What’s going on in the adolescent brain? SO much! Between ages 12 and 24 (give or take a year or two), the brain goes through a major remodel.
Last week, I talked about how puberty is triggered by changes in hormone levels. Today, we’re diving into another process happening within the adolescent brain called pruning. I’ll help you understand the brain science behind what’s happening, why pruning happens and how it affects development.
The essence of adolescence can be attributed to the changes in the brain, and one of the biggest changes happening during this time is pruning.
Pruning is when the brain keeps the connections that are used frequently and discards those that don't seem to be needed anymore. It's the process that takes us from being open to anything as an elementary aged kid, to becoming an expert at a few things as an adult.
Just as you would prune extra, unneeded branches from a fruit tree to increase production, the brain is pruning extra brain cells (neurons) and connections (synapses) that are no longer needed.
As a young child, there is SO much to learn, and the brain is constantly creating new neurons to adapt to all of these new experiences and stimuli. At a certain point, it becomes too much, so the brain begins to prune unneeded neurons and synapses.
Pruning helps to make the brain more efficient and adaptable. It allows us to think and process faster, make decisions and understand things like cause and effect, time and big-picture planning.
It actually makes it easier to learn because the brain is no longer so full of things that it doesn’t need anymore. And with more space, the brain lays down new connections and circuitry toward the prefrontal cortex, where cognitive function happens.
You’ll start to see your tween or teen thinking about things differently and making better decisions as this process occurs. They are more able to think for themselves and become more responsible.
The prefrontal cortex is also where empathy lives. Our kids will have the ability to be more empathetic when they can take on the perspectives of other people.
Stress response will begin to improve. As we talked about last week, puberty creates a lot of work for the stress system in adolescent bodies, but the new circuitry in the brain will then help your kid access better coping mechanisms.
Finally, pruning can affect language and communication abilities, making it easier for your teen to express themselves. This helps maintain open lines of communication, which is crucial for healthy parent-child relationships.
If you think of your kid’s brain like a house, their primal fight or flight response is the basement, the emotional limbic center is the main level and the upstairs is the part of the brain that does all the thinking.
During the pruning process, the staircase is being built. But it isn’t always built in order. Some sections might be built separately or there might be stairs that lead to nowhere and need to be remodeled. It’s not always a clear, straight pathway. As you can imagine, climbing a staircase that’s missing some parts can be challenging.
And sometimes the brain overprunes (like an over-eager gardener). It might cut back too many neurons and need to rebuild them.
Some challenging behaviors you might see during this time are:
Kids this age don't know who they are. They don't feel good about themselves, and they might take that out on other kids or try to people please by acting in ways that we don't approve of or even recognize.
It’s important to remember that these disruptions are completely normal AND they’re temporary.
Kids have to go through this process of adolescence, but it is hard to be around. Here is one simple exercise that can help you not feel so overwhelmed.
I always tell parents to parent the kid in front of you, not the one you wish they were or the one you're afraid they'll become. Fear of what they’ll become is what I see most in parents of teens.
The kid in front of you right now might be pretty challenging, but it’s normal, it’s natural and they’re struggling through this massive brain remodel.
With that in mind, I want to offer you a tool I teach in all my classes called the Positive Parenting Vision. It’s a way to get out of worst-case scenario thinking so you can show up for your kid in a supportive way.
Your kid is freaking out. They’re looking at you to see if they’re going to be okay. The Positive Parenting Vision tool helps you to trust that your kid is going to get through this and move into best-case scenario thinking. Then, they can borrow your belief in them.
Think about 10 years from now, and imagine the best scenario possible for your child’s life. Picture where they live. Picture their friendships, their relationships, the way that you connect with them. Make it fantastic (and ignore your brain when it says you can’t).
Does that make you smile? Are you so excited for them?
This is such a powerful tool because feelings are contagious. If you are worried about your kid, they’re going to be worried and feel stuck. But if they see that you believe they’re going to get through it, they can believe that, too.
This exercise, along with the other mindset exercises I teach are the ones I use all the time to get myself out of fear and into trust and hope. These exercises saved my relationship with my kids, and they’ll do the same for you.
If you want to shift your perspective so that you can show up differently, learn more about my programs here.
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Alright. We are back at another episode
Speaker:of become a kamama. I am your host, Darlynn Childress. I
Speaker:am a life and parenting coach. And last
Speaker:week, I talked about how puberty is
Speaker:triggered by changes in hormone levels and how those
Speaker:changes actually affect your kids your teen, your
Speaker:tween's ability to adapt to stress. All of
Speaker:those changes actually start in the brain.
Speaker:The the hypothalamus starts to change the
Speaker:way that it communicates and what hormones are needed, and
Speaker:that triggers puberty. And the hypothalamus is part of the
Speaker:brain. The essence of adolescence
Speaker:can be attributed to changes in the brain. That
Speaker:is what is going on. So we have the, you know,
Speaker:puberty, the hormone changes, and the bill the brain's
Speaker:growing and adapting and figuring out how to
Speaker:change the way that it produces hormones. Right? So that's a whole
Speaker:system, the nervous system, and the the regulatory, hormone
Speaker:regular regulatory system that is affected.
Speaker:But guess what? That's not the only thing
Speaker:happening in the brain. During the period
Speaker:from around age twelve to age twenty four.
Speaker:Sometimes it happens at 11, sometimes a little bit late, but the brain
Speaker:goes through a major remodel. So we have the
Speaker:nervous system thing going on with the hormones and the stress response
Speaker:and all of that is one thing. And then in addition to that, there's
Speaker:also the process of pruning. And that's what I'm gonna talk
Speaker:about today is how the brains
Speaker:what the brain is doing and what pruning is and what the
Speaker:effects are and why why the brain even does it. So that's what we're
Speaker:gonna talk about in this episode. And I'm gonna help
Speaker:you understand the like, brain science.
Speaker:I'm not a brain scientist, obviously. I'm a parenting coach, but I'm gonna give
Speaker:you a little bit of understanding of what is going on in the
Speaker:brain. And then why it does it. And, like, the long
Speaker:term effect of why pruning is so important. That's what the
Speaker:brain does this whole remodel for a reason. So I'm gonna help you
Speaker:see sort of the big picture and why and what's going on with your
Speaker:adolescent. And then I'm gonna talk about kind of the short term
Speaker:problems that are created when your child's brain or your teen's brain
Speaker:is going through this major remodel because it can be really
Speaker:difficult for families which is a big reason why adolescents is so
Speaker:complicated, and it is because of their their stress
Speaker:responses is changing the way they think is
Speaker:changing, and then also the way they experience things is changing.
Speaker:So let's get into it. Let's talk about what pruning is.
Speaker:A very simple understanding or way to think about it
Speaker:is just imagining, you know, an overgrown bush, like
Speaker:a black Barry Bush or something like that. And
Speaker:if you have just so many brambles and so
Speaker:many branches and leaves, you're not
Speaker:really able to produce a ton of fruit. It's like all
Speaker:of the nutrients are you know, distributed in a
Speaker:way that's really messy and and not giving the plant what it
Speaker:needs to truly thrive and create a specialized blackberry.
Speaker:And so the brain essentially is doing the same thing. It's
Speaker:pruning extra synapses.
Speaker:It's a neurons. It's going into the brain
Speaker:and it's taking out whatever isn't
Speaker:needed anymore. So pruning is this process when the
Speaker:brain keeps connections that are used frequently and
Speaker:discards those that don't seem to be needed anymore. This
Speaker:is this longer process, and it helps the adult brain
Speaker:become specialized. Let me explain what neurons
Speaker:are. So neurons are just cells in the brain. The
Speaker:cells in the brain, they work together to send
Speaker:messages. To communicate with each other, like a telephone pole or
Speaker:something. Right? It's like, you know, it's sending
Speaker:messages across the brain, and that's how the
Speaker:the thoughts form or the hormones get triggered and all
Speaker:of that. That's how access
Speaker:to kind of what we think of as executive function or cognitive fun
Speaker:function happens is the brain sort of moving at a very
Speaker:fast pace. And when you're a little kid,
Speaker:you create a lot of these neurons.
Speaker:So the neuron is the cell and the synapse is the connection between
Speaker:the cells, between the neurons. So when you're
Speaker:little, you there's an excessive production
Speaker:of neurons, of nerve cells. And there's a lot of synapses,
Speaker:the connections between. There's so much
Speaker:that is the brain is growing and learning and It's learning to walk
Speaker:and talk and and eat and run and move and know how
Speaker:to respond to smiles. And then it's learning to, like,
Speaker:count and, know its numbers and
Speaker:identify, labels of of colors. And then,
Speaker:hopefully, you're teaching them what feelings are. Right? So the
Speaker:brain is, you know, adapting to
Speaker:various experiences and stimuli, and it is just creating a
Speaker:whole bunch of neurons. And then at a certain
Speaker:point, it says, okay. This is too much because we need
Speaker:to lay what's called myelin. So myelin
Speaker:is a goopy substance that is laid
Speaker:between the synapses so that the circuit,
Speaker:the connections between neurons moves really fast.
Speaker:And if the brain laid myelin with every synapse
Speaker:and all of those neurons in the brain, It would be a big goopy
Speaker:mess. And so it does this process of pruning,
Speaker:taking out what's not needed, taking out those synapses,
Speaker:and eliminating them so that it can
Speaker:improve its efficiency because it wants to lay
Speaker:down this myelin. It wants to make the brain really, really work.
Speaker:We think about it. Like, I don't have to think about
Speaker:learning to dry or driving anymore. Right? I I have all this
Speaker:muscle memory, and I know how to do it, and my brain is really efficient.
Speaker:But, of course, when I'm learning to drive, I'm building up all this neural
Speaker:capacity to understand how to move my leg and
Speaker:put my foot on the gas and steer at the same time and keep my
Speaker:eyes on the road. There's just so much going on. And so
Speaker:over and over and over, the brain wants to make all of those
Speaker:things really efficient. And so it does this process of
Speaker:pruning. And it helps us actually
Speaker:have faster processing to get to, like,
Speaker:thinking. Right? We want our kids to be able to think and process information
Speaker:and make decisions and understand cause and effect and time
Speaker:and and big picture planning and all of these things. That
Speaker:we want for our kids as they get older. This process of
Speaker:pruning, it plays a crucial role in
Speaker:helping that happen. So pruning doesn't actually make it harder
Speaker:to learn. It makes it easier to learn. It makes it easier
Speaker:for the brain to grow because it's not so
Speaker:full of things that it doesn't need anymore. I always think about it,
Speaker:like, when you're really little, and you learn to play chess and you maybe learn
Speaker:to knit if you went to a school like my kids and, you know, you
Speaker:maybe learned some Spanish or Chinese or, you know, Mandarin or something like
Speaker:that. And you've exposed yourself to, like, you play basketball in
Speaker:football and soccer and you learn to dance and you used to do art and,
Speaker:like, little kids are exposed to so many things, which is cool. But then
Speaker:as as they get older, the brain starts to specialize and it
Speaker:needs to prune away if the child took Spanish,
Speaker:say, at 6 and 7 and hasn't used any
Speaker:Spanish. So 11 or 12, the brain is gonna be like, we don't need
Speaker:Spanish. And it will, like, prune some of that away. It doesn't wanna
Speaker:strengthen anything that it doesn't think it's gonna need access too
Speaker:quickly and easily. So that's why a lot of times don't even
Speaker:remember things that you did when you were little or that you even took a
Speaker:class. Like, my son barely remembers ever playing basketball. He only played 1 or
Speaker:2 seasons, and we didn't stick to it. But he remembers playing soccer because he
Speaker:played all the way until, you know, he was, like, 15 or 16.
Speaker:Maybe fourteen. I don't know what age. So the brain was like, oh, we need
Speaker:to keep these soccer skills. Right? It's the same with, like,
Speaker:swimming or whatever. Funny enough, the brain decides to
Speaker:keep riding a bike. Like, if you learn to ride a bike when you're little,
Speaker:the brain is like, oh, yeah. We're gonna keep this one. Maybe it's an easy
Speaker:myelin sheath, you know, to, like, lay down. Because, you know, people are always like,
Speaker:you know, you never forget how to ride a bike. And it's like, why is
Speaker:that? Right? And that's because the brain doesn't prune that information, but it prunes a
Speaker:whole bunch. Now why is it so great?
Speaker:It actually is amazing to have your kid
Speaker:go through this process of pruning because they learn how
Speaker:to make better decisions. As pruning refines
Speaker:the neural circuits, then you'll
Speaker:see that your teen or your tween is able to make
Speaker:better decisions to think about things differently. And maybe
Speaker:they understand the cause and effect of, like, if I don't wash my face, I
Speaker:get a zit. Or if I don't Do my
Speaker:homework. I don't have good grades, and I can't go to the field trip.
Speaker:And that when they're younger, you've done all that thinking for them. And we want
Speaker:them to be able to do that thinking for themselves. And so that is what's
Speaker:so great about this process is their brain is like, oh,
Speaker:I now am in charge of my own well-being. Right?
Speaker:It's it's really, really good. We like it. We want our kids to grow up
Speaker:and become responsible. We also what's cool
Speaker:about pruning is that the prefrontal cortex
Speaker:becomes more accessible. That's why decision making is easier.
Speaker:The synapses in the myelin between the limbic center where
Speaker:all the emotions are, the brain starts to make some
Speaker:real long mile in connections and lays down the
Speaker:neural circuitry towards the prefrontal cortex, which is where
Speaker:cognitive function happens. So that's why decision making improves.
Speaker:But the other cool thing is that's where empathy lives.
Speaker:And perspective taking lives in our prefrontal cortex. It doesn't live
Speaker:in our emotions. Empathy is more of
Speaker:a practice that's based on cognition.
Speaker:Right? It's not an emotional. It's not an emotional process. Developmental
Speaker:stage of pruning, they become a bill they have more ability to
Speaker:be empathetic and take on the perspective of other people.
Speaker:And that's really cool. It's it's they they have
Speaker:more understanding of of other humans and and how they're
Speaker:feeling and how they're thinking and their reality. And that's
Speaker:beautiful. Couple other benefits of pruning are
Speaker:that your kids are able to have more
Speaker:ability to manage their stress. We said during
Speaker:puberty, Last week, I talked about that. It's a lot of work
Speaker:for the stress response, the stress system in
Speaker:our in our bodies, the nervous system, to
Speaker:integrate all of these new hormones, and it makes it harder for your kids to
Speaker:cope with stress and they're easily disturbed in their easily
Speaker:and they're kind of erratic and they have irrational behavior and all of those things
Speaker:that are hard while the brain is doing these neural, this this
Speaker:circuitry rebuilding and remodeling, It's actually
Speaker:helping your kids access better coping
Speaker:mechanisms. It's giving them skills so that they
Speaker:can handle all of their life. That's
Speaker:what becoming a grown up is. And most of our coping
Speaker:mechanisms, like our stress management tools and all of
Speaker:that. They're held at our prefrontal cortex. That's all
Speaker:like, oh, I'm stressed. I need a strategy. And then we
Speaker:access our our prefrontal cortex, our thinking brain, and
Speaker:we employ those strategies. When we're not able to
Speaker:employ those strategies, when we're reactive. That's when we're in our Olympic center
Speaker:or in our primal, you know, fight flight systems. We want our
Speaker:kids to, like, lay that mile in, build those synapses,
Speaker:get go ahead and grow your
Speaker:staircase to your second story. If you think
Speaker:about basement is the primal part of the brain, and then the main
Speaker:level is the limbic center, and then the upstairs is the
Speaker:part of the brain that does all the thinking. This process
Speaker:of pruning is creating the staircase. Isn't that
Speaker:cool? So we want our kids to be able to build that
Speaker:staircase and be able to communicate better, manage their stress
Speaker:better, make better decisions, have more empathy. Amazing.
Speaker:Now if it's so amazing, why is it so
Speaker:hard to have teens and tweens? And here's
Speaker:why this staircase isn't built and it's not
Speaker:built in a linear fashion.
Speaker:It's kind of like some wrongs are built. You know, some parts of
Speaker:the staircase are built on one section, and then this one is
Speaker:over here. And There's some stairs here that lead to nowhere, and
Speaker:it's a remodel. There's not really a a very
Speaker:clear pathway to that prefrontal cortex.
Speaker:And a lot of the pruning actually happens in that thinking part
Speaker:of the brain, and it also a lot of it is happening in the
Speaker:emotional center. And so your child
Speaker:sometimes over the brain's over prunes itself. It cuts back
Speaker:too many neurons. And then the brain
Speaker:is like, oh, wait. Shoot. We actually do need to, like, know how to speak
Speaker:kindly. So let's put those back. Like, oh, yeah. We do need to understand time.
Speaker:Let's put those back. If you think of a two story house, under
Speaker:renovation, and you imagine the staircase is missing some steps, like,
Speaker:getting to that second story would be really challenging.
Speaker:So it's all it was always hard when they were little, But, you
Speaker:know, when they're like 8, 9, 10, it it all all it all
Speaker:starts to seem like it's coming together for your kid. You're like, okay. I
Speaker:think that You know, they kinda understand things. We're able to talk. They're
Speaker:able to manage their emotions. And you have this little glory moment
Speaker:with parenting. At that age where things seem to be
Speaker:settled and then bam adolescents. And you're like, what the
Speaker:heck happened? So what the heck happened? Puberty, influx of
Speaker:new hormones. The brain is working hard to figure out how to integrate those. Second
Speaker:thing, pruning. Though all of a sudden, You have this kid who
Speaker:has less access to prefrontal cortex than they
Speaker:used to. It's which is nutty. But
Speaker:it is sort of the process of how the brain does
Speaker:this work where it over prunes and you know, it
Speaker:doesn't build mile in fast enough. Well, you know, it's just kind of like a
Speaker:really a really bad contractor where you're like, what are
Speaker:you doing contractor? And the contractor's like, I got a plan. Just
Speaker:trust me. You know? And in 5 years, you'll have a wonderfully
Speaker:built house. And you're looking at your twelve year old, like, I can't wait 5
Speaker:years. Right? But you can. What kinds
Speaker:of behaviors do you see during this period
Speaker:that make it hard to parent? During this pruning period,
Speaker:during this adolescent stage. 1 is
Speaker:emotional regulation. So there's already
Speaker:a lot of mood fluctuation. And if the brain,
Speaker:it does some too much pruning or creates an imbalance. It
Speaker:creates more emotional dysregulation. That's why
Speaker:sometimes, thirteen year old will seem less
Speaker:mature than a nine year old. And it really is
Speaker:because there's so much going on in their in
Speaker:their brain, like, in their development. Other
Speaker:things you'll see are learning and academic
Speaker:challenges. Pruning is good. It it creates cognitive
Speaker:efficiency But sometimes temporarily, it can disrupt the learning
Speaker:process. What that looks like is maybe difficulty concentrating,
Speaker:difficulty organizing information, difficulty adapting
Speaker:to a new educational challenge, like, you know, algebra say
Speaker:or, the 5 paragraph essay or whatever it is, that
Speaker:your kid is being exposed to. Sometimes we look at
Speaker:what's the changes in the brain, and it almost looks like ADHD.
Speaker:Was, like, impulsive, in attention, mood, instability.
Speaker:That's sort of hallmarks of adolescence. And I want you to understand
Speaker:that you're your kid can't really help it. Like,
Speaker:they need support, and they need you to to come
Speaker:alongside them slowly and give them the you know, give them
Speaker:back their their thinking brain in some ways. So we
Speaker:see emotional regulation. We see academic challenges.
Speaker:And then the identity and self concept, which is a big
Speaker:part of what your child is learning is who am I,
Speaker:Right? The pruning can affect the way that they see themselves.
Speaker:They are creating a new identity within their
Speaker:not a new identity, but they're solidifying identity. They're trying on parts of
Speaker:themselves and seeing if they fit. And You know,
Speaker:like, oh, I'm really into skateboarding, say. And then it's, like, a
Speaker:year later, you're like, you don't skateboard anymore. It's like, no. Not really. And
Speaker:you're like, oh, I thought we were a skater now. Like, we're looking and going,
Speaker:oh, they're a blank now. They're a blank now, but it's not really permanent.
Speaker:They're trying on some things. We won't really know until the dust settles,
Speaker:you know, 17, 18, 19, kinda, who they what their true interests
Speaker:are. That's why it's really hard if you have sixteen year old and
Speaker:they're trying to pick a major for college or pick a career. It's
Speaker:like That is very challenging. When you have
Speaker:no idea who you are, what you like, it feels like it's
Speaker:changing all the time, and it's it's just really difficult
Speaker:for our teens. So then you don't know. They're like, well, I used to be
Speaker:really good at soccer. I don't even play anymore. I can't even, you know, I
Speaker:don't even do it. They lost that piece of their identity, and sometimes
Speaker:that can help, like, they lose a piece of their self
Speaker:worth, their self esteem. The
Speaker:other major thing that's hard for parents in this time is a risk taking
Speaker:behavior. Essentially, the children experience
Speaker:this dopamine differently. They don't have access to
Speaker:decision making as well. They're in environments
Speaker:where there's less adult supervision. And so you might see this
Speaker:risk taking behavior. And that can it's totally
Speaker:normal. It's natural. But it can sometimes lead
Speaker:to mistakes, and that can really freak us out
Speaker:as parents. And then sometimes socially, your
Speaker:kids might show up and have social issues at this age and this
Speaker:developmental stage. You know, you're looking at your kid and you're like,
Speaker:hey. You can't treat your friends like that or do this or that, whatever
Speaker:behavior, without having social impacts, or they're having those social
Speaker:impacts. And the scary for you as their identity is evolving and
Speaker:their brain, is it evolving? They're gonna have interactions
Speaker:with their peers. Also, their peers' brains are also
Speaker:undergoing renovations. So it's a pretty complicated
Speaker:period of time for for all of them in their relationships.
Speaker:People are you know, the kids are easily dysregulated. They don't know who
Speaker:they are. They don't feel good about themselves, and then they
Speaker:might take that out on other kids or try to people,
Speaker:please, and act in ways that we don't
Speaker:think are appropriate or we don't even recognize as, like,
Speaker:who are you? Why are you acting like that? All that
Speaker:behavior that's happening is totally normal,
Speaker:but it is hard to be around. Right?
Speaker:It's essential for our kids to go through this process of
Speaker:adolescence. They have to, like, go through the puberty and
Speaker:go through the pruning. In order to get on
Speaker:the other side and be mature adults.
Speaker:But in the middle of it, it's really, really hard. So I wanna
Speaker:offer you just one tool today, one simple exercise
Speaker:that can help you not feel
Speaker:so overwhelmed. And what I've noticed with parents
Speaker:and myself is that I get I look at the
Speaker:kid in front of me. Right? I always say parent the kid in front of
Speaker:you, not the one you wish they were or the one you're afraid they'll
Speaker:become. And the one you're afraid they'll become is
Speaker:really what I see happening for parents of teens. It's like you
Speaker:look at your fourteen year old and you're like, you're in a jerk
Speaker:and just making mistake after mistake. And it's just like,
Speaker:ah, you've you know, you wanna, like, shake them and and also control.
Speaker:I see a lot of parents getting, you know, really strict or really
Speaker:lectures and and kind of trying to teach their kid right now. You
Speaker:can't act like this. And really, The
Speaker:perspective that I'm offering, you know, is that this is normal. This is natural. Your
Speaker:kid is struggling. Right? They're not a total jerk. They're
Speaker:actually almost having some sort of
Speaker:issue, like cognitive issue because their brain is undergoing this
Speaker:massive remodel. Understanding that,
Speaker:then the tool is the positive parenting vision. This is a tool
Speaker:that I teach in all my classes. And it's really a way to get
Speaker:out of worst case scenario thinking. Because what your
Speaker:teen needs from you while they're going through their
Speaker:adolescent years is they need you to be doing your best
Speaker:thinking, right, because they're not doing their best thinking.
Speaker:They're very impulsive. They're very distracted. They're
Speaker:very much working hard just to feel good all day long.
Speaker:When we are also feeling impulsive
Speaker:and distracted and we're working really hard, it can be
Speaker:hard for us to then show up for our kids in a way
Speaker:that's supportive for them. They're freaking out. Right? Their brain is under
Speaker:this massive renovation. And they wanna look to
Speaker:us and be like, okay. Am I gonna be
Speaker:okay? Like, we're in this we're in storm, and we're on a ship
Speaker:together. And you're the captain. And they're looking at you, and they're like, are we
Speaker:gonna be okay? Are are we gonna ride these storms? Am
Speaker:I gonna be okay? That's really what they're looking at you, and they're
Speaker:wondering, am I gonna be okay? And if you're looking at them and
Speaker:you're like, I don't know if you're gonna be okay. That's really,
Speaker:really scary. So I want you to trust
Speaker:that your kid is going to get through it, that they're going to be okay.
Speaker:And how you do that is by having a positive vision of the
Speaker:future. So getting out of worst case scenario and
Speaker:getting into best case scenario. And your teen
Speaker:then can borrow your belief because they don't have it. Right?
Speaker:Feelings are contagious. And if you're worried about your
Speaker:teen, Your team's like, uh-oh. I'm not gonna be okay.
Speaker:And then that makes them feel stuck and maybe seek
Speaker:feeling okay someplace else. Maybe with their friends in a
Speaker:relationship or with drugs or with school, perfectionism
Speaker:can also play into this. Right? They're like, oh, I'm not okay. So I better
Speaker:do better. We're more and more and more. Or they're like, I'm not okay. So
Speaker:fuck it. I'm out. Right? I'm just gonna, like, you know, give up. Those
Speaker:are extreme examples, but we want our kids to
Speaker:feel like, hey. My parent believes that I'm gonna get
Speaker:through this. So and they're older than me. They've been through it. They're not
Speaker:gonna give you any credit, just so you know, no credit ever. But in
Speaker:their -- subconscious in their hearts. They're gonna believe.
Speaker:Okay. I can take a deep breath. I'm gonna be fine. I'm gonna weather this
Speaker:storm because my parent says I am. So that
Speaker:is where it's important to spend time picturing a best
Speaker:case scenario. So in the classes that I teach, I give you
Speaker:prompts and things like that. But right now, I just would love
Speaker:for you to just think 10 years from now. So if
Speaker:you have a fifteen year old, imagine them at 25.
Speaker:And imagine the best scenario possible.
Speaker:Picture where they live. Picture their friendships. Picture their relationships.
Speaker:Picture the way that you connect with them. How frequently do you wanna talk in
Speaker:a best case scenario? Just allow some
Speaker:room to see the future as positive.
Speaker:You can imagine any future you want because there's no it
Speaker:doesn't exist yet. You can play this game with your brain, and
Speaker:you can, like, go to hope and go to the future and be
Speaker:positive. And your brain is gonna be like, don't be irrational.
Speaker:You know, you can't think that. Why not? You can think whatever you
Speaker:want. You can just make it fantastic.
Speaker:Lincoln just left for college. And my brain sometimes
Speaker:wants to freak out and tell me, like, he's definitely gonna fail out. And then,
Speaker:have all these negative thoughts. I'm not gonna talk about them because I don't wanna
Speaker:spend much time thinking of them. I just wanna think about, like, how much
Speaker:success he is possible for him. How much he's matured,
Speaker:how much he's grown, and who he's becoming. I love
Speaker:it. Makes me smile. And that's the feeling I want you to have
Speaker:towards your adolescents in your teens and your tweens.
Speaker:So this is just the one of the tools that I teach in the courses,
Speaker:the emotionally healthy middle schooler, emotionally healthy teen. I also teach
Speaker:this in the emotionally healthy kids class, because it's such a
Speaker:powerful mindset exercise. I teach a whole bunch of them in the
Speaker:course. So if you kinda like this way of learning and you like kind of,
Speaker:okay. I understand why they're acting this way and Now I wanna,
Speaker:like, shift my perspective so that I can show up differently. If that's
Speaker:your jam and you've got a middle schooler or high schooler, I
Speaker:strongly recommend you sign up for the class, the emotionally healthy
Speaker:series. Because in that class, I'm going to really
Speaker:help you get clear about your role
Speaker:and how to set limits, how to be, you know, how to
Speaker:stop lecturing, how to listen better. That
Speaker:way you don't feel so overwhelmed. I wanna help
Speaker:you get those practical tools that You know,
Speaker:nobody really ever teaches. Like, how do you actually say it? How do you
Speaker:actually do it? What am I supposed to do if they don't clean their room?
Speaker:Like, Darlynn, tell me the answers. I'm willing to tell you
Speaker:sort of a strategy. So that's why I incur I encourage you to go in
Speaker:the class and sign up. Those classes start the week of September
Speaker:18th. The middle schooler class is on a on Tuesday.
Speaker:Starts September 19th. It meets for 6 weeks. We're gonna meet
:30 Pacific. For about an hour each week. For 6
:weeks, you get the workbook, you get the class. Probably
:there'll be around ten people, maybe less. I mean, some of my classes only have
:three or four people in them. You don't have to talk if you don't want
:to, but it's small, small group. So I can use your examples when
:I'm doing the teaching. So I teach the concepts, and then
:I open up for questions, and it's really great. So I
:encourage you to do that. It's $397. That includes the
:class. Of the workbook, and then you get 6 additional months of
:support. So you get to be invited to the parent support group.
:That meets on the 1st Monday evening of the month. Amazing
:offer. Amazing class. I'd love to have you in there so you
:can sign up at my website, which is calmmammacoching.com,
:and the mama is spelled m a m a. So come,
:mamacoaching.com. You go to programs. You see the courses,
:and then you can sign up for the course. Classes are always available.
:Really encourage you to participate to join my classes, get
:into the call mama world, get my support so that you
:can stop freaking out. And stop losing your shit with your
:kids. So this week, work on your positive parenting
:vision, really anchoring into best case scenario.
:Shoot 10 years out, imagining the future, and
:just know that your brain also is
:not It's not rigid. Right? We all have neuroplasticity so you
:can grow just like you learned on this podcast episode today. You learn some new
:things. So the brain is always growing, always learning, always
:developing, which is amazing, and what a gift. So I hope you
:have a great week thinking about your best case
:scenario, and I hope to see you in one of the classes.
:Alright. Bye.