Parenting Post-Wilderness: Parenting a Struggling Teen Before, During and After Treatment
Your guide to parenting a struggling teen or young-adult, whether they’re home, transitioning home, or presently in treatment.
Parents, say goodbye to exhausting confusion, overwhelm, panic and the unhelpful patterns that keep you and your family stuck. Learn how to develop healthy responses and set healthy boundaries with your teen instead of acting out of fear and anxiety.
Experience the relationship-changing power of focusing on your own behavior instead of futile attempts to control your teen.
Your guides to Parenting Post-wilderness are Beth Hillman, a life coach for parents of struggling teens and mom to a post-wilderness teen, and part-time co-host Seth Gottlieb, a wilderness therapy guide turned teen and young-adult recovery coach. Their unique combination of experience and training yields candid conversations chock full of practical, actionable tips and tools to smooth the challenges both parents and teens experience surrounding treatment.
Every week, you can expect conversations around:
- Parenting a struggling teen or young-adult;
- Setting healthy boundaries with your teen;
- Treatment options for your struggling teen or young adult;
- Bringing your kid home from treatment;
- Parenting skills to support your struggling child;
- Teen substance abuse, drug addiction, gaming addiction, suicidal ideation, or other teen mental health concerns;
- How to end power struggles and instead foster healthy communication with your teen or young-adult;
- And much more.
Listen in to discover how parents like you have learned to influence equanimity in the home and rebuild connections with the teens they love.
Connect with Beth on Instagram (@bethhillmancoaching) or find more information about working with Beth at www.bethhillmancoaching.com.
Parenting Post-Wilderness: Parenting a Struggling Teen Before, During and After Treatment
129. Shifting to Healthy Communication with Your Teen and Family
Healthy communication is the foundation of strong relationships. But when emotions run high, it’s easy to fall into unhelpful patterns. In this episode, trauma therapist Sarah Allen joins me to explore how communication styles shape family dynamics and what it takes to shift toward healthier, more assertive communication with your struggling teen.
If you’ve ever felt stuck between being too passive or too controlling in conversations with your teen, you’re not alone. Many parents default to passive communication, avoiding conflict and hoping their teen picks up on their needs. Others swing toward aggressive communication, trying to maintain control and authority. But neither approach helps you build the trust and connection we want with your teen.
What we should strive for? Assertive communication, which allows you to set clear, healthy boundaries, express your needs, and create a structure that helps your teen feel safe, without resorting to power struggles.
In this conversation, Sarah and I break down what healthy communication looks like, how your communication style impacts your parenting, and how small shifts can make a big difference in your relationship with your teen.
In this episode on healthy communication with your teen and family, we discuss:
- What makes communication healthy or unhealthy;
- The difference between passive, aggressive, and assertive communication;
- How your communication style influences your parenting approach;
- Why structure helps teens feel safer, even when they resist it;
- Practical strategies to shift toward more balanced, effective communication with your teen and family;
- And more!
Looking for support?
🗺️Need help setting healthy boundaries with your teen AND following through? My free guide will help you do so by creating your own Parent Home Plan!
🤍Influence lasting change in yourself and your struggling teen with my private coaching or parent group program specifically created for parents of struggling teens.
Have a question or need support? You can email me at beth@bethhillmancoaching.com
You can support the show by:
Leaving a review
Subscribing to the show
And remember parents, the change begins with us.
🌱 LIVE Online Workshop 'Resolve The Cycle of Conflict' 🌱
May 2nd & 16th, 2025
Sign up or learn more over at www.bethhillmancoaching.com/conflictworkshop
I hope to see you there!
