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.
Episodes
213 episodes
212. After Treatment Comes Real Life: Part 2 of Harrison Paletti's Story of College, Relapse, and Finding His Way Back
🍁 Small GROUP COACHING program starting October 6th & 7th, 2026 🍁How to Influence Change: Small-group program for parents of struggling teens & young adults.Sign up or learn more over at
211. A Struggling Teen's Perspective: How Harrison and His Parents Worked Together for Change - With Harrison Paletta
🍁 Small GROUP COACHING program starting October 6th & 7th, 2026 🍁How to Influence Change: Small-group program for parents of struggling teens & young adults.Sign up or learn more over at
210. Relapse Is Imminent, But Your Teen Isn’t Back at Square One
🍁 Small GROUP COACHING program starting October 6th & 7th, 2026 🍁How to Influence Change: Small-group program for parents of struggling teens & young adults.Sign up or learn more over at
209. Talking to Your Kids About Porn: Prevention Isn’t Enough With Jarrod Hoffman
🍁 Small GROUP COACHING program starting October 6th & 7th, 2026 🍁How to Influence Change: Small-group program for parents of struggling teens & young adults.Sign up or learn more over at
208. Teaching Emotional Resilience to Teens and Young Adults With Dr. Jerry Weichman
🍁 Small GROUP COACHING program starting October 6th & 7th, 2026 🍁How to Influence Change: Small-group program for parents of struggling teens & young adults.Sign up or learn more over at
207. Don't Wait for a Crisis: Building Support Before Your Teen Needs It
When your family is in crisis, the last thing you want to do is start the orientation process of finding support. You need help - ASAP. So that time when things feel a bit calmer, and your teen seems to be doing okay, might actually...
206. What's Behind Your Teen's Behavior? Looking Beyond the Lies, Anger & Power Struggles
Your teen’s behavior is never just that. They’re not lying because they want to, they’re not missing curfew because they want to annoy you, and they’re not pulling you into power struggles because they enjoy it. There’s always something underne...
205. Your Teen Has ADHD... Now What? With Lisa Miller & Tatiana Guerreiro Ramos
Receiving an ADHD diagnosis for your teen can bring a mix of relief, confusion, and a hundred new questions. What does it actually mean? How does ADHD show up beyond the stereotypes? And perhaps most importantly: how can you best support your t...
204. Parenting a Child With Autism: The Small Moments That Shape a Lifetime With Brittany Moser & Brady Esham
When your child is diagnosed with autism, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by questions about their future. Will they be okay? Am I doing enough? What actually helps?The encouraging truth is that it often isn't one big breakthrough that sha...
203. Navigating Your Teen Driver's New Freedom and Responsibilities
Handing your teen the keys to a car can feel like a huge milestone, for them and for you. It's exciting to watch them gain more independence, but if your teen has struggled in the past, it can also bring up a lot of fear. Can you trust them...
202. Why Does My Teen Lie? Understanding the Behavior Behind the Lies
Before your teen can tell the truth, they need to feel safe enough to do it.When your child lies, it's easy to feel hurt, betrayed, or even disrespected. But what if their lying isn't about manipulating you at all? What if it's simply th...
201. Why Repairing Your Relationship With Your Teen Matters More Than Getting It Right With Emil Harker
You probably spend a lot of energy trying to prevent mistakes, avoid conflict, and get parenting “right.” But what if the real goal isn’t perfection at all?In this conversation, therapist and parent coach Emil Harker and I explore why co...
200. Navigating the First 90 Days After Treatment: A Parent's Guide With Brenda Zane from Hopestream
FREE online workshop - June 24 from 5-630MT Respond Like Yoda (When Your Kid Is Acting Like Vader)How to be grounded, avoid power struggles, and respond with clarity instead of reactionRegister at
199. The Parenting Tools That Help Teens Build Resilience and Confidence With Dr. Jerry Weichman
You want to help your teen be resilient and feel more confident and capable of handling life's challenges. But when they're struggling, whether with mental health, motivation, school, substances, or simply growing up, it's easy to slip in...
198. Helping Teens Change Behavior: What Motivational Interviewing Can Teach Parents with Jarrod Hoffman
Why is it that the harder you push for change, the more your teen seems to dig in their heels?If you've ever found yourself repeating the same conversations, giving advice that goes nowhere, or feeling exhausted by your teen's resistance...
197. Intergenerational Narratives and Passing On Trauma to Our Children With Kellyn Smythe
When you grow up inside fear, survival, instability, or emotional chaos, those experiences don’t just disappear when you become an adult. They quietly shape the stories you carry about safety, relationships, success, control, and even what it m...
196. Understanding ADHD and Emotional Dysregulation in Teens & Young Adults With Debbie Murad
Simple tasks that seem easy to you become overwhelming battles for your teen or young adult with ADHD. One small request turns into a massive blow-up. And when we don’t understand the ADHD brain, it can feel like they’re being disrespectful, la...
195. Summer Scaffolding: Supporting Your Teen’s Transition Home From Treatment During Summer Break With Hilary Moses
Summer can feel terrifying when you’re parenting a struggling teen or young adult. The routines disappear. Structure falls away. And suddenly you’re left wondering how to support your child without slipping into control, conflict, or constant a...
194. What It Feels Like to Come Home From Treatment (And Why Your Teen Is Struggling) With Casie Fariello
You bring your child home from treatment and expect things to get better. But instead, everything feels off. They’re overwhelmed. Irritated. Withdrawn. Maybe even struggling more than you expected. You don’t understand. Why is this so hard?...
193. Is This ODD or Normal Teen Behavior? With Brittney King
Is your child pushing back, arguing over everything, ignoring rules, or seeming impossible to parent right now? It’s easy to wonder: Is this normal teen behavior… or something more serious like ODD?When conflict becomes the norm at home,...
192. When Your Teen Is Self-Harming: What Parents Need to Know With Courtney Deadman
When you find out your child is harming themselves, you’re thrown into a world you don’t understand.Fear hits first. Then confusion. Maybe even anger.Is this a cry for help? Is it manipulation? Is my child suicidal?And most of al...
191. The Boy Brain Explained: Why Your Teen Manipulates, Complains, and Plays the Victim
Your teen’s behavior might feel confusing, frustrating, or even manipulative… but when you understand the boy brain, it starts to make a lot more sense.In this episode, I sit down with Mark Spalding (LCSW) to unpack what’s really going o...
190. Dealing With the Negativity of Your Teen's Weekly Call From Treatment
You wait all week for that call… and then it comes. But your child sounds miserable. They’re complaining about everything. The food, the people, the program. They tell you it’s not working. That they shouldn’t be there. Maybe they even promise ...
189. What Is in Your Control as a Parent? - The Circles of Control, Influence & Concern
You’re lying awake at night, running through every possible scenario. Should I step in? Should I say something? Should I let this go?When your teen is struggling, it can feel nearly impossible to know what’s actually yours to handle and ...
188. The Anatomy of Trust for Parents - A Breakdown of Brené Brown’s Work With Danny Frazer
Trust is one of the most fundamental parts of every relationship. If you don’t trust your teen, or you notice they don’t trust you, it will be hard to build the kind of parent-child relationship you want to have with your struggling teen or you...