What Fresh Hell: Parenting, Relationships, and Making Life Better, with Two Funny Moms

When a teen says she's having panic attacks, or believes she has OCD, parents tend to react by either minimizing and dismissal, or by having their own panic attacks. Adolescent psychiatrist Suzanne Garfinkle-Crowell, author of book GIRLHOOD TRANSLATED, believes there is a more nuanced way to understand the growing role of "therapy speak" and self-diagnosis in teenagers' lives (particularly girls)

In this interview, Dr. Garfinkle-Crowell explains:

How greater mental health awareness has meant destigmatization but also some casual over-identification

Why adolescents are particularly vulnerable the influence of mental health content they see on TikTok or Instagram

How a self-diagnosis can function both as validation of a teen's feelings and a way to protect themselves from having to discuss those feelings further (the label as the be-all and end-all)

How to "translate" the therapy speak your teenager might be using in order to have more productive conversations about their mental health

Here's where you can find Dr. Garfinkle-Crowell and her work:

www.suzannegarfinklecrowellmd.com

Buy GIRLHOOD TRANSLATED: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9798217085736

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It can feel like we're always performing in our daily lives—playing the role of the calm parent, the careful listener, the super-healthy jogger. We have a sense of being watched, and maybe judged as well, and we alter what we're doing in awareness of that imaginary audience.

But who's actually watching? And how would we do things differently if we stopped caring whether anyone noticed our behavior and had any thoughts about it whatsoever?

In this episode we explore the pressure to perform the many roles women are expected to play, and why motherhood can make that pressure especially intense.

We discuss:

How social expectations shape our behavior

The pressure we feel to appear patient, organized, and completely in control

Why parenting with an audience can make everyday situations even more stressful

Why our kids benefit from seeing us model imperfection, vulnerability, and repair

Why asking for help and saying 'no' can be acts of authenticity

Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:

Our episode "Parenting with an Audience"

Alicia P Melis for the New York Academy of Sciences. The evolutionary roots of human collaboration: coordination and sharing of resources

Loes Meeussen and Colette Van Laar for Frontiers in Psychology Journal. Feeling Pressure to Be a Perfect Mother Relates to Parental Burnout and Career Ambitions.

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: Lying and Children

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Deep Dive series revisits some of our past episodes about how to have tough conversations with our kids.

How do we talk to our kids about all the complicated topics our world presents them with? Dr. Robyn Silverman, child and teen development specialist, is the author of the bestselling book ⁠How to Talk to Kids About Anything⁠ and host of the podcast ⁠How to Talk to Kids About Anything⁠, gives us scripts for having hard conversations with our kids.

In this interview Dr. Silverman, Amy, and Margaret discuss:

The downside to parents not talking to kids about hard things

The biggest mistakes parents make when talking to kids

Why tough conversations are worthwhile for reasons that go far beyond what might be discussed

Here's where you can find Dr. Silverman:

⁠DrRobynSilverman.com ⁠

@DrRobynSilverman on socials

Buy HOW TO TALK TO KIDS ABOUT ANYTHING: ⁠https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9781728246987⁠

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Most days, Ellen Skrmetti's house is a little cattywampus—something, somewhere, is going to be a tad askew. And these days, what's most likely to be cattywampus might be her hair— or her hormones.

In this hilarious interview, Ellen tells us about her new memoir CATTYWAMPUS, and how her comedy, her family, and her intergenerational friendships keep her sane through all of life's ups and downs.

Amy and Ellen discuss:

some very Southern and ladylike ways to say "no"

whether one can have a "little bit of cancer"

why it's worth the work to have female friends in all stages of life

why we can't wait until it's "convenient" to pursue our dreams

Here's where you can find Ellen:

https://ellenskrmetti.com

Buy CATTYWAMPUS: https://bookshop.org/a/12099/9781546011248

@ellen.skrmetti on FB

@justskrmetti on IG and TikTok

@ellenskrmetti on YouTube

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When family routines fall apart, it can feel overwhelming to attempt a reset. But getting things "back to one" is possible. In this episode, we answer a listener’s question about how to get routines and household expectations back to normal after a chaotic stretch.

We discuss:

Why family systems can break down gradually or all at once

The questions to ask yourself before actually trying to fix anything

How clear expectations when things are calm can make it easier to know what you're returning to

How to respond to the pushback you will probably encounter

Here are links to some of the resources mentioned in the episode:

Sege, R. D., and Siegel, B. S. for Pediatrics: Effective Discipline to Raise Healthy Children

CDC's Essential Tips for Parenting Toddlers and Preschoolers:
Tips for Relying on Routines and Rules

CDC's Essential Tips for Parenting Toddlers and Preschoolers:
Tips for Responding to Behavior

Harvard University Center on the Developing Child: A Guide to Executive Function

Amy Sutherland for the NYT: What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage

Our episode Creating Systems That Work

Our episode How to Make the Back-to-School Transition a Little Easier

Our episode When Kids Hate Transitions

What Fresh Hell is co-hosted by Amy Wilson and Margaret Ables.

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website:

⁠⁠https://www.whatfreshhellpodcast.com/p/promo-codes/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices