Starts Sunday October 1, 2023: Small Group Program for Teens & Young Adults

Next month I'm co-facilitating a unique small group program to help young people find more peace of mind and clarity around how to come back into balance when life feels hard or overwhelming.

We'll provide each group member with a deeper connection to their wisdom and reliable inner-guidance to support them with big and little life decisions.

I'm running this program alongside my friend and colleague Aila Coats, M.A., who also specializes in working with teens and young adults.

This program will be delivered in a group format. In each session, we'll bring forward teaching points around how our mental/emotional systems work, share insights that will draw out the peace of mind and confidence in each group member, and provide them with real support and genuine connection with peers that share their struggles.

In each session we'll take coaching questions from the participants and address topics that are important to them.

The program is comprised of six 75-minute group calls that happen every other Sunday at noon Pacific Time from October - December, 2023.

Space is limited to 20 participants.

Click here to register or learn more.

Interested? Want to hear more?

Join our free upcoming webinar on September 20, 2023 at 11am Pacific Time.

This webinar is designed for parents and caregivers of teens and young adults.

Aila and I will share some of the biggest insights we’ve gained over the past few decades that will help you support the teens in your life. At the end of the webinar, we'll have a live Q&A for the Small Group Program for Teens.

To register for the free webinar, click here.

Navigating Your Teen's Fears and Limitations with Grace: Having Weaknesses Does Not Make Them Weak

Today’s video is for all the parents out there that lie awake at 3 a.m. worrying about their teen and whether they’ll survive the real world.

In this generation of parents, I see more and more parents feeling pressured to try and create kids that are confident, fearless, and robust.

And yet all teens have those exact qualities completely intact.

Those qualities show up at certain times, sometimes showing up often.

And it's ALSO true that all teens lose their bearings and get swallowed up in insecurity.

Because teens are people. And insecurity is a people thing.

But in the wake of our own insecurities as parents, we lose sight of the big picture.

We all want our kids to be independent, take risks, and be willing to be uncomfortable.

And yet I talk to teens every day who find themselves overcome by fear and simply shut down. They withdraw from life. They close doors. They leave the game and sit on the sidelines.

Like the young person I share about in today’s video who was immobilized by the prospect of starting high school and simply couldn’t function.

Yet she’s sharp, mature beyond her years, and more assertive than half the adults I know.

The truth is, we all have our weaknesses and insecurities. It's a natural part of being human.

And here's the key point: having weaknesses does not make people weak.

It doesn't make them failures or disappointments. It doesn't mean they’re destined for a lesser life or a limited future.

In this video, I talk about how all of my clients, including even the most troubled teens, have had moments where they overcame limitations, often when they least expected it.

This has also happened to every parent reading this.

What's the common thread?

There's a force we all share, something we’re all connected to that provides strength, clarity, and guidance.

In my field we call this force the principle of Mind, others attribute it to divine intervention. The name doesn't matter. What matters is that it's always there, working in the background.

All teens, even the ones you worry about at 3 a.m., have taken the plunge, whether it was going to a party, talking to someone they liked, or doing something even though it terrified them.

That power is what I’m pointing to today. The more you respect and trust that power, the more confidence and peace of mind you’ll feel as a parent even amid the messiness of the human condition. And that’s the best gift you can give a struggling teen. Click below to watch the video.

Do you have (or know) a teen or young who could use more confidence and guidance to find their way through life?

Check out the upcoming program I'm co-facilitating in October 2023 called 'Peace of Mind for Teens and Young Adults: A 3-month Program'. Space is limited to 20 group members to ensure maximum connection and impact. Click here for more info or view my blog post announcement here.

Stress and the Imagination: When Being a Good Storyteller is Not Something to Brag About

One of the best parts of my job is getting to hear embarrassing stories my colleagues share

about themselves.

Years back I co-taught a class with the owner of a huge wealth management company

named Doug.

Doug was kind of a big deal in the wealth management world, and the whole class was

about not letting your ego ruin your closeness with your family.

He opened with a story about how he was driving to lunch, got abruptly cut off by another car that immediately slowed down in front of him just to provoke and toy with him. He spent

several minutes driving aggressively close to the car and worked himself into a rage.

When Doug was finally able to pass the car he rolled his window down to shout something

nasty. And realized it was his 86 year old mother he was meeting for lunch.

This story perfectly demonstrates how good we are at creating a story out of thin air,

reacting to it, and living in the upset.

The stories are just thrown together in the moment by repurposing memories, thoughts from

the past, and expectations (which are just more thoughts from the past).

So they’re not real, but because of the principles behind human experience, our stories look

and feel just as real as what’s actually happening in life.

We’re not always lucky enough to be humbled by the discovery that a story was made up.

But Doug shared his story and I’m sharing client stories today so that you can get more

open to the idea that maybe a HUGE number of the stories your imagination churns

out are made up.

Or at least massively biased and contaminated.

It’s right there to see if you slow down and look. It requires humility and genuine openness.

But the result is that you get to feel closer to people, you become lighter and more

buoyant, and you take yourself and your life less seriously.

That’s what today’s interview is about.

It features a 15 year old gang member with a mohawk and hand tattoos that woke up to his

own stories about life that he’d been carrying around. And how much he changed from

seeing just one of those stories unravel.

So I’m pointing to something powerful that anyone can see.

Click below to watch.

Today's interview was hosted by my colleague Marie Arymar. To learn more about Marie's work, click here.