Get on Their Turf with Dr. Suzanne Simpson

How do you set firm phone boundaries with your teenager without triggering constant arguments, power struggles, or damaging your relationship? If your teen is always glued to their screen, refuses to put it down, or gets defensive when you enforce screen time limits, this conversation is for you. [1]

In this episode of Get On Their Turf, Dr. Suzanne Simpson sits down with Kathy Van B, a retired educator with 30 years of classroom experience and the co-founder of Converlation and Digital Prep Academy. [1]

Together, they pull back the curtain on how smartphones, persistent notifications, social media algorithms, and endless scrolling reshape your teen's daily habits. You'll learn exactly why parents feel so powerless against today's technology, how to establish healthier household boundaries without relying strictly on parental control apps, and how to stay close to your child through it all. [1]

What you'll learn in this episode:

• The psychology behind smartphone notifications and the intense pressure on teens to respond instantly.
• How infinite scrolling design keeps teenagers trapped in endless loops.
• When parents should realistically introduce smartphones and social media accounts.
• How to build digital boundaries that teach self-regulation rather than just restriction.
• Strategic steps to take when a teenager strongly resists your tech boundaries.
• 3 practical, non-negotiable household phone rules you can implement tonight.
• What teenagers actually wish their parents understood about their online lives. [1]

Chapter Markers / Timestamps:

• 00:00 - How to Manage Your Teenager's Phone
• 04:34 - Why Parents Need to Take Technology Seriously
• 07:35 - What Smartphones and Social Media Do to Our Habits
• 11:25 - Infinite Scrolling and Why It's Difficult to Stop
• 12:34 - When Should Teens Get Their First Phone?
• 15:40 - Why Teens Need Technology Education
• 17:10 - The Risks of Smartphone Access
• 20:06 - Where Parents Can Start Taking Back Control
• 22:59 - Finding Other Parents With Similar Boundaries
• 24:16 - Why Explaining the Rules Matters
• 25:56 - When Your Teen Refuses to Give Up Their Phone
• 27:55 - What Parents Can Control
• 30:04 - Rebuilding Connection Without the Phone
• 30:49 - A Better Way to Ask About Your Teen's Day
• 32:34 - 3 Non-Negotiable Phone Rules
• 35:11 - What Teenagers Wish Parents Understood
• 37:28 - Explaining Phone Boundaries With Love [1]

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• Connect with Kathy Van B: Converlation | Digital Prep Academy

Find my podcast playlists on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf

Guest Interviews: 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi7xFsX7h7tflz6UKyqfa4AVPf5l9zwve

Just Me: https://www.youtube.com/playlistlist=PLi7xFsX7h7tf_CsX5hZUEBTPkz967Sy2n

New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.

👉 Get the free guide "8 Ways to Get on Your Kids' Turf" at https://www.drsuzannesimpson.com/#reconnect

Connect with me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsuzannesimpson/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsuzannesimpson/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drsuzannesimpson 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566148964209

Please note that the contents of this website are not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. My scope of practice is as an educator, and this work is intended to provide information for educational purposes only. Testimonials of lived experiences are opinion only and have not been scientifically evaluated.

Learn the 3-part email that helps your teenager ask a teacher for help, plus 4 steps to build their confidence to speak up.

Your teenager is struggling at school but won’t ask the teacher for help. Maybe they assume the teacher already knows, or doesn’t care. Neither is usually true.

In this Just Me Classic (Episode 62), Dr. Suzanne Simpson draws on 30 years as an educator, including teaching on a psychiatric unit, to share the five things she told her students about how teachers really think. Then she walks parents through four ways to teach self-advocacy, moving from writing an email together to your teen speaking up on their own. She closes by walking through that email, part by part, the way she used it with students for years.

For parents of teens with anxiety, learning challenges, or hidden struggles at school.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
 0:00 – Why Self-Advocacy Matters for Teens in School
 1:21 – 5 Things Teachers Wish Students Knew
 4:15 – 4 Ways Parents Can Teach Self-Advocacy
 8:12 – The 3-Part Email Template to Send a Teacher

Find my podcast playlists on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf

Guest Interviews: 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi7xFsX7h7tflz6UKyqfa4AVPf5l9zwve

Just Me: https://www.youtube.com/playlistlist=PLi7xFsX7h7tf_CsX5hZUEBTPkz967Sy2n

New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.

👉 Get the free guide "8 Ways to Get on Your Kids' Turf" at https://www.drsuzannesimpson.com/#reconnect

Connect with me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsuzannesimpson/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsuzannesimpson/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drsuzannesimpson 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566148964209

Please note that the contents of this website are not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. My scope of practice is as an educator, and this work is intended to provide information for educational purposes only. Testimonials of lived experiences are opinion only and have not been scientifically evaluated.

Teen mental health support for parents starts with a hard truth: a child's well-being begins at home. So why is saying that out loud so controversial?

In this episode of Get On Their Turf, Dr. Suzanne Simpson sits down with Nicole Runyon, former child psychotherapist, parent coach, keynote speaker, and author of Free to Fly: The Secret to Fostering Independence in the Next Generation. After 20 years of treating kids with severe mental health symptoms and no known trauma behind them, Nicole stopped seeing children for therapy and started coaching their parents instead.

Their conversation started as a public disagreement on LinkedIn about social-emotional learning in schools. Suzanne brings her perspective from years of teaching on a youth psychiatric unit, and together they dig into parenting responsibility, the "blame game," and why permissive parenting is not working.

In this episode:
- Why Nicole calls today's kids "the canaries in the coal mine" of a modern comfort crisis
- Should social-emotional learning belong to schools or to parents?
- The contagion effect of talking more openly about mental health
- Why kids see right through participation trophies
- How missed developmental milestones can end up looking like a mental health disorder
- "The wound isn't your fault, but it is your responsibility": ending the cycle of generational trauma
- The number one thing parents must do to build authentic connection with their kids

Chapters:
00:00 The Mental Health Parenting Crisis
01:30 Meet Psychotherapist Nicole Runyon
01:48 Why Nicole Left Traditional Therapy After 20 Years
04:26 The Problem With Social-Emotional Learning in Schools
08:10 The Contagion Effect of Destigmatizing Mental Health
15:09 The Blame Game and Political Correctness
17:22 Millennials, Technology, and Participation Trophies
26:49 Generational Trauma: Not Your Fault, But Your Responsibility
32:03 The #1 Way to Authentically Connect With Your Teen

Find my podcast playlists on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf

Guest Interviews: 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi7xFsX7h7tflz6UKyqfa4AVPf5l9zwve

Just Me: https://www.youtube.com/playlistlist=PLi7xFsX7h7tf_CsX5hZUEBTPkz967Sy2n

New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.

👉 Get the free guide "8 Ways to Get on Your Kids' Turf" at https://www.drsuzannesimpson.com/#reconnect

Connect with me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsuzannesimpson/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsuzannesimpson/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drsuzannesimpson 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566148964209

Please note that the contents of this website are not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. My scope of practice is as an educator, and this work is intended to provide information for educational purposes only. Testimonials of lived experiences are opinion only and have not been scientifically evaluated.

Is It ADHD, Autism, Anxiety, or Trauma? 2 Questions to Ask Before a Diagnosis

Your teenager is struggling, and someone says it might be ADHD, autism, anxiety, or trauma. From the outside, they can look almost the same.

In Episode 76, I share what I saw in five and a half years on a psychiatric unit: three realities about how mental health assessments actually work, the one piece of evidence that is almost never requested, and the two questions every parent needs to ask before a diagnosis is made.

This isn't about avoiding a diagnosis. It's about making sure it reflects your child's whole story.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:
 0:00 – Is It ADHD, Autism, Anxiety, or Trauma?
 1:23 – When a Teenager's Symptoms Appear Suddenly
 1:54 – Why ADHD, Autism, Anxiety, and Trauma Look Alike
 3:41 – Why No Blood Test or Brain Scan Can Confirm It
 4:32 – Long Wait Times and Rushed Assessments
 5:20 – The Early School Records Almost No One Requests
 6:17 – 3 Things to Do Before Your Child's Assessment
 7:18 – 2 Questions to Ask Before a Diagnosis

Find my podcast playlists on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf

Guest Interviews: 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi7xFsX7h7tflz6UKyqfa4AVPf5l9zwve

Just Me: https://www.youtube.com/playlistlist=PLi7xFsX7h7tf_CsX5hZUEBTPkz967Sy2n

New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.

👉 Get the free guide "8 Ways to Get on Your Kids' Turf" at https://www.drsuzannesimpson.com/#reconnect

Connect with me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsuzannesimpson/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsuzannesimpson/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drsuzannesimpson 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566148964209

Please note that the contents of this website are not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. My scope of practice is as an educator, and this work is intended to provide information for educational purposes only. Testimonials of lived experiences are opinion only and have not been scientifically evaluated.

Dr. Suzanne Simpson sits down with divorce recovery coach Leah Marie to break down how to protect your teenager's mental health during a divorce, the top three rules for dealing with a toxic co-parent, and why silencing your own inner critic is the first step to rebuilding connection with your kids.

Divorce is consistently ranked as one of the hardest things a human being can experience, second only to the death of a loved one - and if you're a parent trying to navigate it, you were never meant to figure it out alone. In episode 75 of Get On Their Turf, Leah Marie, a certified divorce recovery coach and founder of Mindfully Ready, joins Suzanne to talk about protecting your teenager through a divorce and rebuilding connection on the other side. They cover why keeping communication in writing is your best defence against a high-conflict co-parent, the real reason teens melt down after coming home from the other house, what to say when an ex is telling your kids lies about you, and why putting your own oxygen mask on first is the first step toward showing up for your teenager.

00:00 - Meet Leah Marie
01:09 - Leah's personal story and wake-up call
02:58 - The hardest parts of divorce recovery
06:16 - Rule #1 for dealing with a toxic co-parent
07:39 - Rule #2: focus on what you can control
08:56 - Rule #3: your life outside the divorce
10:09 - Top 3 challenges kids face during a divorce
11:33 - How to handle your teenager's anger
14:02 - Why teens melt down on transition days
16:00 - The best way to reconnect after a visit
18:20 - What to do when your ex lies about you
22:45 - The truth about "doing it all" as a single parent
25:36 - How to silence your inner critic
27:44 - A simple way to connect with your teen today
30:01 - How healing yourself changes your child
33:02 - One final piece of advice
34:16 - Connect with Leah Marie

Find my podcast playlists on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf

Guest Interviews: 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi7xFsX7h7tflz6UKyqfa4AVPf5l9zwve

Just Me: https://www.youtube.com/playlistlist=PLi7xFsX7h7tf_CsX5hZUEBTPkz967Sy2n

New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.

👉 Get the free guide "8 Ways to Get on Your Kids' Turf" at https://www.drsuzannesimpson.com/#reconnect

Connect with me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsuzannesimpson/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsuzannesimpson/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drsuzannesimpson 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566148964209

Please note that the contents of this website are not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. My scope of practice is as an educator, and this work is intended to provide information for educational purposes only. Testimonials of lived experiences are opinion only and have not been scientifically evaluated.

How to connect with your teenage child starts with three things teenagers told me they need: support, understanding, and care. This classic episode breaks down what that actually looks like, drawn from a year of research with 25 kids in a youth psychiatric unit.

What's covered:
 0:00 – Why Teenagers Lash Out
 1:22 – What It Means to Support Your Child
 2:12 – How to Understand Without Judgement
 4:57 – Engaging and Caring for Your Teen
 5:34 – How to Create a Connection with Your Teen
 7:29 – How Attachment Influences Teen Behaviour
 8:11 – Steps to Connect More Today

Find my podcast playlists on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf

Guest Interviews: 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi7xFsX7h7tflz6UKyqfa4AVPf5l9zwve

Just Me: https://www.youtube.com/playlistlist=PLi7xFsX7h7tf_CsX5hZUEBTPkz967Sy2n

New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.

👉 Get the free guide "8 Ways to Get on Your Kids' Turf" at https://www.drsuzannesimpson.com/#reconnect

Connect with me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsuzannesimpson/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsuzannesimpson/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drsuzannesimpson 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566148964209

Please note that the contents of this website are not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. My scope of practice is as an educator, and this work is intended to provide information for educational purposes only. Testimonials of lived experiences are opinion only and have not been scientifically evaluated.

Why mental health labels can spread through a group like a contagion, and what actually protects your teenager instead of another diagnosis.

Is your teenager suddenly using words like anxious, ADHD, or depressed to describe how they feel, not because a doctor said so, but because everyone around them is saying it too? 

In this classic episode, I sit down with therapist Matt Hussey to talk about something most parents have never considered: mental health struggles can spread through a group the same way a cold does. 

We look at why more awareness hasn't lowered how much teens are struggling, how a label can help a teenager feel understood and still spread the same way, and what actually slows it down, which is connection, not another diagnosis.

0:00 The mental health contagion dilemma
2:16 Why more awareness isn't helping your teen
4:40 When normal teen behaviour gets labelled a disorder, and the birth month study that changed how I see ADHD
6:31 Why a diagnosis might not mean what you think
14:56 The true meaning of destigmatization
21:43 Can mental illness spread like a virus
26:28 Why your teen might use a label to get attention online
30:08 The one question to ask instead of accepting the label
32:22 Connection: the antidote to the algorithm

Find my podcast playlists on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf

Guest Interviews: 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi7xFsX7h7tflz6UKyqfa4AVPf5l9zwve

Just Me: https://www.youtube.com/playlistlist=PLi7xFsX7h7tf_CsX5hZUEBTPkz967Sy2n

New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.

👉 Get the free guide "8 Ways to Get on Your Kids' Turf" at https://www.drsuzannesimpson.com/#reconnect

Connect with me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsuzannesimpson/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsuzannesimpson/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drsuzannesimpson 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566148964209

Please note that the contents of this website are not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. My scope of practice is as an educator, and this work is intended to provide information for educational purposes only. Testimonials of lived experiences are opinion only and have not been scientifically evaluated.

Discover why asking a single question works significantly better than lecturing when your teenager pushes back, and learn how to stop the cycle of yelling. 

Every parent has been in that moment: your teenager shuts down, pushes back, or says something that hits you like a wall. Every instinct tells you to react. In this episode, Dr. Suzanne Simpson breaks down why asking a question works significantly better than lecturing, correcting, or explaining. 

What You Will Learn:

• 0:00 - Why Yelling at Your Teenager Doesn't Work 

• 0:46 - The Story Behind a Teenager's Pushback 

• 2:00 - 4 Reasons Asking Works Better Than Reacting 

• 4:52 - 3 Questions That Get a Teenager Talking 

• 6:25 - Say This to Your Teenager Instead Tonight 

Find my podcast playlists on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf

Guest Interviews: 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi7xFsX7h7tflz6UKyqfa4AVPf5l9zwve

Just Me: https://www.youtube.com/playlistlist=PLi7xFsX7h7tf_CsX5hZUEBTPkz967Sy2n

New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.

👉 Get the free guide "8 Ways to Get on Your Kids' Turf" at https://www.drsuzannesimpson.com/#reconnect

Connect with me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsuzannesimpson/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsuzannesimpson/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drsuzannesimpson 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566148964209

Please note that the contents of this website are not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. My scope of practice is as an educator, and this work is intended to provide information for educational purposes only. Testimonials of lived experiences are opinion only and have not been scientifically evaluated.

If you're an exhausted working parent, this one's for you. Erika Rothenberger joins me to talk about why "work-life balance" is the wrong goal, and why integration works better. We get into a simple daily ritual that builds connection in minutes, how to talk to your kids about your own failures without oversharing, and how surviving a violent attack in 2022 changed the way she parents.

In this episode:

0:35 Why balance is a myth for busy parents

7:00 The question that gets kids talking in the car

16:14 How trauma shapes the way we show up as parents

31:10 The one thing Erika puts first, even before her kids

Erika Rothenberger is a keynote speaker and author of Audacious Expansion. As a working mom who survived a violent attack, she shares how she turned trauma into purpose.

Connect with Erika:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikarothenberger/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erikalearothenberger/

Audacious Women's Summit: https://www.erikarothenberger.com/audacious-womens-summit/

👉 Share this with a parent who needs to hear it.

Free guide: drsuzannesimpson.com

Find my podcast playlists on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf

Guest Interviews: 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi7xFsX7h7tflz6UKyqfa4AVPf5l9zwve

Just Me: https://www.youtube.com/playlistlist=PLi7xFsX7h7tf_CsX5hZUEBTPkz967Sy2n

New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.

👉 Get the free guide "8 Ways to Get on Your Kids' Turf" at https://www.drsuzannesimpson.com/#reconnect

Connect with me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsuzannesimpson/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsuzannesimpson/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drsuzannesimpson 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566148964209

Please note that the contents of this website are not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. My scope of practice is as an educator, and this work is intended to provide information for educational purposes only. Testimonials of lived experiences are opinion only and have not been scientifically evaluated.

If your teenager has completely shut you out, reconnecting starts with getting on their turf, not with another lecture.

I'm Dr. Suzanne Simpson, and after thirty years working with teenagers, including five and a half years inside a youth psychiatric unit, here is what I know for certain: you cannot influence a child you do not connect with.

In this episode, I break down how to reconnect with your teenager, starting with what most parents get wrong first, what taking initiative actually looks like, and why listening well matters more than having the right words.

I spent a year asking twenty-five teenagers in a psychiatric unit what they needed most. It came down to this: they want to be pursued, not fixed.

0:00 When your teenager shuts you out 

0:47 What do they want to do 

1:09 Where do they want to be 

1:50 How are they feeling 

2:31 The core parenting shift 

2:59 What this is not 

3:50 What 25 teenagers in a psychiatric unit taught me 

4:48 Making time, even when it is hard 

5:48 3 ways parents stop listening 

7:24 Practical ways to show up 

8:12 What happens when you get on their turf 

10:11 You do not have to be perfect

Find my podcast playlists on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf

Guest Interviews: 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi7xFsX7h7tflz6UKyqfa4AVPf5l9zwve

Just Me: https://www.youtube.com/playlistlist=PLi7xFsX7h7tf_CsX5hZUEBTPkz967Sy2n

New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.

👉 Get the free guide "8 Ways to Get on Your Kids' Turf" at https://www.drsuzannesimpson.com/#reconnect

Connect with me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsuzannesimpson/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsuzannesimpson/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drsuzannesimpson 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566148964209

Please note that the contents of this website are not a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. My scope of practice is as an educator, and this work is intended to provide information for educational purposes only. Testimonials of lived experiences are opinion only and have not been scientifically evaluated.