Parenting Post-wilderness is your guide to parenting a struggling teen, whether they’re home, transitioning home, or presently in treatment. Your guides to Parenting Post-wilderness are Beth Hillman, a life coach for parents and mom to a post-wilderness teen, and part-time co-host Seth Gottlieb, a wilderness therapy guide turned teen and
Are you willing to consider that everything is going exactly according to plan? I know, I know. It’s crazy. But just for fun. What if? What if what is happening right now, is supposed to happen. Then what? Would you be able to breathe again? Would you be able to
Dear Wilderness Child, Angry Hurt Confused Threatening Untrustworthy Desperate Blaming Non Communicative Childish Child, please forgive my emotional roller-coaster of reactions (see above) and my ineffective parenting choices. It was all I knew then. I was acting out of fear, guilt, and disappointment. I know I was in a lot
Life can be crazy. I sometimes feel like I’m navigating class 5 rapids on the river of no return… I wonder when we might catch some calmer waters. But- This. Is. Life. And I’m frankly surviving at times and thriving at times. It’s a perfectly mixed boat of blessed sunshine
Our lovely brains want us to figure life out right now. They want us to stop the madness this very minute. Put an end to the pain, disappointment, sadness, and anger. Our brains think it’s too hard. Our brain’s job is to keep us safe and the same, regurgitating old
We’re going on a bear hunt. We’re going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day. We’re not scared. Uh oh, grass. Long, wavy grass. Can’t go under it. Can’t go over it. Oh well, we’ll have to go through it. Swishy, swashy, swishy, swashy, swish. When life throws
When things go wrong. Sometimes hard things happen that are not planned. They are not expected, predicted, anticipated, or considered. Then BAM! This huge and mighty weight falls upon our lives and we are caught off guard, with no free hands to catch ourselves. We are left swirling and spinning
Everyone is entitled to seek out their own path leading from the darkness into the light. Watching a loved one or a peer traverse a path littered with stumbling blocks can be immensely painful. We instinctively want to guide them toward a safer track and share with them the wisdom
Everyone is entitled to seek out their own path leading from the darkness into the light. Watching a loved one or a peer traverse a path littered with stumbling blocks can be immensely painful. We instinctively want to guide them toward a safer track and share with them the wisdom
Lately I’ve been giving Mr. 17 (mostly) unsolicited advice. He’s trying to sell his truck. He’s looking for another job. He’s sick and tired of our small town and wants the fastest ticket to anywhere. I have lots to say about these things. After all, I’m older, wiser, have been
Walking on eggshells with your teen? That could mean several things. Usually, it means that we, the parents, are worried about what might happen if we make a wrong move or say a wrong thing. “We don’t want to {poke the bear}”, I’ve heard my clients say. Whenever I find
This is the tool we’ve been successfully implementing in our family. Choosing connection as the TOP priority. Building our family “cage” to be free of judgment, lectures, power struggles, fear, self-righteousness and so forth. It’s not easy, but it’s working. How can I connect with _____ today, is one of
Most people think there are only two kinds of examples, good and bad. We assume good examples lead to good, and bad examples lead to bad. However, what is good and what is bad? These words are incredibly subjective. Good for what? Good for whom? How bad? Bad for how
The teacher, if indeed wise, does not bid you to enter the house of their wisdom, but leads you to the threshold of your own mind.” -Kahlil Gibran One of the best ways to lead your teen to know their own mind is to ask great questions. They may wonder
This is the title of my presentation I am doing for Makana Leadership Academy. It’s an eye-catcher for sure. Things have been hard lately, and when I say things, I mean my brain. It’s been stirring up trouble for sure. Pointing fingers, jumping to conclusions, scrambling to fix, worst-case scenario