11, 2023 |
|
Teen dating. Talking about relationships or 'help, my son's come home with a hickey!'
|
Oct 04, 2023 |
|
Developing Emotional Intelligence
|
Sep 27, 2023 |
|
Gap years: What is a gap year and should our teens take one?
|
Sep 20, 2023 |
|
Grief: Supporting our kids through the worst.
|
Sep 13, 2023 |
|
Anxiety: How to help your teen with anxiety.
|
Aug 30, 2023 |
|
Christmas and holiday stress with teenagers and tweens.
|
Aug 23, 2023 |
|
Transitioning to secondary school: What we wish we'd known.
|
Aug 16, 2023 |
|
Memory: The critical tool that helps us do far more than pass exams. 51
|
Aug 10, 2023 |
|
Parenting teens with a Snapchat addiction; why tweens and teens want it so much
|
Jul 24, 2023 |
|
Bigorexia: Teens eating everything in the house, muscle building, and Bigorexia. 48
|
Jul 10, 2023 |
|
Anger issues: Parenting tips for dealing with an explosive, angry teen.
|
Jul 03, 2023 |
|
Masculinity, and positive ways of supporting our teenage boys
|
Jun 26, 2023 |
|
New relationships: Introducing your new partner to your teen
|
Jun 19, 2023 |
|
Risk-taking teens; the good news about bad behaviour.
|
Jun 12, 2023 |
|
Teenagers Untangled: Who we are and how you can use the podcast.
|
Jun 07, 2023 |
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Social media: help your teens be their best selves online.
|
Jun 05, 2023 |
|
Sleep; the free performance enhancer for our teens with no side effects.
|
Jun 01, 2023 |
|
Parenting teens using conflict resolution skills
|
May 10, 2023 |
|
Exam revision - Parenting through the pressure.
|
Apr 28, 2023 |
|
Relationships and sex: how young is too young?
|
Apr 18, 2023 |
|
Teachers: how, and why, we should talk to our teenager's teachers.
|
Mar 27, 2023 |
|
Emotional issues. How to not overreact.
|
Mar 17, 2023 |
|
Stress: Techniques for dealing with the pressures of parenting. 36
|
Mar 03, 2023 |
|
Vaping teens. How to educate and discourage them. 35
|
Feb 23, 2023 |
|
School avoidance: Parenting teens and tweens when your teen is missing school.
|
Feb 08, 2023 |
|
Masculine role models: Andrew Tate, misogyny, and the manosphere.
|
Feb 03, 2023 |
|
Rules: Consequences, and the teen who doesn't seem to care.
|
Jan 26, 2023 |
|
Make habit changes that actually work.
|
Jan 19, 2023 |
|
Step-parent of tweens and tweens. Coping, and thriving, with a blended family.
|
Dec 12, 2022 |
|
Parties for teens and tweens. Invitations, gatecrashers and alcohol.
|
Dec 07, 2022 |
|
Christmas presents: is your teen ungrateful?
|
Nov 28, 2022 |
|
Friendships: How to support teens to build their social skills.
|
Nov 11, 2022 |
|
Entitled teens: How do I stop my teenager from being entitled?
|
Nov 09, 2022 |
|
Helping parents understand why teen identity is such an issue. Also, smelly teens.
|
Oct 14, 2022 |
|
Do Manners Still Matter? And Why Empty Nest Syndrome Hits So Hard
|
Oct 02, 2022 |
|
Parents’ Guide to Teen Girls’ Clothing Choices, Plus How to Handle Changing Finances
|
Sep 22, 2022 |
|
Disagreements over parenting styles, and future careers.
|
Sep 09, 2022 |
|
Drugs: How to talk to my teenager, and divorce and kids staying over.
|
Aug 27, 2022 |
|
Mom guilt, and parenting teens & tweens when you don't like their friends
|
Jul 25, 2022 |
|
Lying teenagers, and sibling comparisons.
|
Jul 06, 2022 |
|
Favourite parent; and teenagers trying to ‘express’ themselves?
|
Jun 23, 2022 |
|
Boy friendships. Also what the %#*!😳 we should do about swearing?
|
Jun 16, 2022 |
|
Parenting a tween or teen who's self-harming. Also, what's your talking style?
|
Jun 06, 2022 |
|
The Advice No One Tell Parents About Teens and Anxiety.
|
May 20, 2022 |
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Pornography:What you need to know before having THAT talk.
|
May 09, 2022 |
|
Bullying teens, and the best way to tackle it. Also, dealing with teen backchat.
|
Apr 26, 2022 |
|
Lone parenting and Understanding Teen Mood Swings.
|
Mar 28, 2022 |
|
Friendship: Girls and toxic groups, also building resilience
|
Mar 16, 2022 |
|
Screens and teens and healthy eating.
|
Mar 05, 2022 |
|
Parenting teen and tween sibling rivalry, also the vaping teenager.
|
Feb 24, 2022 |
|
Covid's impact on our teens, also the teenage sleep conundrum.
|
Feb 13, 2022 |
|
Body image and getting teens to do chores.
|
Feb 05, 2022 |
|
Motivation and giving up: When do we let them quit?
|
Jan 29, 2022 |
|
Mobile phone photos/sexting, and money management using an allowance.
|
Jan 21, 2022 |
|
Talk so your teenager will listen, and dealing with teen sex in your home.
|
Jan 14, 2022 |
|
Discussing alcohol, and how to stay connected
|
Jan 07, 2022 |
|
Your parenting toolbox and teenagers tidying their rooms
|
Dec 16, 2021 |