Cultivating Happiness One Letter at a Time

Finally, we fulfilled a bucket list desire to bring our husbands onto the show! Dan Borison and Todd Silverman talk about what Your Teen has meant to them over the years. We open with a chat with our podcast producer of 5 years, Hannah — her favorite interviews and how the show impacted her. Subscribe to Your Teen with Sue and Steph here! Check out Your Teen on Facebook here! Linkedin Twitter Instagram

Dr. Tori Cordiano joins us again to talk about how we can provide a supportive hand to our teens, as well as strengthen their family and community connections. In this episode, we discuss: How do we raise kids that prioritize themselves for their mental and physical wellness? How do we develop love of family in our teens? What can we do to encourage our teens to be involved with activities within their community? Learn more about Dr. Tori Cordiano here. Subscribe to Your Teen with Sue and Steph here! Check out Your Teen on Facebook here! Linkedin Twitter Instagram

Kwame Christian, author of How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race, discusses tools that teenagers can learn for having difficult conversations. Of course, we all need help in this arena. Thank you Kwame.  In this episode, we discuss:  Are teenagers inherently good at dealing with conflict, and can they be taught to do so?  What are some tools for having difficult conversations?  How can parents approach difficult conversations, such as those where there can be conflict and differences in knowledge or belief about politics and race? Learn more about Kwame Christian and The American Negotiation Institute. Subscribe to Your Teen with Sue and Steph here! Check out Your Teen on Facebook here! Linkedin Twitter Instagram

Amy Speidel, Conscious Discipline master instructor, analyzes why our relationship with our teenagers is likely filled with conflict. Then Amy provides simple language that you can adopt to deescalate — and maybe even resolve — the conflict. In this episode, we discuss: How to react when faced with our teens' "hate". What ways we can react to our teens' vulnerability, which can appear as anger. When our teen is in conflict with a friend, how do we continue to navigate our friendship with the friend's parent? Learn more about Amy Speidel and Conscious Discipline. Subscribe to Your Teen with Sue and Steph here! Check out Your Teen on Facebook here! Linkedin Twitter Instagram

Jennifer Wallace, an award winning journalist, is focused on shifting the parenting discussion to “Mattering.” Our teens (and all people) need a strong sense of mattering to the world around them. It’s one of the greatest drivers of human instinct. In this episode, we talk about how Jennifer became an expert in letting her kids know they matter - and how you can do the same.  Preorder Jennifer's book, “Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic and What We Can Do About It," and get 4 bonuses immediately: An exclusive early excerpt. A guide to the game-changing habits of healthy achievers . Messages of mattering for parents. An invitation to Jennifer's "back to school" webinar. Learn more about Jennifer Wallace and The Mattering Movement. Subscribe to Your Teen with Sue and Steph here! Check out Your Teen on Facebook here! Linkedin Twitter Instagram

Psychologist John Duffy, author of Parenting the New Teen in the Age of Anxiety, discusses how we can better support our teenage boys with their mental health. In this episode, we discuss: Are we giving enough attention to boys right now? Has society's message to boys to be strong and unemotional harming our sons, and how do we change that? How signs of depression can look different in boys, and what those signs are. Motivating introverted teen sons to participate more in their school community. Learn more about Dr. John Duffy. Subscribe to Your Teen with Sue and Steph here! Check out Your Teen on Facebook here! Linkedin Twitter Instagram

Dr. Brian Primack, author of "You Are What You Click," discusses how to address social media and viral trends with your teens. In this episode, we discuss: Why are teens and tweens participating in viral challenges? Do social media companies have any responsibility? How do we teach our kids the difference between challenges that are healthy and those that are dangerous? What do conversations with our kids look like regarding these challenges? Learn more about Dr. Brian Primack. Subscribe to Your Teen with Sue and Steph here! Check out Your Teen on Facebook here! Linkedin Twitter Instagram

JD Ouellette from Equip wants to change our culture — because our current obsession with beauty is hurting our teenagers. Ouellette offers optimal ways to speak with your teens about body image and how to choose a path that diminishes appearance culture. In this episode, we talk about: How can I support my kid in the body they are in? How should we talk about bodies? What exactly does body dysmorphia mean? How can we break the cycle of thin being beauty? How important it is for parents to understand their own biases when it comes to weight and body image. Learn more about JD Ouellette and Equip. Subscribe to Your Teen with Sue and Steph here! Check out Your Teen on Facebook here! Linkedin Twitter Instagram

ChatGPT, Andrew Tate, beauty filters, and of course, all sorts of gaming— how are we supposed to keep up? Dr. Elizabeth Milovidov joins us to share how we can help guide our kids through our ever-changing modern world.  Subscribe to Your Teen with Sue and Steph here! Check out Your Teen on Facebook here! Linkedin Twitter Instagram

The college admissions process is treated as one-size-fits-all, but that's not always the case for Black families. Shereem Herndon-Brown and Timothy L Fields, co-authors of "The Black Family’s Guide to College Admissions," share their wisdom college admissions at the intersection of education, parenting, and race. In this episode, we talk about… What made this book necessary? What is under-matching? What struggles are specific to Black families? The special value of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) The drawbacks and benefits of attending PWIs (predominantly white institutions) Subscribe to Your Teen with Sue and Steph here! Check out Your Teen on Facebook here! Linkedin Twitter Instagram