In today's episode, I'm sharing a conversation where I was the one in the guest chair on Parenting Shrink Wrapped with Samantha Straub, licensed clinical counselor and parenting coach, and Dr. Melissa Wellner, double board certified psychiatrist and child and adolescent psychiatrist. We talk about my own rites of passage story, what happens on our Guided Passages trips, and how teens build real confidence by doing hard things.

In This Episode, You'll Hear:

• How a rites of passage trip at 19 changed the direction of my life
• What happens in council, on solo, and at our Welcome Home Ceremony
• Why confidence comes from doing hard things rather than hearing compliments
• The self-hate, comparison, and negative self-talk so many teens are carrying
• How teens create their own risky rites of passage when adults don't offer safe ones

Resources Mentioned:

• Episode 52 with Samantha Straub and Dr. Melissa Wellner: Discipline vs. Punishment and Why Punishment Doesn't Work for Teens [link]
• Parenting Shrink Wrapped podcast

Work With Me:

I'm offering wilderness rites of passage trips, one-on-one virtual coaching for teens and young adults ages 12 to 24, and the Parents of Teens Rising Coaching Circle for parents who want support on this journey.

• Website: guided-passages.com
• Instagram: @jasmyne.guidedpassages

Would you let your teenager get behind the wheel of a car with zero lessons and no permit? That's basically what we do with smartphones, and today's guest is here to change that.

I'm joined by Jennifer Berger, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Ready Set Screen, and honestly, this is the conversation I wish I'd had access to when my own kids were still preteens. Jennifer has spent 20 years as a media literacy educator, and has worked directly with more than 10,000 preteens and teens, with 95% of them reporting real improvements in their mental health and self-esteem afterward. Her organization recently launched its flagship program, the Social Media Driver's License, and we get into exactly what that is and why she built it that way.

If you've ever felt torn between wanting to protect your kid from their phone and knowing you can't realistically keep them off it forever, this conversation is going to feel like a deep breath.

We get into a lot, including:

• Why Jennifer thinks of preparing kids for social media the same way we prepare them to drive a car, and why "the driver's license" metaphor just makes sense
• Her honest take on monitoring apps and reading your teen's texts, and why she compares heavy monitoring to restrictive dieting
• What she actually says to parents who are worried something serious might be going on with their teen online
• How the course handles harder topics like AI, porn, and online strangers without over-scaring or under-preparing kids
• Why shame, even over something as small as an accidental Google search, is one of the biggest things getting in the way of kids talking to us
• Why the research on phones and mental health is messier than people think, and how Jennifer still landed on taking action anyway
• The reality that "just delay it" isn't always realistic when a kid's entire social world is already online
• Why teaching kids to simply question what they're seeing, who made it and why, can change how they feel about themselves almost immediately

I really loved this one, and I think you will too. Jennifer's approach isn't about fear, it's about equipping your kid to actually think for themselves out there.

About Jennifer Berger:
Jennifer Berger has been a media literacy educator for 20 years. She's helped more than 10,000 preteens and teens learn to question the messages they receive through media, with 95% reporting improvements in indicators of their mental health and self-esteem. Jennifer is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Ready Set Screen, based in San Francisco, and recently launched its flagship program, the Social Media Driver's License.

Connect with Jennifer & Ready Set Screen:
Website: www.readysetscreen.org
Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn & TikTok: @readysetscreen

The Social Media Driver's License is available now to families: socialmediadriverslicense.org

Free Sample of the Social Media Driver's License: https://courses.socialmediadriverslicense.org/sign-up

More media literacy resources Jennifer mentioned:
National Association for Media Literacy Education: namle.org | YouTube
MediaWise: www.mediawise.org | YouTube
American Academy of Pediatrics Center of Excellence on Social Media and Youth Mental Health: aap.org

Connect with Jasmyne:
Instagram: @jasmyne.guidedpassages
🔗 https://guided-passages.com/

In today's episode, I'm talking about how to help your teen open back up if things have felt shut down lately and you want to be the one they turn to again. 

Here's what we cover:

• The most common reasons teens pull away, including overwhelm, fear of judgment, their biological drive toward independence, and broken trust
• Why age 13 tends to be the peak of the pulling-away phase, and why that's actually a good sign developmentally
• Why forcing a conversation almost always backfires, and what to do instead

Plus, five strategies you can start using today to help your teen open back up:

1. Respect their space without disappearing
2. Rebuild trust by owning your reactions
3. Listen without trying to fix everything
4. Build connection in everyday moments
5. Choose collaboration over control

This episode is for any parent who wants their teen to come to them when things get hard, not just when they have to.

📘 Free Guide: 10 Steps to Build More Connection with Your Teenager https://youth.guided-passages.com/connect-to-your-teen-freebie

Want more support? Join Parents of Teens Rising, my monthly parent coaching community, for live coaching circles, monthly workshops, and weekly voice notes for just $24/month. Parents of Teens Rising Coaching Circle

Connect with Jasmyne:
Instagram: @jasmyne.guidedpassages
🔗 https://guided-passages.com/

If your teen freezes up before school, avoids social situations, or spirals into what-if thinking, this episode is for you. I'm walking you through what's really happening beneath your teen's anxiety and why pep talks and reassurance so often fall flat.

We'll cover why some teens' alarm systems run louder than others, how the pandemic disrupted key years of social practice, why LGBTQIA+ and marginalized teens carry an extra layer of anxiety, and the data behind what's become a national trend. And we'll get into the first grounding principle that changes how you support your teen: anxiety is a body-first experience, not a logic problem.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why you can't reason your teen out of anxiety
• How the amygdala and prefrontal cortex shape your teen's response to stress
• The difference between functional worry and concerning anxiety
• What the latest CDC and Trevor Project data tell us about teen anxiety rates
• Why body-based tools like breathing and grounding come before any thinking tool

Resources mentioned:

• The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
• Under Pressure by Lisa Damour
• CDC data on anxiety disorders in children and teens
• The Trevor Project's 2024 National Survey on LGBTQ+ Youth Mental Health

Get the freebie: 5 Steps to Help Your Anxious Teen a free guide with practical steps you can start using with your teen today. 

Connect with Jasmyne:

Instagram: jasmyne.guidedpassages

Website: https://guided-passages.com

In today's episode I'm sharing something a little different, a more personal and vulnerable episode than usual. Life has been hitting hard lately, both in my own world and in the world around us, and instead of showing up with tips and strategies like I normally do, I wanted to be honest about what it actually looks like to navigate hard seasons as a parent. I have a feeling a lot of you are carrying something heavy right now too.

Here's what we cover:

• Why letting our kids face hard, uncomfortable transitions, even when every instinct tells us to rescue them, is often exactly what they need
• Holding grief and big life transitions at the same time, and what that's taught me about staying present for my family while still being human
• Why it's okay, and even important, for our kids to see that we don't always have it all together

Plus, the tools that are helping me stay grounded through hard seasons, and might help you too:

1. Allow yourself to actually feel it
2. Use your regulation tools (breath work, movement, pausing before reacting)
3. Practice real self-compassion
4. Prioritize joy and gratitude, even in hard seasons
5. Lean into creativity as an antidote to anxiety
6. Find and stay in community
7. Commit to small, consistent micro actions
8. Tell your kids the truth, in an age-appropriate way

This episode is for any parent feeling the weight of things right now, personally or in the world around them, who needs a reminder that they're not alone in it.

Connect with Jasmyne:
Instagram: @jasmyne.guidedpassages
🔗 https://guided-passages.com/

In today's episode I'm joined by Dr. Melissa Wellner, a double board certified adolescent psychiatrist, and Samantha Straub, a licensed therapist, educator, and parenting coach and founder of Teen Savvy Coaching. Together they co-host the podcast Parenting Shrink Wrapped, and they brought so much wisdom and lived experience to this conversation, both as clinicians and as moms themselves. This was such a rich discussion, and I know you're going to walk away with a lot from it.

Here's what we cover:

• The real difference between discipline and punishment, and why those words get used interchangeably even though they're not the same thing
• Why punishment tends to teach kids to hide their mistakes or lie instead of actually learning from them
• Sam's simple framework for figuring out what's actually needed in a moment: safety, values, or skills
• Why discipline has to evolve as your child moves through different developmental stages, and why what worked last month might not work now
• How to regulate your own emotions in the heat of the moment so you can come back and actually teach instead of react
• What to do when your teen pushes back or refuses to engage with the repair process
• How to move from a control mindset to a teaching mindset, and why starting small matters
• Why relationship is the foundation that makes all of this possible, especially with a resistant teen
• The one shift both Melissa and Sam want every parent to walk away with

This episode is for any parent trying to hold boundaries and accountability without sacrificing connection and trust with their teen.

Connect with Samantha Straub / Teen Savvy Coaching:
Website: teensavvycoaching.com
Facebook: @TeenSavvyCoachingWithSamanthaStraub
Instagram: @teensavvycoaching

Connect with Dr. Melissa Wellner / Annapolis Psychiatry:
Website: annapolispsychiatry.com
Facebook: Annapolis Psychiatry

Parenting Shrink Wrapped (Melissa & Sam's podcast):
Instagram: @parentingshrinkwrapped
Facebook: facebook.com/parentingshrinkwrapped
YouTube: @ParentingShrinkWrapped

Connect with Jasmyne:
Instagram: @jasmyne.guidedpassages
🔗 https://guided-passages.com/

In today's episode I'm digging into something that's showing up in my own house right now and in nearly every coaching call I'm having lately: the end-of-summer dread that hits as school comes back into view. If your teen has been dragging their feet, snapping at small things, or straight up grieving the loss of summer before it's even over, you are not alone, and neither are they.

Here's what we cover:

• What's actually going on underneath the back-to-school angst, and why dread is the dominant feeling for most teens heading into a new year
• Why validating your teen's feelings works so much better than trying to talk them out of it
• The fine line between offering real, tangible support and trying to fix everything for them

Plus, six tips to help your teen walk into this school year steadier than they walked out of the last one:

1. Get curious, validate, and give support
2. Get the routine set early and consistently
3. Get their support team on board
4. Get them involved in after school activities
5. Get them a planner
6. Help them do the mindset work

This episode is for any parent watching their teen mourn the end of summer and wanting real tools to help them head into the new school year with more confidence, structure, and hope.

Connect with Jasmyne:
Instagram: @jasmyne.guidedpassages
🔗 https://guided-passages.com/

In today's episode I'm joined by Shellee Howard, founder and CEO of College Ready, and named the 2026 Global Educational Consultant of the Year. Shellee is a two-time best-selling author, has been featured on Fox, NBC, CBS, and US News and World Report, and over the past 18 years she and her team have helped more than 3,000 families secure college acceptances, including 327 Ivy League placements and over $80 million in scholarships earned. She's also a mom of four whose own kids have graduated from schools ranging from Harvard to the University of Alabama, most of them debt free. This conversation was so illuminating for me, and honestly could not have come at a more perfect time as I navigate this exact process with my own kids.

Here's what we cover:

• The story of how a painful conversation with a high school counselor turned Shellee into "the mom on a mission" who started College Ready
• Why getting into college and getting out without debt are actually two separate goals, and why families need a plan for both
• The number one thing colleges want to know about your teen, and why so many teens genuinely can't answer it
• Why college should be thought of as a stepping stone to adulthood rather than the end goal, and how that reframe changes everything
• Why picking a major before picking a college (not after) can save families tens of thousands of dollars
• The four "buckets" of college money, including one of the most overlooked sources of funding
• How independent scholarships work, why kids as young as fourth grade can start applying, and how this strategy can help close the "gap" even after a student has already committed to a school
• What one step to take this week if you're feeling behind or overwhelmed about the college process

This episode is for any parent who wants to help their teen find their best-fit college and walk away with real scholarship money, without draining their own retirement to get there.

Shellee Howard Links

Free 30-Minute College Clarity Call a gift to listeners
 www.collegereadyplan.info

Free Resources — 7 tools you can use at no cost, including help finding your child's core values and calculating your student aid index
www.collegereadyplan.com/resources

Nonprofit: Empower Education
www.empowereducation.world

Books:

How To Send Your Student To College Without Losing Your Mind or Your Money
amazon.com/dp/1546749624

The College Admissions PLAN Simplified: A Busy Parent's P.L.A.N. to a Debt-Free Degree
amazon.com/dp/B0DQ48NLLV

Connect with Jasmyne:
Instagram: @jasmyne.guidedpassages

🔗https://guided-passages.com/

In today's episode I'm talking about something I see so often in my coaching work: high-achieving teens and young adults who aren't struggling with big mental health crises, but with the everyday juggle of holding themselves to an incredibly high bar. I love their drive and their goals, but so many of them are quietly overwhelmed, anxious, and stressed because they haven't yet learned how to manage everything on their plate.

Here's what we cover:

• Why high-achieving teens can suffer significantly higher rates of anxiety, depression, and substance use than the national average, even when they look like they have it all together
• The difference between perfectionist strivings and perfectionist concerns, and why it's the fear underneath the standards, not the standards themselves, that does the damage
• Why failure isn't the opposite of success, it's the actual mechanism that gets your teen there
• Practical regulation tools for when your teen is spiraling, including naming the emotion and box breathing
• Tangible systems like breaking big projects into smaller tasks, spreading work out, and building an organized space to reduce unnecessary stress
• Why celebrating wins and shifting self-talk matters just as much as the achievement itself
• The two ways parents accidentally get support wrong (over-rescuing and under-supporting), and what "high expectations, high support" actually looks like instead
• Why sitting down with your teen to audit their commitments, and giving them permission to let some go, might be one of the most supportive things you can do

This episode is for any parent of a high-achieving teen who wants to help them go after their big goals in a way that's sustainable, confident, and doesn't come at the cost of their wellbeing.

Connect with Jasmyne:
Instagram: @jasmyne.guidedpassages

🔗https://guided-passages.com/

Schedule a Free Discovery Call

Sources for this Episode:

1.  The Washington Post, "Students in high-achieving schools are now named an 'at-risk' group, study says" — https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/09/26/students-high-achieving-schools-are-now-named-an-at-risk-group
2. Carolina Journal, "The secrets of success: More sadness, anxiety in high achievers" (citing Luthar, Kumar, & Zillmer, American Psychologist) — https://www.carolinajournal.com/opinion/the-secrets-of-success-more-sadness-anxiety-in-high-achievers/
3. Frontiers in Psychology, "Perfectionism and psychological well-being in adolescents with high intellectual abilities" — https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1617755/full
4. OxJournal, "Striving to be the Best: The prevalence of perfectionism in young people and the impact on their achievement and well-being" — https://www.oxjournal.org/striving-to-be-the-best/
5. PAR Blog, "Anxiety and High-Performing Teens: The Pressures of Perfectionism" — https://www.parinc.com/learning-center/par-blog/detail/content-hub/2024/11/12/anxiety-and-high-performing-teens--the-pressures-of-perfectionism
6. American Psychological Association, "Perfectionism and the high-stakes culture of success: The hidden toll on kids and parents" — https://www.apa.org/monitor/2024/10/antidote-achievement-culture

In today's episode I'm joined by a very special guest, Margot Machol Bisnow, author of Raising an Entrepreneur: How to Help Your Children Achieve Their Dreams, 99 Stories from Families Who Did. Margot spent 20 years in government, including as an FTC commissioner, before turning her focus to raising fearless, creative, and resilient kids. Her own sons went on to found the band Magic Giant and the international Summit conference series, and her book is built on interviews with 70+ entrepreneurs and their parents. We had such a rich conversation about what it actually takes to help our teens find their passion and become the best version of themselves.

Here's what we cover:

• What inspired Margot to write her book after hearing the same answer over and over from young entrepreneurs about who believed in them
• The number one thing that showed up across every single family she interviewed, no matter how different their backgrounds were
• Why the specific passion almost never matters as much as the skills kids build by pursuing it
• The two ways parents commonly get failure wrong, and what these families did instead
• Why letting go of our own expertise and agenda can actually be a gift to our kids
• How to support a child who hasn't found their passion yet, and what it looks like to really watch and let them explore

This episode is for any parent who wants to help their teen find what lights them up, without getting in the way of the process.

You can learn more about Margot and her book at her website: https://raisinganentrepreneur.com/ or connect with her on Instagram: @margotbisnow

Connect with Jasmyne:
Instagram: @jasmyne.guidedpassages

🔗https://guided-passages.com/

Schedule a Free Discovery Call