Parenting Post-Wilderness: Parenting a Struggling Teen Before, During and After Treatment

What do former addicts wish their parents had done differently? Josh and Heide Case are joining us today to explore that question.

Both Heidi and Josh began using as teens and spent decades navigating addiction before finding lasting recovery. Their stories are raw, real, and filled with moments every parent of a struggling teen can learn from. Now, through their platform and podcast Sober.Buzz, they’re using those experiences to help families better understand what’s really happening beneath the surface of teen drug addiction and how parents can approach their kids with compassion instead of fear or control.

They open up about what they wish their parents had known back then: the pain they were carrying, the early warning signs that went unnoticed, and how certain well-meaning but reactive responses only made them retreat further into secrecy and shame.

Through their vulnerability, Josh and Heidi show us that what kids need most in those dark moments isn’t discipline or distance. It’s connection, curiosity, and love that says, “I see you, and I’m not giving up on you.”

In this episode on teen drug addiction, we discuss:

• What former addicts Josh and Heidi wish their parents had done differently;
• How shame and secrecy keep families stuck in silence;
• Whether it’s okay to snoop in your kid’s stuff when you suspect drug abuse;
• Why addiction is often rooted in unresolved trauma and pain;
• The signs parents often overlook and what to do when you see them;
• How to approach a struggling teen with curiosity and compassion;
• The power of community and hope through their Sober.Buzz movement;
• And more.

Looking for support?

🗺️Need help setting healthy boundaries with your teen AND following through? My free guide will help you do so by creating your own Parent Home Plan!

🤍Influence lasting change in yourself and your struggling teen with my private coaching or parent group program specifically created for parents of struggling teens.

Have a question or need support? You can email me at [email protected]

You can support the show by:

Leaving a review

Subscribing to the show

And remember parents, the change begins with us.

You’ve probably found yourself reacting before you even realize what’s happening countless times. I certainly have. Those fast, heated moments, when your blood boils, your breath shortens, and everything speeds up, can feel impossible to stop. And before you know it, you’re in a reactive back-and-forth with your teen or young adult kid. But what if things could go differently?

In this episode, Seth and I talk about one of my favorite parenting tools of all time: learning how to pause before reacting to your teen. We explore what that pause actually looks like, why it’s so hard to find in the moment, and how creating just a few seconds of space can completely shift the dynamic between you and your child.

You’ll hear us unpack real-life examples, the physical signs that you’re getting pulled into a pattern, and the ways you can practice slowing things down, even when emotions run high.

In this episode on how to pause before reacting to your teen, we discuss:

• The physical and emotional cues that signal you’re getting reactive;
• How to recognize your triggers and slow the momentum;
• Simple tools to create a “pause” in the heat of the moment;
• What to say (and what not to say) when things get tense between you and your teen;
• How a famous Viktor Frankl quote guides my parenting every day, and could do the same for you;
• And more!

Looking for support?

🗺️Need help setting healthy boundaries with your teen AND following through? My free guide will help you do so by creating your own Parent Home Plan!

🤍Influence lasting change in yourself and your struggling teen with my private coaching or parent group program specifically created for parents of struggling teens.

Have a question or need support? You can email me at [email protected]

You can support the show by:

Leaving a review

Subscribing to the show

And remember parents, the change begins with us.

When your teen starts doing better (going to school, staying sober, following through), it’s natural to breathe a sigh of relief. It’s also natural for your teen or young adult to plead their case and ask you to loosen the boundary. But that’s the trap many parents fall into: they loosen the boundaries that helped create that progress in the first place.

Today, Seth and I unpack the psychology behind this “everything’s fine now” mindset and why it can quickly unravel the stability your family’s worked so hard to build. But that doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate your teen’s growth! We’ll share how you can do so without removing the structure that keeps them grounded.

You’ll learn practical ways to reward your teen’s progress while maintaining healthy consistency, plus ideas for meaningful connection that don’t depend on relaxed rules or shifting limits.

In this episode on keeping healthy boundaries with your teen when things go upward, we discuss:

• Why parents often pull back on structure when things start improving;
• How to reward progress without losing accountability;
• How steady boundaries and structure create a sense of safety and connection for your teen or young adult;
• Creative, connection-based rewards that don’t involve loosening boundaries;
• What it looks like to stay steady even when your teen pushes back.

Looking for support?

🗺️Need help setting healthy boundaries with your teen AND following through? My free guide will help you do so by creating your own Parent Home Plan!

🤍Influence lasting change in yourself and your struggling teen with my private coaching or parent group program specifically created for parents of struggling teens.

Have a question or need support? You can email me at [email protected]

You can support the show by:

Leaving a review

Subscribing to the show

And remember parents, the change begins with us.

You want to trust your teen again when they come back from treatment, but every setback and every little misstep can send your mind spiraling back to worst-case scenarios. 

Luckily, we’re joined again by Colin MacDonald from Not Therapy Coaching to explore what it really looks like to parent your teen after treatment, and how to make sure fear doesn’t take over. He shares powerful mindset shifts for parents and offers practical ways to focus on what’s actually happening, rather than catastrophizing every challenge.

I’m so grateful to pick Colin’s brain again on this topic, not only because he’s worked with countless struggling teens and their families, but also because he once was a struggling teen himself. Having spent time in both wilderness therapy and therapeutic boarding school, Colin brings rare insight and compassion to this conversation.

You’ll walk away with a fresh perspective on how to rebuild trust with your teen, hold realistic expectations, and keep the momentum of treatment going once they’re home.

“Treatment is actually the beginning of the journey” - Colin MacDonald

In this episode on parenting your teen after treatment, we discuss:

• How to stop your mind from spiraling when your teen slips up;
• Why rebuilding trust starts with believing in your child’s progress;
• What to do when your teen’s behavior triggers old fears;
• How to identify the core issue instead of turning it into a crisis;
• The role mentors and community play in lasting growth;
• Why “more treatment” isn’t always the answer;
• How parents can stay grounded and take care of themselves, too.

More about Colin MacDonald

Colin is a "former troubled teen" who spent his last two years of high school in wilderness and therapeutic boarding school. Based on his experience, he co-founded Not Therapy to provide peer-to-peer coaching for teens and young adults who feel like therapy hasn’t been the right fit or who are transitioning out of therapeutic programs back into the real world. As a young person who has been in his clients’ shoes, Colin’s approach is rooted in personal expertise.

Learn more about Not Therapy on their website or blog, or connect with them on LinkedIn.

Looking for support?

🗺️Need help setting healthy boundaries with your teen AND following through? My free guide will help you do so by creating your own Parent Home Plan!

🤍Influence lasting change in yourself and your struggling teen with my private coaching or parent group program specifically created for parents of struggling teens.

Have a question or need support? You can email me at [email protected]

You can support the show by:

Leaving a review

Subscribing to the show

And remember parents, the change begins with us.

Teen suicide is every parent’s worst nightmare. Andy Campbell lived through it when his 18-year-old son took his own life.

“I used to tell my son, ‘make any decision you want, but not the irreversible decision’, until he did.” - Andy Campbell

Andy shares his story with raw honesty, describing the years of living with his son’s suicidal thoughts, the heartbreaking day of his death, and the painful yet powerful lessons he has learned since.

As we talk, Andy shares about the illusion of control so many parents carry, the lifelong impact of grief, and the difficult but necessary process of forgiveness. His story offers hope and perspective for any parent who has felt powerless while watching their teen struggle.

This episode is tender, vulnerable, and deeply human. It’s about grief, yes, but also about resilience, healing, and the importance of speaking openly about teen suicide.

⚠️ This episode includes sensitive material about suicide. Please make sure anyone who listens is old enough and ready to hear it.

In this episode on teen suicide, we discuss:

• Andy’s personal story of losing his teenage son to suicide;
• The illusion of control parents often carry;
• How grief shapes relationships and perspective;
• The seductive nature of suicidal thoughts, and why hope matters;
• What parents need to hear when they feel powerless;
• And more.

Looking for support?

🗺️Need help setting healthy boundaries with your teen AND following through? My free guide will help you do so by creating your own Parent Home Plan!

🤍Influence lasting change in yourself and your struggling teen with my private coaching or parent group program specifically created for parents of struggling teens.

Have a question or need support? You can email me at [email protected]

You can support the show by:

Leaving a review

Subscribing to the show

And remember parents, the change begins with us.

Stories about wilderness range from life-saving transformations to devastating failures, and often, the loudest voices online lean toward fear and controversy.

That’s why I’m so excited to be joined by filmmakers Mark Strauss and Vince Dixon, co-directors of the upcoming documentary Forest for the Trees: The Truth About Wilderness Therapy. With lived experience of loss, addiction, and healing in their own families, Mark and Vince share why they felt compelled to create a film that tells the whole story: the good, the bad, and everything in between.

As a parent who’s walked this road myself, I can’t tell you what a relief it is to hear someone say, “Let’s look at the whole truth.” Because when you’re facing impossible choices for your child, what you need most is understanding, not judgment.

In this episode on the truth about wilderness therapy, we discuss:

• Vince’s journey from losing his sister to fentanyl poisoning to creating films that spark healing conversations;
• Why Mark and Vince believe wilderness therapy is misunderstood and often misrepresented;
• The importance of showing all sides of wilderness stories: positive, negative, and complicated;
• How parents’ desperation and deep love factor into the decision to seek treatment;
• Why this documentary is being made now, and how you can get involved in supporting it.

Resources mentioned in this episode

You can learn more about ‘Forst for the Trees’ on their website, Instagram or Facebook.

Learn more about 'Sometimes I Imagine Your Funeral' on their website, or Instagram.

Learn more about Mark’s film 'The Funeral Photographer' on their website.

Looking for support?

🗺️Need help setting healthy boundaries with your teen AND following through? My free guide will help you do so by creating your own Parent Home Plan!

🤍Influence lasting change in yourself and your struggling teen with my private coaching or parent group program specifically created for parents of struggling teens.

Have a question or need support? You can email me at [email protected]

You can support the show by:

Leaving a review

Subscribing to the show

And remember parents, the change begins with us.

When your teen is caught in the cycle of substance abuse, it can feel like you’re living in a nightmare you can’t wake up from. You find yourself wondering: Is this just normal teenage behavior? Or is something much bigger going on? I remember asking myself those same questions when my own son was struggling.

That’s why this conversation with Dawn McCord resonated so deeply for me. Dawn is a fellow mom who’s walked the exhausting, heartbreaking path of teen addiction. Her son Carson went from experimenting with marijuana, to overdosing on opioids, and eventually finding healing and recovery through wilderness therapy.

Dawn and I talk about what it’s really like to live through this as a parent, the endless cycle of treatment programs, the fear of overdoses, the strain it can put on your marriage, and the impossible-feeling boundaries you sometimes have to hold. What I love most is that Dawn’s story doesn’t end in despair. Today, Carson is sober, thriving, and building a meaningful life in recovery.

Currently, Dawn, along with her film partners, is producing a film called “Forest for the Trees: The Truth about Wilderness Therapy” which is an in-depth documentary that shares the stories of families who have been positively and negatively impacted by the often-misunderstood industry. The team is in the process of procuring funding so they can start filming late fall 2025-early 2026. Please follow along at www.wildernessdocumentary.com

In this episode on surviving teen addiction, you’ll hear:

• How to know if your teen’s behavior is “normal” experimentation or signs of substance abuse;
• Why the rehab cycle can feel so endless and how to keep going without losing hope;
• The boundaries Dawn had to hold with her son, even when it broke her heart;
• How wilderness therapy became a turning point for their family;
• What it looks like to survive this season as a parent, and even find healing along the way;
• And much more.

Looking for support?

🗺️Need help setting healthy boundaries with your teen AND following through? My free guide will help you do so by creating your own Parent Home Plan!

🤍Influence lasting change in yourself and your struggling teen with my private coaching or parent group program specifically created for parents of struggling teens.

Have a question or need support? You can email me at [email protected]

You can support the show by:

Leaving a review

Subscribing to the show

And remember parents, the change begins with us.

Misdiagnosis, trial-and-error medication, and treatment plans that miss the real issue are realities many families haave to face, even though the last thing you want is guesswork when it comes to your struggling teen’s or young adult’s care. That’s where psychological testing comes in.

In this conversation with Liz Griffith, owner of Psychological Solutions, we dive into why comprehensive psychological testing for teens is such a critical piece of the puzzle. Liz shares how accurate testing helps families, therapists, and treatment programs move forward in your kid’s treatment with clarity, saving precious time, money, and heartache.

We explore the differences between psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists, what a full evaluation actually looks like, and how the right diagnosis can dramatically change the treatment path. Liz also opens up about her own daughter’s journey with anxiety and OCD, offering parents a real-life example of why getting clear answers matters so much.

In this episode on psychological testing for teens, we discuss:

• Why misdiagnosis is so common in teen mental health;
• The crucial differences between ADHD, autism, anxiety, and OCD;
• How testing can uncover both challenges and strengths in your teen;
• Why a “checkbox diagnosis” isn’t enough for lasting progress;
• How comprehensive evaluations give therapists the tools they need to help effectively;
• And more!

You can learn more about Psychological Solutions at www.psychologicalsolutions.org, or reach out to them through [email protected] or call 801-528-5140

Looking for support?

🗺️Need help setting healthy boundaries with your teen AND following through? My free guide will help you do so by creating your own Parent Home Plan!

🤍Influence lasting change in yourself and your struggling teen with my private coaching or parent group program specifically created for parents of struggling teens.

Have a question or need support? You can email me at [email protected]

You can support the show by:

Leaving a review

Subscribing to the show

And remember parents, the change begins with us.

You want to protect your child and give them a better life than you had. But sometimes, those good intentions backfire, leaving our teens less capable, less confident, and more dependent than we ever wanted.

In this conversation with licensed clinical counselor and life coach Virginia Townsand, we explore how over-helping can unintentionally create learned helplessness, and what you can do instead to foster independence and resilience in your teen.

Virginia and I talk about the difference between “doing for,” “doing with,” and letting your child “do for themselves,” and how shifting into that middle ground can build confidence, life skills, and self-advocacy. You’ll walk away with practical tools you can start using today to stop rescuing and start empowering.

In this episode on helping your teen build independence, we discuss:

• Why intention and impact often don’t match when parenting teens;
• How over-helping can lead to learned helplessness;
• The role of discomfort in building resilience and confidence in teens and young adults;
• Practical strategies to move from “doing for” to “doing with”;
• The long-term benefits of letting your teen struggle and grow;
• And more!

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Connect with Virginia at www.janus-co.com

Looking for support?

🗺️Need help setting healthy boundaries with your teen AND following through? My free guide will help you do so by creating your own Parent Home Plan!

🤍Influence lasting change in yourself and your struggling teen with my private coaching or parent group program specifically created for parents of struggling teens.

Have a question or need support? You can email me at [email protected]

You can support the show by:

Leaving a review

Subscribing to the show

And remember parents, the change begins with us.

You step in to help, ease your kid’s struggles, but is your help actually helpful or is it keeping your struggling teen or young adult from making the changes they need most? You want the best for them, but how can you influence internal change?

It’s a painful truth many parents don’t realize: sometimes “help” becomes enabling. By rescuing your struggling teen from discomfort, whether through financial support, extra comforts, or stepping in to soften the consequences, you may unintentionally be preventing the internal accountability that fuels real, lasting change.

In this conversation, Seth and I unpack how easy it is to blur the line between helping and enabling, why it happens, and how you can shift toward offering the kind of support that encourages your teen to take ownership of their choices.

In this episode on helping vs. enabling your struggling teen, we discuss:

• How parents unknowingly provide comforts that block internal change;
• Why lasting transformation only happens when teens feel consequences;
• The emotional toll on parents who “rescue” and how to handle it;
• Red flags that signal you might be enabling instead of supporting;
• What true support looks like and why it often feels so hard;
• And much more.

Looking for support?
🗺️Need help setting healthy boundaries with your teen AND following through? My free guide will help you do so by creating your own Parent Home Plan!

🤍Influence lasting change in yourself and your struggling teen with my private coaching or parent group program specifically created for parents of struggling teens.

Have a question or need support? You can email me at [email protected]

You can support the show by:
Leaving a review
Subscribing to the show

And remember parents, the change begins with us.