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PODCAST

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers

Julie Winchester Workman

Confident in most areas of life—but raising teens feels like a whole different story? Plot Twist Parenting gives you encouragement and real-life strategies to navigate the unexpected with hope.

kids & family parenting

All Episodes

25:40

Phrases that Save (the day, relationships, time)

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2026/10/01

Julie gave a teenager five minutes at a youth leadership retreat, he took a lot longer, and the two-second thing she said next became a lightbulb moment for a fellow chaperone who told me she was nervous around teens. This episode is about the words we reach for when we're tired, worried, or on autopilot, the ones we inherited or defaulted to when our kids were little, and why they can quietly work against the relationship we want now. We look at it through work, science, and faith lenses,

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23:28

College Drop Off - The Rollercoaster

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2026/08/17

Recorded in real time - you can hear the exhaustion in the recording [insert melting face emoji] In this episode, Julie shares practical, hard-won advice: expect a late-night "emotion dump" phone call, resist the urge to fix everything (or post about it on social media), anticipate personality whiplash, and let your kid write their own story — even if it looks nothing like you imagined. Bottom line: Stay off the roller coaster, don't panic, and trust the work you've already done.College

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24:51

Neil the Amazing Adolescent Seal

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2026/07/12

There's a one-ton elephant seal named Neil currently shutting down towns in Tasmania, and the whole internet thinks he's a rebel — but the scientists know he's just a young creature practicing to become what he's meant to be. In this lighter, breathe-easier episode, Julie makes the case that so much of the teenage behavior that terrifies us isn't pathology, it's practice: half-baked brains rehearsing adulthood on the only equipment available, which is usually our homes and our hearts

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22:35

Graduation Season is Weird

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2026/06/10

Graduation Season: Behind the CurtainWhen you picture a high school graduation, you probably see the cap and gown, the walk across the stage, the backyard party. That's one version. This episode is about what's actually going on underneath it for a lot of parents — the grief sitting next to the pride, the disorientation nobody warned you about, the strange feeling of being unmoored even when everything is technically fine.Graduation season is complicated in ways that don't fit in a

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19:51

Be It til you Are It

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2026/05/19

What do you do when you're supposed to show up as a connected, intentional parent — and you have absolutely nothing left?This is the episode for the depleted days. The ones where Date Day is on the calendar and everything in you wants to cancel it. Where you love your kids deeply but parenting feels like a performance you're failing to pull off.Here's the plot twist: you're not performing. You already are the parent you're trying to be. Let's reframe "fake it till you make it" for something

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20:40

Mother's Day <3

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2026/05/11

Why is Mother's Day in May? And is there a better time? Not really--there's no time of year when moms are just chilling. Pick any month and they're carrying so much. And moms of teenagers are doing some of the hardest parenting of their lives in what looks from the outside like the quiet years.The invisible work of parenting teenagers — the 10pm conversations, the restraint nobody sees, the steadiness you hold so their nervous system can find calm — is also some of the most sophisticated

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17:31

You’re Doing Better than You Think

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2026/02/02

A closing reflection on what it actually means to parent teenagers in the long, messy middle.This episode isn’t about doing more or fixing anything. It’s about noticing what’s already happening beneath the surface: the emotional labor, the restraint, the repair, and the quiet devotion that rarely gets named.Julie revisits the five practices from Season 1—connection, truth, trust, joy, and unconditional love—not as a checklist, but as postures parents return to over time. Drawing from

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23:18

When It’s Hard

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2026/01/19

Parenting teenagers isn’t just challenging—it can be exhausting. Even when you’re doing everything “right,” some seasons are simply hard.In this episode of Plot Twist Parenting, Julie speaks directly to those moments—when trust feels fragile, emotions run high, and you’re wondering if you’ve already messed it up.Drawing from leadership wisdom, applied psychology, and faith traditions, you’ll learn how steadiness, presence, and repair matter more than perfection, and why trust is built not

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26:50

Unconditional: Presence Without Prerequisites

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2026/01/11

What does unconditional love actually look like in the messy, emotional, real-life work of parenting teenagers?In this episode, Julie explores the fifth and foundational practice of Plot Twist Parenting: unconditional love—the steady presence that doesn’t walk away, even when everything feels chaotic. Drawing from a candid conversation with her son and a moment of unexpected connection in the middle of a difficult interaction, Julie unpacks why unconditional love is less about words and

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26:40

Joy on Purpose

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2025/11/30

Consider this plot twist: Joy might be the most overlooked lifeline in the teen years--for parents and for teens. To say it another way: joy is serious business. You’ll learn how joy becomes a protective force in your home, what science says about positive emotion and resilience, and how faith traditions across the world treat joy as an anchor during hardship. You'll also find simple, evidence-backed practices to bring light back into your home… even when things feel heavy.Joy isn’t a mood

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25:58

Trusting Teens (no, really)

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2025/11/24

Consider this plot twist: a surprising shift that transforms parenting: moving from teaching teens “everything” to trusting them to learn, commit, and grow. You’ll hear why trust is a two-way street, how to play the long game, and why letting teens try, stumble, and try again builds confidence for everyone. With practical tools rooted in values, boundaries, consequences, and grace, you’ll learn how trust lowers tension, strengthens connection, and helps your teen become the thoughtful,

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21:00

Being Trustable as a Parent

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2025/11/01

Before we can ask our teens to trust us, we have to be trustable. In this episode, Julie shares real conversations with her kids about what earned their trust—and what didn’t go as planned. She explores how trust grows not from authority, but from consistency, care, and emotional safety. Drawing from the work world, behavioral science, and faith, Julie unpacks what it means to be “impeccable with your word,” build trust through integrity, and create a home where your teen’s nervous system

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19:53

Truth

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2025/10/22

What do you really value as a family—and are you living it out in daily life? Truth, the second core practice, is all about clarity and alignment: What do we value, and how do our choices reflect those values?This episode explores where values come from (culture, faith, and intentional decision-making), and how to live them out with teenagers in real, practical ways. I share simple tools like value “experiments,” family check-ins, and repair scripts—plus a reminder that this is not about

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20:47

Date Day

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2025/10/04

Connection is one of the five practices that can radically change parenting teenagers. BUT HOW? How do you connect with a cranky teen, or after a hardship? Or just through routine times? My offer: Date Day. Date Day is a weekly practice of 1:1 time with an individual teenager. For us it was usually before school, enjoying a delicious breakfast (waffles, lattes) that was usually out of the question on a school day. This episode walks through the big picture of Date Day, and reinforces the

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19:16

Connection

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2025/09/27

What if we were to identify the single most important component of parenting teenagers? I think, and I come with receipts: it would be connection. Connection can help us decrease distance to increase influence and trust. We know that busyness at work or at home doesn't necessarily translate to impact. How can we build meaningful connection, moving beyond the demands of everyday life to real connection? This episode offers some specific ways to create connection, explores connection

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16:27

Hi! This is Plot Twist Parenting.

Plot Twist Parenting: Teenagers ·

2025/09/18

Is anyone talking about what it's really like to parent teenagers? I think we should. In this first episode of Plot Twist Parenting, I share a bit of my own story, an overview of the five pillars that help me hold on through the ups and downs, and a few hard-won lessons. PTP weaves together personal experience, tools from corporate leadership, evidence-based insights from social science, and the wisdom of faith traditions to help us hold it all together on this journey. I know I said I

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