I talked about parenting out of fear in the very first episode of this podcast. Because my own fear is what led me down such a long hard path with my son, I wanted to make sure you were aware of the issues it causes. Now that I've been able to work for a couple of years on refining this message, I'm back to share again why we must not let our anxious thoughts derail our parenting.

This issue comes up over and over in the Speaking of Teens Facebook group and in Parent Camp. Fear for our Teenager's future, about how they're messing up, and screwing up their life, etc. - it's something so many of us have dealt with at one time or another. And that fear causes us to feel like if we don't do something major or do something right this minute, we're going to lose our child, let them down, allow them to mess up everything and ruin their life.

And guess what happens when you start thinking that way? You question, assume, lecture, snoop, track, yell, punish, and overreact. That behavior, in turn, builds an impenetrable wall between you and your teen and increases their negative behavior.

In this episode, I’ll help you figure out if you are parenting out of fear, explain how it impacts the relationship with your teen and their behavior. Most importantly, I'll explain how to turn things around if your fear has already caused a backlash with your teen.

Access TRANSCRIPT here

Thank you so much for listening to the show! If you found it helpful in some way, please share it with someone who could also benefit from it. And if you prefer listening on a podcast app, please be sure and follow the show so new episodes will automatically pop up in your que.

I make this show for you, and I really appreciate and value your feedback. I’d love your suggestions for how I make the show better. And if you’d like me to cover a specific topic or you have a parenting question that I could discuss in a future episode, please reach out, I’d love to hear from you!

You may be interested in one or more of my FREE Parenting Guides.

Sources, Resources and, Mentions

Free "Emotional Awareness Strategies" download

Episodes to help understand teenage autonomy, etc. - 15, 39, 57, 80, 84, and 117

Episodes 104, 106, 108, and 110 (connection series)

Episodes 6, 78 and 95 (emotion coaching)