Parenting Teenagers Untangled for Fearless Parents: Fear le…
Winner Best Parenting Podcast and rated in the top 1.5% worldwide
Most parenting advice tells you what to do; I help you see things differently. At the core of that is my mantra: Fear Less Wonder More.
I developed the phrase because I've been studying positive psychology, which has proven that shifting away from our negative emotions can open our minds to many more options and naturally help us see the answers we need.
So much parenting advice focuses on our fears, but I want you to be a fear less parent who feels more wonder. Try to usee the words 'I wonder' whenever you find youself thinking about your child. See what it brings up, then ask.
I’m Rachel Richards, a former BBC correspondent, CNBC Europe World News Anchor, parenting coach and mum of four; two teens and two bonus daughters.
Every week, I interview world-leading experts, dig into the latest research, and challenge the assumptions that leave so many parents feeling anxious, guilty or stuck.
Because I don’t believe it’s just about having more information. I believe parents need a different lens.
Fear tells us our teenager is lazy, rude, addicted or deliberately difficult. Wonder asks, What’s really going on? What need, skill or fear might I be missing?
When we replace fear with curiosity, we make better decisions, drop our judgement and start connecting, and raise young people who are more resilient, independent and emotionally healthy.
If you’re tired of parenting through worry, conflict or self-doubt, you’re in the right place.
Join thousands of parents each week as we learn to Fear Less. Wonder More.
Most parenting advice tells you what to do; I help you see things differently. At the core of that is my mantra: Fear Less Wonder More.
I developed the phrase because I've been studying positive psychology, which has proven that shifting away from our negative emotions can open our minds to many more options and naturally help us see the answers we need.
So much parenting advice focuses on our fears, but I want you to be a fear less parent who feels more wonder. Try to usee the words 'I wonder' whenever you find youself thinking about your child. See what it brings up, then ask.
I’m Rachel Richards, a former BBC correspondent, CNBC Europe World News Anchor, parenting coach and mum of four; two teens and two bonus daughters.
Every week, I interview world-leading experts, dig into the latest research, and challenge the assumptions that leave so many parents feeling anxious, guilty or stuck.
Because I don’t believe it’s just about having more information. I believe parents need a different lens.
Fear tells us our teenager is lazy, rude, addicted or deliberately difficult. Wonder asks, What’s really going on? What need, skill or fear might I be missing?
When we replace fear with curiosity, we make better decisions, drop our judgement and start connecting, and raise young people who are more resilient, independent and emotionally healthy.
If you’re tired of parenting through worry, conflict or self-doubt, you’re in the right place.
Join thousands of parents each week as we learn to Fear Less. Wonder More.
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8
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Oct. 7, 2026
School Refusal and Teen Burnout: The Parent's Guide with Dr Naomi Fisher
Ask Rachel anything What’s behind a teenager’s struggle to get to school—and how can parents help without turning every morning into a battle? In this episode, journalist and host Rachel Richards talks with clinical psychologist Dr. Naomi Fisher, author of The Teenagers’ Guide to Taking Control of Your Education, about school avoidance, burnout, demand avoidance, and the questions parents often have about autism and ADHD. Drawing on her own experience of struggling at school and decades of wo...
5
Sept. 30, 2026
Teen Friendship Problems: Helping Your Child Handle Conflict, Rejection and Exclusion
Ask Rachel anything Has your teenager come home upset because their friends have suddenly turned against them? Or have you heard that your child is part of a group chat where everyone is being urged to stop talking to someone? When a friendship conflict spreads through a whole group—and onto social media—it can be hard for parents to know what to say, when to step in, and how to help without making things worse. In this episode of Teenagers Untangled, I’m joined by Dr Dominique Thompson, a ph...
Sept. 27, 2026
Are we parents too soft on our teens or too hard on ourselves? The Wonder Room
Ask Rachel anything It’s one thing hearing what experts think, but I’m always left wondering how their advice translates into the real life of a parent. If you’re wondering too then you’re going to love this chat between Katharine Radice and me. In it, we discuss what was said in my interviews with Dr Leonard Sax and Dr Tara Porter. Basically we cover the reality of setting healthy boundaries around gaming and phones, talking with teens about online risks, choosing supportive schools, m...
4
Sept. 23, 2026
Motivating Boys in a World of Gaming, AI & Porn.
Ask Rachel anything If your son seems apathetic, glued to gaming, or strangely unbothered by school, you are not alone, and you are not imagining it. I decided to create this discussion because I have been contacted by so many parents about the lacklustre attitudes they are seeing in their sons, looking for advice on what to do. Around the world, boys are falling behind academically, drifting socially, and retreating into screens. Meanwhile, girls are outstripping boys at school and universit...
3
Sept. 16, 2026
Stressed About Parenting Your Teen? Reduce Perfectionism
Ask Rachel anything Are you trying so hard to be a good parent that you might be doing too much for your tween or teen, and accidentally making life harder for both of you? In this episode of Parenting Teenagers Untangled, Rachel Richards talks with clinical psychologist and author Dr. Tara Porter about her new book "Good Enough" and why good enough parenting is actually the best kind of parenting. Drawing on more than 25 years working in adolescent mental health, Tara explains how so many te...
Sept. 13, 2026
A Better Way for Parents to talk to Teens About Screen Time: Fear Less & Wonder More
Ask Rachel anything We’re living through an age where it can feel like our teenagers’ entire lives are happening behind a screen we can’t see. Meanwhile mental health problems in teens are a rising problem that is being blamed on their devices. The instinctive response for many of us is to clamp down: ban certain apps, monitor every move, or take away devices altogether. But as Professor Candice Odgers put it so powerfully: “You can’t ban your way out of a mental health crisis. Yo...
2
Sept. 9, 2026
Why social media bans won't work and what we parents can do: Professor Candice Odgers
Ask Rachel anything Are smartphones and social media really damaging our teenagers’ mental health – or are we looking in the wrong place? In this episode, Rachel Richards talks with Professor Candice Odgers, a leading expert on adolescent mental health in the digital age, to unpack what decades of research actually show about teens, tech and wellbeing. We explore why today’s teenagers are doing better than many headlines suggest, the real size of the link between phones, social media, anxiety...
New to Parenting Teenagers Untangled for Fearless Parents: Fear less, wonder more?
2
Sept. 9, 2026
Why social media bans won't work and what we parents can do: Professor Candice Odgers
Ask Rachel anything Are smartphones and social media really damaging our teenagers’ mental health – or are we looking in the wrong place? In this episode, Rachel Richards talks with Professor Candice Odgers, a leading expert on adolescent mental health in the digital age, to unpack what decades of research actually show about teens, tech and wellbeing. We explore why today’s teenagers are doing better than many headlines suggest, the real size of the link between phones, social media, anxiety...
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A practical guide for parents: I scuffed the diamond-scattered pavement at the bus stop, shivering in a thin, borrowed coat and old school uniform, my socks rolled down the way cool kids wore them back where I came from. January in the UK is quite …
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Christmas: Joy or Juggernaut?
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About the Host
Rachel Richards
Host
I've worked as a BBC Correspondent, a World News Anchor for CNBC Europe and a Parenting Supercoach for Parent Gym, supporting parents in the most deprived boroughs of London.
I'm the mother of two bonus-daughters, now in their twenties, two teenagers, and married to the most amazing, but messy, man. I live in a Tudor house in the UK countryside, walk my two cockapoos daily and read voraciously.
My main purpose in making this podcast is my desire to break negative family cycles so I can understand and parent my own teens better.
I'm a lover of yoga, jogging, hiking, skiing, flying, reading, music, and all types of adventurous travel.
Originally born in Zambia, I'd lived in six different countries by the age of ten and thank my lucky stars to have settled in the UK.
Most of all I am loving the opportunity to give back for all the good fortune I've had in my life.