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PODCAST

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl is a podcast from Good Inside for parents or adults raising, caring for, or loving a tween or teen. Hosted by clinical psychologist and mom of three Dr. Sheryl Ziegler, this show explores what’s really happening during this intense and transformative stage of life — from big emotions and shifting friendships to dating, academic pressure, social media, identity, and body changes. Each episode slows things down and looks beneath the surface so you can respond

kids & family parenting

All Episodes

00:45:46

Dealing with Feelings: A Conversation With Dr. Marc...

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/10/07

Many of us grew up hearing, “Don’t cry, you’re fine” or “Stop overreacting!” Now, we want to raise our kids differently… but how? In this audience favorite from the Good Inside podcast, Dr. Becky sits down with Dr. Marc Brackett, founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, to talk about his powerful personal story and research. They discuss understanding emotions as data, validating kids’ feelings without overindulging them, and building emotional literacy for the whole family -

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00:38:25

Your Teenager Still Wants to Help You, They're Just...

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/09/30

Michaeleen Doucleff is a science journalist. Which only partly explains why, a few years ago, she packed up her four-year-old and moved in with a Maya family in the Yucatan, an Inuit family in the Arctic, and a group of Hadza hunter-gatherers in Tanzania. She wanted to know why kids in those cultures grow up more capable, less anxious - and honestly, easier to live with - than ours. TShe wrote a NYT bestselling book about the experience, and what she learned, called Hunt, Gather, Parent.The book

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00:38:25

Who Are You When You're Not Someone's Mom?

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/09/23

Gretchen Rubin has done this twice: watched one daughter leave for college, and now she's doing it again with her younger one, no sibling left behind to soften the landing. The happiness researcher and #1 New York Times bestselling author joins Dr. Sheryl to make her case for retiring "empty nest" in favor of a phrase she's convinced changes what parents actually do next: open door. They get into what predicts a hard transition, why growth is the real engine of happiness, the line between a friendly

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00:17:46

Gloria Steinem's Message to Parents: Raise Your Sons...

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/09/16

Gloria Steinem died this month at 92. Just a few weeks before she did, she sat down at home with Dr. Becky and repeated something she’s been saying for fifty years: we've raised our daughters to be more like sons, but not our sons to be more like daughters. Dr. Sheryl was also in Gloria’s living room that night, and she introduces this rare conversation about what it means for the boys and girls we're raising right now.*Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible:Yoto: Get 15% off

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00:35:32

Your Kid Doesn't Need Fixing. They Need Witnessing.

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/09/09

Somewhere around 12 or 13, most kids make a quiet decision about themselves: that they're likable, or too much, that they belong, or that they're better off not needing anyone. It usually happens over something small, like a friend who stopped texting back.Psychologist Dr. Marisa Franco, author of Worth (and Platonic), sits down with Dr. Sheryl to talk about what's actually happening in that decision and what it takes to undo it. Dr. Franco breaks down the real difference between self-esteem and

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00:31:49

Play First, Ask Later: A Play Therapist on Getting...

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/09/02

Somewhere around 11, your kid stops playing “the floor is lava” with you. A lot of parents quietly stop trying to connect that way and never start again.Dr. Kim Van Dusen isn't buying it. She's spent almost 25 years studying play, she's a licensed marriage and family therapist and registered play therapist, and she just wrote a book called Parenting Through Play. She's also a mom to a 12-year-old and a 9-year-old, so she's living the tween years right now, right alongside everyone listening. In

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00:37:18

The New Puberty

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/08/26

Puberty is starting earlier—and for many parents, it’s arriving before they or their kids feel ready. In this episode, Dr. Becky sits down with Dr. Sheryl to unpack why puberty today looks so different for our kids than it did for us—and what caregivers can do to support them through it.Together, they explore the emotional and physical shifts that are arriving sooner than expected, the impact of today’s culture on tweens, and practical tools for navigating this new stage with connection, clarity,

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00:16:03

Dr. Sheryl's College Drop-off Confessional

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/08/19

Two days before her daughter and oldest child leaves for college, Dr. Sheryl hits record and doesn't clean it up: the grief and the relief showing up in the same moment, the packing-list control spiral, the "boring on purpose" plan for the last 48 hours, and the line she's repeated to a thousand parents that suddenly means something different from the other side of the experience.If you're in your own version of this countdown — bins taped up, closet half empty, a text you're waiting on — this

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00:36:36

When Your Kid Says "I'm Ugly," Here's What to...

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/08/12

Somewhere around 9 or 10, your kid starts watching their own body: how it looks, how it compares, whether it's keeping up. And most of us freeze, because nobody handed us a script for that moment.Dr. Sheryl sits down with pediatrician Dr. Whitney Casares, author of My One of a Kind Body and the new Raising Body Confident Kids, for a conversation every parent of a tween needs. They get specific: the exact three-step self-compassion script Whitney uses when her own daughter climbs in the car saying

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00:33:15

Your Kid Isn't Lazy. Their Brain Is Wired for...

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/08/05

Middle school strips away the training wheels. Elementary school's one teacher becomes six. The hand-holding disappears. For a kid with ADHD, that's when a lot of quiet fear starts, both theirs and their parents'.Sheryl sits down with Dr. Alex Reed, a clinical psychologist specializing in neurodevelopment, to talk about what ADHD actually looks like as kids move into the teen years, and why so many of them fall through the cracks. They get into the three ADHD subtypes, why hyperfocus (yes, the same

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00:34:23

Middle School Isn't a Problem to Solve, It's a Skill...

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/07/29

Phyllis Fagell has spent years inside a middle school as a counselor, and she's here to make the case that the silence, the friend-group churn, and the sudden need for privacy aren't warning signs. They're the work of growing up. Dr. Sheryl and Phyllis talk through why middle schoolers pull away from their parents (and why it's not rejection), the real numbers on how often friendships shift during these years, and the "superpowers," belonging, security, self-regulation, that actually predict

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00:34:13

AI Can't Do the One Thing Your Teen Needs Most

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/07/22

Your tween or teen is already using AI. For homework, for image generation, for drafting the text they're too nervous to send, and, more and more, for the human stuff: breakups, mental health, how to ask someone out, how to talk to you.Dr. Sheryl sits down with Dr. Dana Suskind, a pediatric surgeon, professor of surgery and pediatrics at the University of Chicago, and the author of "Human Raised," to make sense of what kids actually need from us as AI moves into the middle of their lives. Dana's

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00:32:00

My Tween is Pulling Away. Is That Normal? - Revisit

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/07/15

A revisit from the Good Inside archives, hosted by Dr. Becky. As our kids grow up and pull away, it can feel like they’re breaking up with us. This week, Dr. Becky talks to a mom wondering why her son feels so distant as he begins middle school. He seems to have plenty of time to play video games and talk to his friends but she feels like she doesn’t know anything about his life anymore. Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible: Kt by Knix: Use the code GOODINSIDE for 15% off

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00:33:58

Muscles, Masculinity, and the Thing We Keep Mistaking...

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/07/08

Boys have body image issues too. They're just harder to spot. Dr. Kyle Ganson is a researcher at the University of Toronto who studies body image, eating disorders, and masculinity in boys and young men. He's also a dad. And yes, his six-year-old already flexes at him every morning. In this conversation, Dr. Sheryl and Dr. Kyle get into what's actually happening to boys in a culture built around gym influencers, supplement stacks, looks maxing, and bulking protocols — and why parents keep missing

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00:37:16

The Even-Keel Kid: What to Do When Your Child Can't...

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/07/01

Your kid seems fine. Easygoing, no meltdowns. But when you ask how they're doing — nothing. "Fine." "I don't know." A shrug. And then one day you notice something's off, and you spend weeks trying to figure out what. Sarah comes to Dr. Sheryl with exactly this. Her 10-year-old son is kind, resilient, good at everything — and totally unable to name what he's feeling. She's tried asking directly. She's tried asking sideways. She's modeled emotions, referenced Inside Out, sat on his bed and guessed out

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00:32:41

When Your Kid Comes Out: What to Say, What to Skip,...

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/06/24

Sarah Kate Ellis has spent more than a decade as President and CEO of GLAAD, the nation's largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization. She's a TIME 100 honoree. She's testified before Congress. She's had two audiences with Pope Francis. She's also a mom of two teenagers. In this conversation, Dr. Sheryl and Sarah Kate get into what parents actually need to know — not the policy, not the politics, but the real stuff. What does it mean when your kid starts watching shows with queer characters? What do

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00:23:30

Losing My Teen to the Screen - Revisit

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/06/17

What do you do when you give your teen a phone and everything you were worried about comes true? They stopped reading books like they used to. They never leave their room without their phone. Their grades slip. They’re getting into trouble socially. Can you take the phone away? Should you? And if you do, how should you go about it? This week, we're resurfacing a fan favorite from the flagship Good Inside podcast feed, in which Dr. Becky fields a few phone concerns and questions from her producer,

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00:27:34

How to Stay Friends When One of You Has Kids

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/06/10

What happens to friendship when one person has kids—and the other doesn’t?In this episode, Dr. Sheryl sits down with two of her longtime friends, Lisa and Nancy, to talk about a friendship that has lasted through marriage, parenthood, illness, career shifts, busy seasons, and very different life choices. One of them became a mom. One of them chose not to have children. And somehow, instead of drifting apart, they kept finding ways back to each other. Together, they talk about jealousy, flexibility,

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00:32:28

Can't Tap Out: One Mom on Single Parenting,...

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/06/03

What happens when your teenager is deep in puberty, your tween is just starting to feel the first shifts — and meanwhile, you're navigating perimenopause on your own?In this episode, Dr. Sheryl talks with Camille, a single mom of two outside Nashville, who's living that exact season right now. They talk about what it really means to parent alone — not just the logistics, but the emotional weight of having no one to tap out to, no one to download the day to at night. They get into the "mom AND dad"

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00:29:26

What Today’s Girls Are Up Against

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl ·

2026/05/27

Tweens and teens today are growing up without something many of us took for granted: an off switch.No break from comparison. No break from group chats, social pressure, performance, opinions, or the feeling of always being “on.” This week, Dr. Sheryl talks with producer, writer, and Amy Poehler's Smart Girls co-founder Meredith Walker about what years of listening to girls has taught her about confidence, belonging, perfectionism, identity, and the exhausting pressure so many girls feel to get

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