
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
149. Setting Healthy Boundaries With Your Teen Through Complaints and Pushback
“You’re so controlling!” Did your kid ever tell you that?
If your teen or young adult constantly complains about your rules, expectations, or structure, saying that you’re controlling them, you're not alone. Many parents trying to set healthy boundaries with their teen end up questioning themselves the moment they face pushback. You want to listen, validate, and stay connected… but does that mean giving up on the structure your kid actually needs?
In this episode, Seth and I unpack the real-life tension between honoring your teen’s autonomy and holding firm to the healthy boundaries that keep your family grounded. We explore how to stay steady when your teen accuses you of being too controlling, and how to help them recognize their own agency, even when they’re frustrated.
Holding boundaries with a struggling teen is hard. Because yes, they will complain, but that doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong.
In this episode on setting healthy boundaries with your teen, we discuss:
- Why your teen might call structure “control”, and how to respond;
- Ways to reinforce boundaries while still respecting your teen’s autonomy;
- How to offer choice and accountability without giving up authority;
- The role of deadlines, check-ins, and letting natural consequences play out;
- Why your values matter more than avoiding conflict;
- The power of listening without renegotiating everything;
- How to shift from “nagging” to supportive accountability;
- 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
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And remember parents, the change begins with us.