Lisa Gay Nichols - Surviving Your Out-of-Control Teen: A Moms Guide to Loving Your Child Through the Difficult Times While Keeping Your Sanity Intact

While reading Surviving Your Out-of-Control Teen , I found myself sobbing. I think the main reason is that I felt that here is someone who finally gets itgets me! She knows exactly what I went through with my son. She understands all the emotions and fears that go along with the circumstance I was facing. There is no you should or judgement in this book implying that the problem is somehow all because you screwed up this parenting thing. Instead, there is practical and viable advice and actions that you can use to relieve the stress and anxiety that is preventing you from helping your family and yourself from surviving and feeling whole.

F IONA E CKERSLEY , author of Fearful to Fabulous

This book could easily be entitled Surviving Life with Your Sanity Intact. Not everyone has teenagers, but everyone is walking the path of daily turmoil. So much passion, clarity, and understanding of the struggles we live through day by day is unfolded page by page in Ms. Nichols book. It is a manual to increase ones view of self-worth, to decrease the insanity that the world brings us, and just BE HAPPY!

D ENAE L EIGON , LMFT

If your teen is out of control, here is hope, solace and wisdom. Best of all, here is real help that will make a difference. You are not alone. The author has been there. With clarity and honesty, Lisa Nichols shares not only what she learned; she also gives practical ways to care for yourself through this difficult journey.

R EV . D AVID M C A RTHUR , J.D., author of Your Spiritual Heart

I was immediately struck by the level of caring and sharing presented in this book by Lisa Nichols. Its evident that the author had been through a tough life with an out-of-control teen and sincerely wants to help others who have similar experiences. As I read her book, I could see where these techniques could be applied to other areas of our lives, such as family and spousal relationships. She provides very helpful methods for addressing the stress and guilt that is commonly shared by us all. I would recommend this book to any stressed out mothers, even if your child is not yet a difficult teen.

T RICIA L INDEN , author of Until We Meet Again and eight additional books

Lisa Nichols writes with a clear voice that is exceptionally instructive while never losing its caring and compassionate tone. With vulnerability, she shares her personal struggles raising an out-of-control teen that lets the reader know that they are not alone in their pain and suffering. She came to the realization, If I wanted a different experience, I would have to change myself. In her healing and self-growth journey, she discovered a transformational tool that helped her transform the overwhelm, shame, and guilt that had plagued her long after her son became an adult. It is the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), or tapping. Through this book I learned that I needed to tap on ALL aspects of an event - the images, the sounds, tastes, thoughts and beliefsnot just the emotions. I have used her easy to use scripts to clear my own shame and guilt about the way I dealt with my teenage daughter. Lisa has grown from her experience and has great wisdom to share. This book will be tremendously helpful to other parents who feel lost and dont know what to do with their teen.

C AROLYN J ANSON , MA Secondary Education, teacher, educational consultant, Resilience Coach

A Moms Guide to Loving Your Child
Through the Difficult Times
While Keeping Your SANITY INTACT

Lisa Gay Nichols

NEW YORK

LONDONNASHVILLEMELBOURNEVANCOUVER

Surviving Your Out-of-Control Teen

A Moms Guide to Loving Your Child Through the Difficult Times While Keeping Your Sanity Intact

2020 Lisa Gay Nichols

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in New York, New York, by Morgan James Publishing in partnership with Difference Press. Morgan James is a trademark of Morgan James, LLC. www.MorganJamesPublishing.com

ISBN 9781642797220 paperback

ISBN 9781642797237 eBook

ISBN 9781642797398 audiobook

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019945481

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For Jason and Sabrina, my biggest teachers who I love even more than Panda.

And for John, who lived it with me and still stayed sweet.

I believe our darkest truths can become our beacons of light, and our most painful admissions can become catalysts for change. With every honest look inward comes life-changing awareness.

Rachel Macy Stafford

I ts been a few years since I was a mom with an out-of-control teen. But I remember the hardships of those days and wouldnt wish them on any parent.

I felt so unprepared when my son really started spinning out of control. Its not something I ever imagined going through. I had no idea where to start to help him, and I had little ability to discern what would work.

It was a lonely time. It seemed like no other parent was going through what we were going through. It was so disappointing to hear about parents whose teenagers were succeeding at sports, getting good grades, winning awards, having interests that they pursued, or just being polite once in a while. As much as I know that I shouldnt compare my children to others, it was hard not to. I would have been thrilled if my child had normal teenager problems!

As I was going through those years, one frustration was all the expert advice that did not work. Maybe it works for other teens, but not our son. We tried and tried, hoping and thinking that he would turn around, until it was almost too late.

After years of trying so many different things, I found one of the best ways I could help my teen was by helping myself. I looked at what was driving my parenting the stuck emotions and beliefs that kept me from being the parent Id really like to be.

And thats why this book came into being. In it, I share with you honestly about what the experience was like for me and how I got my relationship with my child back on track. You might think at times that I was a hot mess and even feel sorry for my kids. Thats okay I think that sometimes, too!

I wish I had the advice in this book a long time ago, even before my son was a teenager. I believe what we experienced would not have been as extreme, and we would have gotten through it with less stress and in a shorter amount of time (and less expensively). Its not that I am a perfect parent now, by any means! But my relationship with my son has changed for the better, and I am so grateful that he has come a long, long way from where he was.

I hope this book helps you find the answers that you need.

I hope it helps you make decisions with more ease and more faith about what to do to keep your child safe.

I hope it helps you realize that you dont need to feel guilt, shame, embarrassment, or regret about your childs choices and behavior, no matter what ultimately happens.