Support for Families
Teenagers are busy, and it can be challenging to find time to connect as a family. I have several ways I help families learn together, have fun, and communicate better.
Parent Teen Night Portal
One of the things my family enjoys doing together is having weekly Parent Teen Nights (PTNs) on Sunday nights. I found out quickly that it was exhausting to try to come up with ideas every week, though, so I put together a list of over 150 things you can watch and do together, like:
Games to play
Documentaries and movies to watch
Ted Talks with helpful information
Fun YouTube videos
PDFs to discuss
This list is available in the member area of the website. You can learn more about why PTNs are important and more information about what is included in the portal here.
Conversation Prep Packets
These packets are filled with questions to ask, activities to do with your teen, and more.
The first one on intuitive eating is available to download for free in the store.
There is also a fun 14-day healthy habits challenge for families available for 2.99.
Guided Coaching for Families
I also offer guided coaching sessions for families. These fun, interactive sessions are done over Zoom (with PowerPoint slides), and they cover pre-selected topics. They open up topics you may not have discussed, give each person a chance to share their thoughts and feelings, and provide a foundation for further conversations.
Currently I have two packages of three-sessions each available:
Harnessing Our Emotions
Let’s Talk Tech
I also have four that are just one session each:
Improving Our Mental Health
Making Decisions
Learning to Love Our Bodies
Communicating Effectively
These can be done by your whole family (ages 11 and up) or a parent and teen together. They are customizable, so you can let me know what you feel like your family needs the most. You can read more about what is covered in each one below.
Harnessing Our Emotions
John Gottman said, “In the last decade or so, science has discovered a tremendous amount about the role emotions play in our lives. Researchers have found that even more than IQ, your emotional awareness and abilities to handle feelings will determine your success and happiness in all walks of life.” In fact, Daniel Goleman estimates that “as much as 80% of adult ‘success’ comes from EQ.”
Teenagers experience a wide range of emotions throughout the day (sometimes throughout every hour), and they don’t have the calming influence of a fully developed prefrontal cortex. This is the perfect time for them to learn how to harness the power of their strong emotions to create the lives they want.
During these three 50-minute sessions we will cover topics like:
What emotions are and what their purpose is
Coping mechanisms
Healthy and unhealthy ways of processing emotion
The teen brain and emotion
How to use emotions as fuel for action
Motivation
Four things we can do to create more happiness in our lives
How to turn off your anxiety alarm
“Emotions are not problems to be solved. They are signals to be interpreted.”
During this course, you will learn how to recognize, understand, resolve, and appreciate all of your emotions so you can live a happier, healthier life. Reach out to her at rachelle@theinspiredteen.com or book a free 30-minute call below to discuss your options.
Check out the blog for posts on anger, disrespect, happiness, and more.
Let’s Talk Tech
Andy Crouch said, “If there’s one thing I’ve discovered about technology, it’s that it doesn’t stay in its proper place on its own. If we aren’t intentional and careful, we’ll end up with a quite extraordinary mess.”
We are SURROUNDED by screens, and there is so much everyone needs to know and understand about how to manage them. During these three sessions we will discuss:
Boredom (why teens get bored more easily than adults) and the dopamine cycle
Video and mobile games (why we crave them and ways they can be dangerous)
Why friends are so important to teens (teen development)
The Imaginary Audience and how it’s affected by social media
Social media (pros and cons, how to use it in a healthy way)
Predators and sextortion
Self-objectification and self-esteem
How to recognize when screens are in their proper place in our lives, and how to be more deliberate in our screen usage
Ways we can avoid (and recognize) addiction
Bias, advertising, selective truths, and cognitive distortions
This is a great course to take together because it opens up conversations without turning them into a lectures.
Choosing Our Thoughts
Coming Soon!
This package covers topics like:
The power of our thoughts
The teen brain and how it develops
ANTS (Automatic Negative Thoughts) and cognitive distortions
Thought tornados and how to get out of them
Biases and how to recognize them in the media
How thoughts influence our emotions
And more
Email me at rachelle@theinspiredteen.com for more information on these amazing guided coaching packages or book a call below.
Single Guided Coaching Calls
These are single one-hour coaching calls, and they are also done over Zoom. Each has PowerPoint slides and handouts that go along with them.
Improving Our Mental Health
More teens are struggling with their mental health today than ever before. According to Dr. Lisa Damour in her new book, The Emotional Life of Teenagers, one of the reasons is a shift in the way we view psychological distress and how we are defining mental health.
In this session we will discuss:
What mental health is and isn’t
How to recognize mental illness and when to seek help
The pros and cons of stress
How to deal with overwhelm
How to turn off your anxiety alarm
Depression and how to recognize it
Screens and social media and how you can keep them in the proper place in your life
Ten things you can do to improve your mental health
“Mental health is not based off of whether or not you ‘feel good.’ Mental health is about having the right feeling at the right time in the correct context, and then managing the feeling effectively.”
This single session pairs well with the three-session package on harnessing emotions, since they overlap. However, just this single session will really help you and your teen have a better understanding of what mental health is and some science-proven things you can do to improve it.
Making Decisions
Teens, especially older ones, have to make so many important decisions! They have to choose classes, apply for colleges, decide who to date/be friends with, and think about what they will do in the future.
In this call I will teach you about integrated decision-making, which is looking at how our bodies, hearts (emotions), minds, and peers all affect the decision-making process. We will discuss:
Sleep, Maslow’s hierarchy, and our physical needs
What emotions are and how to resolve them
Fear and how it impacts our decisions
ANTS (Automatic Negative Thoughts) and cognitive distortions
Peers and peer pressure
The social feedback loop and the Imaginary Audience
After this session your teen(s) will have a much better plan for what to do when they are faced with a big decision.
Learning to Love Our Bodies
We are surrounded by images of what our bodies “should” look like. It can be really hard to look past that and learn to love not only our bodies, but ourselves as a whole.
In this session you will each learn about five things you can do to love your body more. You will:
Learn about all the amazing things your body can do
Start developing a habit of gratitude
Understand self-objectification and how it affects us (this section is so important for every teen to hear)
Get to know your own body and learn how to take care of it in a way that works for you
Learn how your thoughts can affect your body image and brainstorm some positive thoughts you can think about your body
I will also briefly teach about social media, how to define body image, how to see bodies as instruments instead of ornaments, discuss 12 things you can do to fall in love with your body, and more!
Communicating Effectively
Every family can use this session! In it you will cover topics like:
Active listening
Conflict resolution
Different communication styles
Managing the emotions that pop up
Asking effective questions
“Strong families cultivate an attribute of effective communication. They talk out their problems, make plans together, and cooperate toward common objectives.”
Creating Healthy Relationships
Coming Soon!
This call covers topics like:
Being a good friend
Why friends are so important to teens
Danger signs of unhealthy relationships
Recognizing friend posers
Setting boundaries
How to say “no”
Belonging vs fitting in
And more
To find out more about these single calls/packages, please email me at
rachelle@theinspiredteen.com
or book a free phone call below to discuss your options.