Talking To Teens: Expert Tips for Parenting Teenagers
Kids & Family
Sometimes teens behave in ways that seem truly inexplicable. One day they'd rather die than miss a trip to the mall with their friends...and the next they can’t stand a single one of those same friends! They want to join the lacrosse team but won’t go to a single practice, date someone new every week, and change their future career three times in one day. It seems like they’re being motivated by something behind the scenes…something that even they don’t understand!
In reality, teens are acting under the influence of all sorts of brain chemicals that developed as a result of evolution. Beyond just the reproductive hormones like testosterone and estrogen that we often associate with adolescence, kids are motivated by their internal reward system, including chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins. These chemicals cause teens to form habits and reward-seeking patterns that not only shape their teenage lives, but potentially their adult lives too!
To understand how these chemical forces work in the teenage brain, we’re talking to Loretta Breuning, author of Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels. Loretta is the founder of the Inner Mammal Institute, which provides resources for people to understand their pleasure-seeking brain chemicals and cultivate a happier life!
In our interview, Loretta explains how oxytocin, dopamine, serotonin and endorphins work, how these chemicals change teens’ behavior, and what happens when teens don’t get enough of them.
Ep 155: Growing Apart in Middle School
Ep 154: What to Say to Motivate Your Teen
Ep 153: Initiate Change In Your Teen (Using DBT)
Ep 152: Alcohol, Drugs, and Prevention
Ep 151: Is Your Teen’s Attachment Style Causing Problems?
Ep 150: Healthy Habits for Teens
Ep 149: Does Your Teen Look Good On Paper?
Ep 148: The Biggest Financial Decision of Their Lives
Ep 147: Dedicated, Purposeful Teens
Ep 146: How AI Impacts Our Teens
Ep 145: How To Raise A Better Learner
Ep 144: Add More To Life With Subtraction
Ep 143: The Do’s and Don’ts of College Applications
Ep 142: Good Troublemakers
Ep 141: Getting Comfortable with Anxiety
Ep 140: Helping Teens Thrive
Ep 139: Lessons on Living Justly from Malcolm X
Ep 138: Decoding Boys
Ep 137: A Different Way to Talk About Puberty
Ep 136: Teens Versus Automation
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