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299. Healing Apathy in Your Teen, with Alma Galvan

Pivot Parenting: Expert Tips for Navigating Teen and Tween Challenges

Release Date: 12/23/2025

304. Belief 2: You Don't Need Them to Change First show art 304. Belief 2: You Don't Need Them to Change First

Pivot Parenting: Expert Tips for Navigating Teen and Tween Challenges

What if the thing you’ve been waiting for your teen to do… isn’t actually the thing that has to happen first? Most parents live in a quiet, exhausting loop of “If they would just…” If they would just try harder. If they would just care. If they would just stop lying, yelling, shutting down, or blowing everything off. We keep waiting for them to change so things can finally calm down. And somehow, the longer we wait, the worse it gets. In this episode, I share the belief that flipped everything on its head for me — and for hundreds of parents I’ve coached. It’s one simple...

info_outline 303. Belief 1: Your Future Doesn't Have to Look Like Your Past show art 303. Belief 1: Your Future Doesn't Have to Look Like Your Past

Pivot Parenting: Expert Tips for Navigating Teen and Tween Challenges

Welcome to a six part series, outlining the exact process to shift your parental struggles to find the connection with your teen. Today we begin with step 1: Your Future Doesn’t Have to Look Like Your Past Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “This is just what our relationship will be”… or bracing with “Here we go again” when the same fight starts up for the hundredth time? A lot of parents quietly start believing the story that nothing can ever change. That they’re too burnt out, too set in their ways, too far gone to fix what feels broken. I believed that story too—until...

info_outline 302. What Your Teen Wished You Knew show art 302. What Your Teen Wished You Knew

Pivot Parenting: Expert Tips for Navigating Teen and Tween Challenges

Tea time! This weeks episode is unique in that I've have direct feedback from teens on hurtful parenting behaviors. I was told things that they would never tell you- does any of it fit your parenting patterns? Listen to find out.  "Why do my parents think this way and are so bothered by me?" "What can be said to make you(my parents) like me more?" "I am not build-a-bear. If you can't accept your kids how they are, then don't have them." "My mom told me I was a brat" These are a few things that were shared with me. It broke my heart and I want to support these kids by supporting you. Lets...

info_outline 301. Assuming the Worst While Parenting show art 301. Assuming the Worst While Parenting

Pivot Parenting: Expert Tips for Navigating Teen and Tween Challenges

In this episode, we’re talking about one of the most common (and sneakiest) patterns in parenting: assuming the worst. I see it all the time. And yes—I do it too. It shows up in the little moments. Like when your teen doesn’t answer your text for an hour and your brain instantly goes to: They’re ignoring me. They’re mad at me. They’ve been kidnapped. (Meanwhile, their phone is dead and they’re happily eating nachos with friends.) Or when they sigh at something you said and suddenly you’re spiraling into, They don’t respect me. They hate living here. This entire family is...

info_outline 300. The Over-Loving Parent Trap (and How to Step Out Gracefully) show art 300. The Over-Loving Parent Trap (and How to Step Out Gracefully)

Pivot Parenting: Expert Tips for Navigating Teen and Tween Challenges

If you’ve ever thought, “I just want to love my kid and have them let me!” — this episode is for you. Many parents find themselves chasing their teen’s affection, bending rules, overgiving, or trying to buy closeness with gifts and favors — all in the name of love. But instead of feeling more connected, they end up tied in emotional knots, walking on eggshells, and quietly wondering why they’re getting less respect, fewer conversations, and more distance. It’s painful, confusing, and it can make even the most devoted parent feel rejected. In this episode, I’m unpacking why we...

info_outline 299. Healing Apathy in Your Teen, with Alma Galvan show art 299. Healing Apathy in Your Teen, with Alma Galvan

Pivot Parenting: Expert Tips for Navigating Teen and Tween Challenges

Your motivated kid turned into a teenager who doesn't care about anything. Now what? It's heartbreaking watching your once-enthusiastic child become indifferent to grades, goals, relationships - everything that used to matter to them. You're probably wondering if you did something wrong, if it's just a phase, or if there's any way back to the kid you remember. In this eye-opening interview, we dig into the real story behind teenage apathy and what parents can actually do about it. What We Cover: The fear driving both you and your teen (and why it paralyzes everyone) How the way you see...

info_outline 298. Worrying About Your Teen show art 298. Worrying About Your Teen

Pivot Parenting: Expert Tips for Navigating Teen and Tween Challenges

If you’re a parent who lies awake at night mentally running through worst-case scenarios, overthinking every decision your teen makes, or trying to prevent every possible meltdown, mistake, or danger—you’re not alone. Parental worry is universal. And it’s exhausting. In this episode, I’m breaking down why we worry, what it’s actually doing inside our brains and bodies, and how that worry—despite our best intentions—often lands with our teens as pressure, distrust, or emotional distance. We’ll talk about the psychology behind parental anxiety, how teens interpret our constant...

info_outline 297. 5 Steps to Stop Nagging and Get Buy-in from Your Teen, with Marielle Melling show art 297. 5 Steps to Stop Nagging and Get Buy-in from Your Teen, with Marielle Melling

Pivot Parenting: Expert Tips for Navigating Teen and Tween Challenges

Nagging your teen never works—but what if you had a framework that did? In this episode of Pivot Parenting, I sit down with author and parenting expert Marielle Melling to talk about how parents can finally get on the same page with their kids without the endless power struggles. We unpack why nagging backfires, how to soothe the discomfort that keeps families from healthy communication, and the secret to meeting everyone’s needs in ways that actually strengthen family bonds. Marielle also walks us through her key questions that help parents see themselves and their teens more clearly—so...

info_outline 296. Protecting Harm with Connecting Conversations, with Jason Reid show art 296. Protecting Harm with Connecting Conversations, with Jason Reid

Pivot Parenting: Expert Tips for Navigating Teen and Tween Challenges

Today I’m talking with Jason Reid about one of the hardest parts of parenting: having real, honest conversations with our kids about the things nobody wants to bring up. The messy things. The scary things. The things we hope aren’t happening—but often are. Jason shares his family’s story of losing his 14-year-old son to suicide, and the gained wisdom he's sharing with all of us. He reveals the number one mistake we simply cannot afford to make as parents, and how small shifts in our conversations can genuinely protect our kids. This isn’t an episode about fear—it’s about clarity,...

info_outline 295. Teenage Loneliness Epidemic show art 295. Teenage Loneliness Epidemic

Pivot Parenting: Expert Tips for Navigating Teen and Tween Challenges

Teenagers today are more “connected” than ever—and also more alone than ever. In this episode, I break down what researchers are calling a teenage loneliness epidemic and how it’s quietly shaping our kids’ emotional, social, and spiritual health. Large global studies show that about 1 in 9 adolescents worldwide report feeling lonely “most of the time” or “always.” Long-term data also shows that by 2018, high loneliness levels in adolescents had nearly doubled compared to 2012. In the U.S., young people hold some of the highest loneliness rates of any age group, with one...

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Your motivated kid turned into a teenager who doesn't care about anything. Now what? It's heartbreaking watching your once-enthusiastic child become indifferent to grades, goals, relationships - everything that used to matter to them. You're probably wondering if you did something wrong, if it's just a phase, or if there's any way back to the kid you remember.

In this eye-opening interview, we dig into the real story behind teenage apathy and what parents can actually do about it.

What We Cover:

  • The fear driving both you and your teen (and why it paralyzes everyone)
  • How the way you see yourself as a parent shapes everything
  • Why how you view your apathetic teen matters more than you think
  • Where your actual power lies as a parent (hint: it's not where you've been focusing)
  • Practical ways to support your teen without enabling or pushing them away
  • The difference between giving up and letting go

Perfect for Parents Who:

  • Have a teen who seems to care about nothing
  • Feel powerless watching their child drift through life
  • Wonder if their once-driven kid will ever find motivation again
  • Are tired of nagging, bribing, and consequences that don't work
  • Want to support their teen without losing their minds

This isn't about quick fixes or forcing motivation. It's about understanding what's really happening and finding your role in the healing process. Because sometimes the best thing you can do is get out of your own way.

Ready to see your apathetic teen - and yourself - differently?

About my guest: In 1996, Alma Galván's world changed when both of her children were diagnosed with severe autism, ADHD, and sensory processing disorder. When doctors told her to institutionalize her son and move on with her life, she chose a different path—and began a journey that would transform thousands of lives.

After seven years of research, Alma discovered powerful, science-backed techniques that dramatically improved her children’s brain development. Within months, they made more progress than they had in years. Other parents noticed and began asking for help—leading Alma to create BrainWorx, a program that has now helped thousands of families overcome anxiety, overwhelm, distractibility, foggy thinking, and more.

Her core discovery: movement changes the brain, and more brain function creates more ease in life. Alma is especially passionate about helping individuals who are looking for a solution that addresses the foundation and feel they have internal roadblocks. Her approach integrates brain development and emotional healing, creating a synergistic effect that accelerates growth and transformation.

In December 2024, Alma survived a life-threatening aneurysm. Even while unconscious, her body continued to do small  movements  that she had practiced for years—evidence of how deeply they were woven into her. This is a part of why she and her doctors think she has recovers in a miraculous way. That experience deepened her devotion to this work, which she now continues through BrainWorx and Alma Integration, with even greater clarity, compassion, and purpose.