What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover?

How we parents manage technology in our homes, and what we put in the hands of our kids, has turned into one of the most hotly debated topics amongst parents and experts.

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Lucy Foulkes, Oxford academic psychologist and author, about social media’s role in adolescent mental health, challenging the narrative popularized by Jonathan Haidt and exploring why phones and social platforms aren’t the universal villains they’re often made out to be.

Dr Foulkes has a fascinating take on mental health and whether our well-intentioned conversations around the subject, especially in schools and on social media, might have gone too far; creating confusion or even anxiety for parents and young people.

If you want a nuanced, evidence-based discussion that will help you support your teen with more confidence and less fear you've found it.

Dr. Lucy Foulkes: Books

• What Mental Illness Really Is (…and what it isn’t)
• Coming Of Age: How Adolescence Shapes Us,

Website: https://www.lucyfoulkes.com/

Book recommended: The End of Trauma by George Bonanno

• It’s important not to pathologize normal adolescent struggles. Not all teenagers have mental health problems. Most are resilient and functioning well.
• All distress should be taken seriously, not just clinical disorders.
• Increased mental health awareness only helps if there is proper back-up and support for those who really need it.
• Mental health terms are often misunderstood. Words like “OCD” are often used casually, diluting their meaning and making it harder for those with real disorders to be understood and supported.
• The narrative that phones and social media are causing a mental health crisis is oversimplified and often exaggerated (as in Jonathan Haidt’s work).
• Parental engagement and open conversations matter. The best approach is to guide teens in managing technology, set consistent family rules, and model healthy behavior, rather than banning devices or demonizing their use.
• Both online and offline experi

OtoZen — a new driving safety app
Are you worried about your teenager getting distracted behind the wheel?

The OtoZen app helps in real time — not just after something’s gone wrong. It has voice alerts, drive scores, and even safe driving challenges you can set together, it’s the kind of tech that actually helps your teen build better habits.

OtoZen — a new driving safety app
OtoZen helps build better habits in real time with voice alerts, drive scores, and safey challenges.

Support the show

This episode is sponsored by OtoZen: The brilliant new driving safety app

https://www.otozen.com

Please hit the follow button if you like the podcast, and share it with anyone who might benefit. You can review us on Apple podcasts by going to the show page, scrolling down to the bottom where you can click on a star then you can leave your message.

I don't have medical training so please seek the advice of a specialist if you're not coping.

My email is teenagersuntangled@gmail.com
And my website has a blog, searchable episodes, and ways to contact me:
www.teenagersuntangled.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teenagersuntangled/
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/teenagersuntangled/

You can reach Susie at www.amindful-life.co.uk

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover?

Do you ever worry about losing touch with your kids as they grow up?

In this episode of Teenagers Untangled I'm joined by Catherine Hickem, a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and founder of Parenting Adult Children Today to explore the growing issue of family estrangement.

Catherine is leading a conversation around one of the most overlooked family dynamics: the relationship between parents and their adult children. Despite how common this phase of life is, few resources exist to help parents navigate the transition from authority figure to trusted ally.

*Research shows that about one in four American adults—27%—report estrangement from a family member. Notably, 26% of adult children have experienced estrangement from a father, compared to only 6% from a mother—and many of these rifts eventually heal.

We discuss why adult children might cut ties with parents, and what we can do now—while our kids are tweens or teens—to build a strong, lasting relationship.

We cover:

• The most common reasons adult children become estranged from their parents
• The key mistakes parents make (and how to avoid them)
• How to adapt your parenting style as your children grow into adulthood
• The impact of parental expectations, grief, and cultural pressures on family bonds
• Practical strategies for fostering trust, open communication, and unconditional love
• Real-life stories of reconciliation and hope

Catherine Hickem brings decades of experience working with thousands of families, offering actionable advice and heartfelt encouragement.

CATHERINE HICKEM:

https://www.parentingadultchildrentoday.com/

https://www.instagram.com/parentingadultchildrentoday/

Research sources:

A longitudinal U.S. study (Reczek et al.), Cornell's Fault Lines project, and the YouGov poll conducted in 2022.

OtoZen — a new driving safety app
Are you worried about your teenager getting distracted behind the wheel?

The OtoZen app helps in real time — not just after something’s gone wrong. It has voice alerts, drive scores, and even safe driving challenges you can set together, it’s the kind of tech that actually helps your teen build better habits.

OtoZen — a new driving safety app
OtoZen helps build better habits in real time with voice alerts, drive scores, and safey challenges.

Support the show

This episode is sponsored by OtoZen: The brilliant new driving safety app

https://www.otozen.com

Please hit the follow button if you like the podcast, and share it with anyone who might benefit. You can review us on Apple podcasts by going to the show page, scrolling down to the bottom where you can click on a star then you can leave your message.

I don't have medical training so please seek the advice of a specialist if you're not coping.

My email is teenagersuntangled@gmail.com
And my website has a blog, searchable episodes, and ways to contact me:
www.teenagersuntangled.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teenagersuntangled/
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/teenagersuntangled/

You can reach Susie at www.amindful-life.co.uk

What do you think of this episode? Do you have any topics you'd like me to cover?

The latest narrative around online safety, phones and devices, is pushing for bans to keep our kids safer and happier. The idea is to give them back their childhood and prevent them from accessing harmful content.

Catherine Knibbs, a child psychotherapist and cyber trauma expert argues in her latest book that social media bans won't work because we can't even properly define what it is we want to ban, and when we do ban devices we actually leave our kids vulnerable.

The thinking is that when we tell our child they can't, we miss out on the opportunity to guide them through what Catherine Knibbs describes as the 'digital city park.'

In Tech Smart Parenting, Catherine gives an alternative to the panic and prohibition many parents feel about technology. Instead, she talks about the stages of allowing our kids access to that park, and how a staged approach that is managed by us parents, will offer the safest route.

There are four core risks she's identified that our kids face and that need to be discusssed.

1. Content - what people can access
2. Contact - who they can be put in contact with
3. Consumerism - selling to young and vulnerable minds
4. Conduct - the way they behave in a digital environment

In this interview she explains how we can have open, non-judgmental conversations about technology, gives us strategies for setting boundaries without creating shame, supporting neurodivergent children in digital environments and the importance of sitting side by side with our children and learning with them.

The acronym she uses to remind us of our role in this journey is CPR:

We need to be

• Consistent in our rules
• Persistent in their application
• Resistent to the begging of our kids

Personally, I worry that many parents don't have much of an idea of what their kids are being exposed to online and that there needs to be a strong culture of support and education around what their kids might see. I'd be a fan of a 'driving licence' approach, which is why I've created this checklist of things to c

OtoZen — a new driving safety app
Are you worried about your teenager getting distracted behind the wheel?

The OtoZen app helps in real time — not just after something’s gone wrong. It has voice alerts, drive scores, and even safe driving challenges you can set together, it’s the kind of tech that actually helps your teen build better habits.

OtoZen — a new driving safety app
OtoZen helps build better habits in real time with voice alerts, drive scores, and safey challenges.

Support the show

This episode is sponsored by OtoZen: The brilliant new driving safety app

https://www.otozen.com

Please hit the follow button if you like the podcast, and share it with anyone who might benefit. You can review us on Apple podcasts by going to the show page, scrolling down to the bottom where you can click on a star then you can leave your message.

I don't have medical training so please seek the advice of a specialist if you're not coping.

My email is teenagersuntangled@gmail.com
And my website has a blog, searchable episodes, and ways to contact me:
www.teenagersuntangled.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teenagersuntangled/
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/teenagersuntangled/

You can reach Susie at www.amindful-life.co.uk