135 - Is Your Adolescent Ready For The Real World?

In this episode Heather LaMontagne and Suzy Martinek share the importance of being proactive with your child’s mental health and ways for parents to connect with their adolescent children.

Heather and Suzy are certified professional youth resilience & mentor coaches.  They both switched careers to find fulfillment.  They are inspired by helping youth move from "just getting by" in life to thrive and find success after leaving home.  They have extensive knowledge and training with relevant topics including social skills, personality types, natural health & wellness, self-compassion and more. They are moms of young adults and have over a decade of experience mentoring young adults.

To learn more and get access to their Move Ideas Into Action Course, visit their website at www.youthlifeskillscoach.com.  

Follow them on FB or Instagram @youthlifeskillscoach and join their FB group Raising Girls Who Thrive for parenting and adolescent life skills tips. 

OFFER:

Suzy & Heather are Offer Live Blissed Out Listeners $100 off their online program.

Go to moveideasintoaction.com and enter the code YOUTH100 at checkout to receive $100 of their online program. 

You’ll get... 

• Four guided creative sessions to spark idea generation 
• A program that gets young adults out of the norm and into dreaming 
• Teaches confidence through self awareness & discovery 
• Tools to make ideas a reality and set achievable goals 
• Great bonding tool for young adults and their parent/mentor 

Or if you’re interested in private coaching for your 13 - 30 year old, contact them at www.youthlifeskillscoach.com for a FREE consult.

In this episode we cover:

3:26      The Digital Age

6:07      The Adolescent Brain

7:57      Resilience

11:25   Tips On How To Connect

15:16   Youth Life Coaching

21:08   What To Expect

27:07   The Positive Challenge

30:25   Being Intentional

Thanks so much for tuning in again this week. I appreciate you  🙂

Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the Feedback section.

Special thanks to Heather LaMontagne & Suzy Martinek for being on the show.

If you have a question or comment for a future episode, visit https://www.speakpipe.com/lbovm.

Also, don’t forget to Subscribe for FREE: Apple Podcasts 

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Chapters

• 3:26 The Digital Age
• 6:07 The Adolescent Brain
• 7:57 Resilience
• 11:25 Tips On How To Connect
• 15:16 Youth Life Coaching
• 21:08 What To Expect
• 27:07 The Positive Challenge
• 30:25 Being Intentional

Transcript

Did You Know  0:02  
Did you know that the frontal lobe of the adolescent brain doesn't reach its full potential until around age 25? 

Intro  0:10  
Hello, action taker! Welcome to Live Blissed Out. A podcast where I have inspirational and informational conversations with business owners and subject matter experts that help you get the scoop on a variety of topics. Tired of hesitating or making decisions without having the big picture? Wanna be in the know? Then this is the place to go. I'm your host Marisa Huston. Helping you achieve bliss through awareness and action. So let's get to it. In this episode, Heather LaMontagne and Suzy Martinek share the importance of being proactive with your child's mental health and ways for parents to connect with their adolescent children. Heather and Suzy are certified professional youth resilience and mentor coaches. They both switched careers to find fulfilment. They are inspired by helping youth move from "just getting by in life" to thrive and find success after leaving home. They have extensive knowledge and training with relevant topics, including social skills, personality types, natural health and wellness, self compassion, and more. They are moms of young adults and have over a decade of experience mentoring young adults. To learn more and get access to their Move Ideas Into Action Course, visit their website at www.youthlife skillscoach.com. Enter the code Youth100 at checkout to receive $100 off their online program. Follow them on Facebook or Instagram @youthlifeskillscoach and join their Facebook group Raising Girls Who Thrive for parenting and adolescent life skills tips. 

Ko-Fi  1:40  
If you'd like to support this podcast and engage with our community, become a professional tier member for backstage access and monthly networking opportunities at Ko-Fi.com/liveblissedout. 

Disclaimer  1:55  
The information opinions and recommendations presented in this podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this podcast is done at your own risk. This podcast should not be considered professional advice. 

Marisa Huston  2:07  
Heather and Suzy, welcome to the show. It's really great to have you.

Heather LaMontagne  2:13  
Hello. Hi there.

Suzy Martinek  2:15  
We are thrilled to be here. Thank you.

Marisa Huston  2:19  
I would love it. If you could set the stage for us and tell our listeners what we will be talking about today.

Heather LaMontagne  2:25  
Of course, I'm Heather Lamontagne and Suzy and I are both youth life coaches. Right now, mental health is such a major concern for everyone in our country, especially for parents with adolescent kids who are kind of in the thick of it going through some really, potentially hard times and challenging stressful times from a mental health perspective. So for all the parents listening, we want to talk today about how to help the adolescent in your life become more resilient, and more proactive with their mental wellness, so that they can thrive after leaving home.

Marisa Huston  3:05  
Mental health is something we hear a lot about. And I'm curious as to why it seems in today's world that children are really being more challenged in this area. What do you think is the cause of it? And do you feel like it's any different than it has been? Or is it just that we're talking about it more?

Suzy Martinek  3:26  
Hi, I'm Suzy Martinek. I think today, mental health is kids are just dealing with things that we didn't deal with at this age. Everything that they do is out there for everyone to see. This is the first generation right now that is completely grown up on social media. Since they were a toddler they had an iPad so they are completely in the digital age. I think what comes with that, too, is the brain is not developed, but it's even more underdeveloped with all the digital age. And so they're just having different life experiences that we really didn't have. We kind of went out and played and learned by knocking each other to the ground, this that and the other, you work things out. And now it's just completely different. There's just a lot of vehicles for the stress and bullying that become triggers for anxiety and low self confidence.

Marisa Huston  4:19  
I'm glad you pointed that out Suzy because I think that it's more center stage. In the past, we make a mistake, and nobody really knows about it. But now it's put out there for everyone to see and it creates anxiety. No matter what age you are, we all fall down. And when everybody is criticizing you or can see those mistakes, it becomes enhanced and kids are more stressed, don't you think?

Suzy Martinek  4:51  
Well, absolutely. And I think too. It's 24/7. I mean, one of the first things I like to tell my youth coaching clients is can you turn off notifications for three days? And turning off those notifications, it can make such a difference. Because studies have shown that when you hear that ding on your phone, what happens to the body with fight or flight is, that's automatic stress. And so you think about these kids are constantly seeing all these reminders all the time of something, and they don't want to miss out. And that's a huge difference than what we dealt with.

Marisa Huston  5:23  
We're adults, our minds aren't developing. These kids are in a different space. It's hard to distinguish to even be able to identify what's real. When you see somebody on social media, when you see an article, information gets shared so quickly, that we're just scrolling along, and then our brain start to digest this information in such a way that we almost think it's real, like we don't even question it anymore. We see images 24/7, flash before our eyes, and we don't know how to question it, how to validate it, or do anything like that. And if we as adults are having that issue, I can't even imagine developing children and what they must be going through.

Heather LaMontagne  6:07  
Exactly, I mean, imagine the dynamics of the adolescent brain. O ur brain, as human beings is not fully developed until your mid 20s, early 30s. In some cases, so imagine that. Just like you're saying, the stress and the hormonal changes lead to higher reactivity, higher rates of depression. There's an amazing stat out there that I read that I just was blown away by, and that stress and anxiety for young girls or just for women, peaks at age 21. So if you think about that, adolescents are in the storm of not being able to fully process what they're going through. And so impulsive behavior is very common over reason behavior. That's not just the exception, that's the rule for adolescents. That's just part of how their brain is developing, or not developing quite yet. Because of change in the dynamics in their brain and their social lives, they're now focusing on friend relationships, versus their family. Friends become a little bit more important, that heightens all of the social dynamics and heightens those pressures that they feel as well. So a lot of it has to do with just the dynamics of the developing adolescent brain.

Marisa Huston  7:24  
Kids are developing. They think differently, they prioritize things differently. There's all kinds of different factors that we have to take into account. And as parents, that's a challenge. Because, think about it, every stage is different. Like a two year old is going to behave differently from a five year old, from an eight year old, from a 10 year old and so forth. What are some of those challenges that you feel parents are currently having to deal with and what are some things that they can start to think about to address them?

Suzy Martinek  7:57  
One thing I want to say Marisa is, so parents understand some of the strategies that we're going to talk about is today, you really want to talk about how to help the adolescent in your life. How to help them become more resilient, more proactive with mental wellness, so that you know, when they leave home, they're ready to launch and they're thriving. And to that end, I just want to tell you a little story before we go into some of the strategies. When I was little, my dad had mental illness. So my dad had schizophrenia and he just kept leaving. And then I have three older brothers. And finally, when I was one, I was the youngest of four, when my dad left, he left with everything. And so my mom picked us up and moved us to a small town in Kentucky from Indianapolis, Indiana, and had to go work. She had been home with my brothers and me and all of a sudden, she's got four mouths to feed. There was no money for my mom to do anything. She was working during the day, she was working at night. I mean, she had three jobs. She wasn't ever home. And there's four of us. And we were 1, 5, 7 and nine. And so basically, for six years, while my mom was doing all that work, I was kind of raising myself. My brothers were doing their thing. I mean, we were really a bunch of yard apes just running around trying to figure out life, right? And this is my formative years. So I really suffered a lot of trauma from one to seven. It was learning too much too soon, being this little street kid. So I was always in fight or flight, never knowing the next situation that was going to happen. So as I grew up, yes, I had resilience but at the same time, it wasn't a healthy resilience. It was just survival mode. Then I became a parent, I do the opposite. I never wanted my kids to experience what I've experienced. So I really did too much for them. I became helicopter parent. I didn't let them fail. And we see a lot of that as well today. And so there is a happy medium. But to have somebody in your life that you can talk to and have that non parent person in your life like a coach or a mentor, someone at church, something. It is so critical. And that would have just been so helpful. Kids today, it just would be so beneficial when they have just somebody that is not their parent in their life, to help more with that empowerment, encouragement, learning resilience, life skills, so that they can launch and thrive after they leave home. And that's what we're going to talk some about today within strategies you were just asking about.

Marisa Huston  10:32  
And I'm so glad you shared that story. Not only is it an amazing story, but I also feel like everybody's got a different scenario that they remember in their lives that challenged them when they were children. Everybody deals with it differently. Some parents become just like their parents, and some parents want to be completely different, because they don't want their kids to go through the same thing. So thank you for sharing that because I think that that'll help us then establish, alright, maybe we should look at ourselves and see where we come from, and how we deal with things. We can't move forward until we understand where we are, where we came from. And so this kind of helps us think. We really start to reflect on things so that we can figure out for ourselves. All right, what can I do differently? If I need to make changes? What does that look like?

Heather LaMontagne  11:25  
Right? That parent connection is so needed, and having the right parental role model for these kids, is critical to helping them build resilience. The best type of parent out there is what's called an authoritative parent. That's very different from an authoritarian parent. An authoritative parent, they're so focused on the relationship. It's a reciprocal relationship, the parent and the child together. The parent is very responsive, very listening, focused. They're validating what their child says. There are strong boundaries, but they're not like an authoritarian parent that's uber controlling, and sort of puts their kid down, and not permissive parent, that kind of goes too far the other way, and lets the kid walk all over him. That authoritative parent really has these frequent two way conversations, you know, providing lots of support and asking lots of questions and giving them guidance. We have a few tips, actually, for parents on how to connect. There's so many strategies out there but there's just a few that we wanted to mention today. Because they're basic, and they're easy to implement and they're so critical. So for instance, the first one would be just listen. These kids are coming into their own, they want to feel heard. And as parents, we often just jump in and can't help but problem solve or make a judgement. And that's exactly what they don't need from us. So we should try to resist that and let them tell their story by asking more questions. Truly, that active listening is huge. Another strategy is imitating. Sounds kind of silly, but it's kind of effective if you repeat back what your child says. This is called mirroring. We've all heard of that term. The whole point is to demonstrate you are interested, you're listening, you're giving them a chance to tell their story, you're kind of repeating back oh, so you said Mary was being unfair to you. Okay, tell me more. You know, you kind of repeat back and then they understand, oh, mom's actually listening. The last one is really just validation. So no matter how trivial you think the story is that they're telling just validate it. Even if you don't agree, just kind of ask more questions to get to the bottom of it. Let them know you're trying to understand what they're saying. That must have hurt. Saying something like that can go a long way rather than let me solve that for you, honey, and then they don't even have a chance to think through the situation. So really validating, listening, imitating letting them get guidance from you, rather than just be told what to do. 

Marisa Huston  11:39  
I love those tips. It's so easy for us to understand that. But applying them on a daily basis is always a challenge. If you think about the standard situation that parents deal with, they're busy. They're running around, they're either coming home from work, or they're taking care of basic responsibilities and now the kid brings up what they feel might be a trivial thing in their minds or somewhere else because they're dealing with really big issues. And there could also be communication style issues. Like perhaps a parent is a fast talker or they just like to get to the point and the child is more of a, you know I wanna reflect and I want you to hear me out and take this time. And in our busy world, it's so hard to come to grips with that. Like, how do you combine that? Are these things that you can help parents address or get a better understanding about? 

Suzy Martinek  15:16  
For sure, absolutely. We believe in youth life coaching, because parents don't have all the answers. Sometimes they're just too close to it. That's the piece where youth life coaching is so great. I mean, I think we can all say, oh, yeah, I've heard of life coaching. What is that? Some people talk about being stuck, or they just need more guidance for, say, time management or coping skills, things like that. It's just really the same with youth like coaching. Somebody where it's another person in this adolescents life, who can help them figure out some of these issues that they're having. And so as a youth life coach, we really believe more in the encouragement-empowerment model. Whereas it's about asking questions, and helping these youth find the answers within themselves. Because if these kids can learn strategies to ask questions with themselves and come up with the answers. You know, you hear about intuition, and you follow your gut and things like that and there's so much to be said, for that. We start with like 13 year olds, but if they can learn at the end of middle school, how to discern different situations. I mean, what a gift, right? I think what you see so much today is these kids don't trust themselves with decision making and they're just so much insecurity and comparison stuff. The difference between coaching and therapy is, again, it's that empowerment model. We don't prescribe medicine, we don't do things like that.  That is awesome for therapists, but for coaches, we're really more just about teaching them ways to trust themselves.

Heather LaMontagne  16:54  
Another good way to kind of think about the difference between therapy and coaching is, if you think of our wellness, or our mental health on a continuum, on a straight line, the negative numbers would represent something's wrong, something's not functioning perfectly. You know, you might have some anxiety, you might have some depression, you might have a situation like having ADD or some other situation. Therapy is all about addressing those non functioning pieces of you to get back to normal functioning, to get back to that base level. Base level, and normal functioning is just fine. But what coaching does is it kind of helps you get off of that gerbil wheel of life sometimes that we get stuck on. Just, I wake up, I go to work, I eat dinner, I sleep. Just not really thinking just kind of almost like a machine going through life. So getting off that gerbil wheel of life, and really getting towards the positive numbers of thriving in life. Again, thinking of that wellness continuum, coaching really addresses the zero to 100, or whatever of thriving in life. So those are some differences. And we can absolutely help fill in the gaps for parents because parents don't know everything, and they shouldn't be expected to know everything. There are also tremendous gaps on what they don't teach in school. We help fill in the gap where what parents leave off on and what they're not teaching in school, some of those just life skills that you don't even think about that are so critical to being able to successfully launch that basically, some of those life skills might be learning from failure, that failure is so important. Basic communication skills. Those come naturally to some of us, but not so naturally to others and especially kids. There are a lot of kids who are high functioning, but they might be very socially awkward. So they need to just learn some social communication skills. Social media strategies is a big one for us, just because there are a lot of kids who get stuck in the black hole of their phone and don't know how to handle situations where they might be bullied, or how do they get proactive about that and avoid those things. We also teach self awareness. That's something that we're not teaching in school necessarily. There might be a unique class or unique program that might help with that. But, self awareness builds confidence. Once you really know your strengths, know your areas where you might be challenged on a regular basis, like by learning your personality type, for instance, that's another thing that we do with kids. Gosh, that's so informative! Because you know how to move forward in life, you have better confidence of, okay, here's where I might need to ask for help but here's where I can really shine and I can help others. Other things like stress management, we've talked about, study strategies, goal setting and achievement. I mean, that seems like such a basic thing. But if you don't set realistic goals and nobody teaches you how to do that, you're gonna set yourself up for failure. You're gonna self sabotage because you said okay, I'm going to lose 30 pounds in a month or whatever it is, or I'm going to exercise five times a day every day, and then suddenly you don't do it, then you say, Oh, forget it. So goal setting is a true skill.

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Marisa Huston  20:44  
Yeah, you get discouraged. And once you're discouraged, you walk away and then you think everybody else seems to get it and I don't. When a parent reaches out to you for help, are they involved in the entire process right along with you and the child? Or is it where you talk to the parent separately, and then you help the child separately? What can they expect when they choose to work with you? 

Suzy Martinek  21:08  
That's a great question. Marisa. Thank you so much for asking that. We offer a couple of different packages. The individual package for just the adolescent would be 12 sessions. So we'd like to do three months. And during that time, it's really just working with adolescent. I mean, we have a consult with the parent before we start, see if it's a good fit. We tell them how everything works and then what they can expect. We have another package where there is more parent parental involvement. Talking to them on the phone more. We do send follow up emails after each session to tell them what we talked about and then there is another package where we are more involved and the parent can ask more questions. And then you know, if there's something if parents want a little more parenting help, we can do that as well and work with just the parent. During that time, there's an intake session and then there's a values assessment, which is excellent. Because there can be times when kiddos might have stomach aches, and they don't really know why. And it can be something as simple as when they know their values, like say there's somebody who's really compassionate, but they're hanging out with kids that are mean, that child would go to school, have a stomachache because they're not aligned with their values. So I have found that to be so constructive and informational for the person we're working with. So they can understand that they want their values to align with their everyday action, because then they'll find their passion and their purpose that aligns with their values. We do a personality test to see what kind of personality they are. We love the Enneagram. There's Myers Briggs. There's lots of those out there. But those are in the first three sessions. And then really, from there, we have other activities and we talked to the client to see what they want to work on. And then there is feedback with the parents after that first month. 

Heather LaMontagne  22:55  
Yeah. We definitely have regular parent updates even though the sessions themselves are completely confidential. There is a child and coach relationship that is confidential. But from the broad strokes, we always talk to the kids about what's okay to share and things like that during parent updates. But like Suzy said, we can also do parent coaching. Another thing I wanted to mention about kind of the experience of what it looks like, we do the consultation, we talk to both the parent and the kid, sometimes separately, just to make sure that the kids just as much on board and this isn't just the parents idea. Because it's very important that the child be in and be motivated and be kind of excited about it or even curious, even if they're not excited. Hopefully they're curious. This has such an immense impact on a child's life. But it won't feel like a big deal. It's 30-45 minutes a week. And if the kid needs to do every other week, because they're super athletic and on 16 teams, that's fine, too. But it's 30 to 40 minutes each time we meet with them. In the course of one session, we are catching up on how they're doing, catching up on the last thing that we talked about, maybe they had a little homework assignment, then we talked about, hey, what you want to talk about today, and whatever's coming up. And if nothing's coming up, then we have this life satisfaction survey that we did during the intake to reflect upon and say, Okay, you want to talk about one of these things that you identified as something you wanted to work on. So we've always got lots of different ways to come up with conversations. We also will do lifeskills strategies, if they want to learn about what's the term accountability, what does that mean? And we'll talk them through it. Even though this all has this tremendous impact on their life. The kid won't feel like it's a big deal.

Marisa Huston  24:43  
It sounds to me like it really is custom. Like you talk to the parents, you talk to the children, you really get an understanding in terms of what their expectations are, understand them and help them become more aware and build around that. So it's not like this cookie cutter approach. You have a process, but it's really geared towards the success of each individual family and what their needs are. We have listeners right now who are thinking, I need help. I didn't even know this existed and I have been struggling. My child is struggling, and it pains me to see this happening. Is there something right now that our listeners can do, our parents in particular, to help them do something that might make the situation a little better? Something that they can apply at the moment that they can walk away with, and perhaps try so that they can get a sense of how to help their child?

Suzy Martinek  25:42  
Yes. And to that, in worse, I do want to say, at the end of four sessions, we always revisit with the client and also with the parent to make sure it's a good fit. Because I have had clients where they're really not in a place to be ready for coaching. They're not motivated, or they don't really want to do anything to make the changes that need to be made. And so when that happens, it's nothing against the client, they're just not ready. We need to wait until a later time that they're ready to do coaching. So, I do want to say that this is nothing anybody's ever coerced into. The client always has to want to be there and want to figure out some of these things. And if it isn't a good fit, that's okay. We just would wait for a later time. One thing I can say is family dinner. That seems maybe small. But in this busy world, a lot of times people don't sit down with their kiddos for dinner. And so when you're talking about what parents can be doing now, Heather and I, we think this be positive challenge could be something great to where these families, they spend more time together, maybe three days, it could be a week ,an entire month. It's just a period of time where everything is about being more positive, and doing things to where it's just focusing on being together and doing things together. That create that positivity, gratitude sort of thing, and I'm gonna let Heather tell you all more about the challenge. 

Heather LaMontagne  27:07  
Yeah. So as Suzy was saying, something as simple as that connection with your kid, making that connection, super positive. And one of the big pillars of mental wellness is being more positive, more of an open mindset than a fixed one is definitely a key to better mental health. Creating this be positive challenge within your family. We've got a blog on our website, gives you all of these tips on how you can do it but we can give you a few now. What that might look like. And again, you could do it for as long as you want. Maybe it's three days where we're all trying to be as positive as possible. Or maybe it's the whole month. And you give your whole family ideas. And what it could look like is staying active is huge. Staying active actually stimulates the happy brain chemicals. So maybe the whole family, whether they do it together, or separately, maybe there's more exercise, maybe there's a family walk every night of the week, or on a certain night of the week. Maybe you all are assigned by the Mom let's say, to make a gratitude list, and you bring it to dinner and discuss what's on your list. I think dinner is just a great way to do it because you've spent a lot of time making this dinner, and everybody is done in 10 minutes and gets out and leaves the table. This is a really great opportunity to just instill some of these hey, guys, let's talk about these different things. We're going to try to be more positive. For instance, if we could all bring to dinner, one situation where it didn't turn out the way you wanted. And then we're going to talk about how to reframe that over dinner. Because there's so many different ways to look at every situation. How can you make lemonade out of lemons? How do you make it a positive when that kid thought it was just this terrible, horrific thing. So there's lots more ideas. Our website is www.youthlifeskillscoach.com and there is a blog about positive thinking strategies. So if you find that blog, and want to institute some of that with your family, be positive challenge to see what kind of a difference it makes in yourselves.

Marisa Huston  29:23  
Sounds to me like it entails spending more quality time together, communicating, maybe feeding off each other's ideas. You know, just having that connection, which a lot of times we don't get because we're so focused on our phones and all this technology and we're running from one thing to the next. And we really don't take a step back and realize how crucial it is to not only bond with each other but realize too that this time it goes by really fast. And one day that child is going to be a grown adult and you're going to miss those moments, you're going to miss being able to spend time with them, quality time. Whether it's a board game together once a week, it's those moments that people cherish and remember.

Heather LaMontagne  30:08  
Absolutely, yeah, that connection is just huge. And it should go without saying, but you're right, Marisa. right now we're all just each individually staring at our phones instead of really connecting on a human level.

Suzy Martinek  30:25  
Marisa I can tell you a little story about that. I was working with a young man in California, because we do in person and virtual coaching. We were talking about doing his daily routine, trying to see where he was spending his time. He went through his day. He said, Oh, when we set up the TV trays, and we sit in front of the TV and have dinner. And I go, oh, okay. And I go is that every night? And he goes, Yeah. And I go, well, how long has that been going on? And he goes, well, as long as I can remember. And he's 15. And so when I did talk to his mom, I did say, hey, have you ever thought about having family dinner? I said, try two nights a week, whatever you can make work in your busy schedule. And there's also these questions that you can ask at dinner time. And there's been a lot that have come out. And she goes, Oh, well, I just thought of something. And I said, try that and let me know how it goes. So I talked to her about five days later and I said, hey, how'd that go with a dinner activity? And she said, oh, my gosh, it has gone so well. My husband didn't get home till eight o'clock. But that's okay, we waited for him. And she said, my son looks so forward to this and he is so happy. And that was really huge for him. But really, when you think about being intentional, and making that time for dinner together, there can be huge gains for that. So I just really want to encourage parents not to get overwhelmed. There are small changes you can make for connection, but they go so far for your child.

Marisa Huston  31:45  
Thank you for that story.  Parents want to spend time with their children, but they don't even see what you just described. They get so used to a tradition. And in this case, the tradition was we all get our little TV trays, and we sit in front of the TV, that they never even consider that there's a different way. It's just what we've always done. So when they're given an opportunity to be more aware about it and encouraged to try something different, that's where the magic happens. Then they're like, why didn't I do this before? I didn't even realize that's what a lot of us go through. And it's through those conversations that you can really get to the core issue, and perhaps come up with solutions that could have a better impact down the road.

Suzy Martinek  32:31  
For sure, absolutely. 

Marisa Huston  32:32  
How do our listeners learn more about the services that you offer and get a hold of you?

Heather LaMontagne  32:38  
The most direct way to get in touch with us is our website. It's www.youthlifeskillscoach.com. And on there, there's a blog with some tips. You can also follow us on Facebook, which is @youthlifeskillscoach and join our group where you'll get parenting tips, and all of that good stuff. Right now, there's another great way for your listeners to connect with their child. And that is an online program that we just launched in March. And it teaches everybody involved parent, and child, how to put all of the great ideas that you have in your head and in your heart really into action, getting them out into the world. And we're offering everybody $100 off the online program for listeners. For that one, you can go to our website and go to programs and you'll find the program down there. It's called Move Ideas Into Action. If you put in the code, Youth100 at checkout, you'll get that $100 discount. So instead of $297 for both of you, it'll just be $197. You get so much with that. Check it out on our website. We do private coaching, and we are happy to offer anybody a free consult to just learn more and figure out if it's a good fit.

Marisa Huston  34:02  
What's the age that you serve?

Suzy Martinek  34:04  
I started as young as 13 and really go up to 30. Actually, right now I have a client that's 29. On the website says 14 to 24. 

Heather LaMontagne  34:13  
There's no geographic concern, really, it's just finding some common times that work on both of our schedules so if there's a time change, which we've dealt with that in the past, no biggie. We just figure out a regular time that works for everybody involved. And there's really no restriction on who we can help. And that includes race, gender, all of those good things. We are so open to anybody and everything.

Marisa Huston  34:38  
And I'm glad that Suzy mentioned that you help people online. That's one of the positives is that we can reach more people.

Heather LaMontagne  34:47  
Absolutely. You're right. It truly is more like a 30 to 45 minute weekly commitment instead of driving somebody somewhere and picking them up and dropping them off and there's none of that. We can just do it all over Zoom and We're still face to face, which is just fabulous.

Marisa Huston  35:02  
I'm just so glad that people like you exist. That there is a place for parents to go to reach out and get the help that they need. Because oftentimes they feel discouraged, or they feel something's wrong with them. Like why can't I do better? I don't understand. And knowing that there's support out there is really wonderful.

Suzy Martinek  35:21  
Yes. And you know, one thing I'll say, Marisa. I've had parents say, well, our pricing is so reasonable. But it's not even about that as much as when you invest this small amount for your child at this critical age to teach them how to handle living in life. Life's hard. But if you invest now, and these kiddos, learn these skill sets, and understand how to navigate life, and trust themselves, you just can't put a price on that.

Marisa Huston  35:51  
And there isn't the playbook in life. I wish everything came with a manual and follow these steps. But it doesn't work that way. It's complicated for adults. So you can only imagine children who are going through so much trying to figure themselves out. This extra support is not going to only help them but it'll also help the families so that they can build a good foundation and have a better relationship for the rest of their lives.

Heather LaMontagne  36:16  
Absolutely.

Suzy Martinek  36:17  
Yes. Thank you, Marisa for highlighting this and having us on. We are so thrilled to be a part of it.

Marisa Huston  36:23  
I so appreciate you being here. Thank you, ladies. 

Suzy Martinek  36:26  
Thank you. 

Heather LaMontagne  36:28  
That's a wrap for this episode of Live Blissed Out. Thanks to Heather LaMontagne and Suzy Martinek, for joining us, and thanks for listening. If you have a question or comment for a future episode, all you have to do is go to www.speakpipe.com/lbovm or click the link in the show notes to leave a brief audio message. If you find value in our show, please visit www.liveblissedout.com to reach out, subscribe and share on social media. This show is made possible through listeners like you. Thank you. So long for now and remember to keep moving forward!