Ask Lisa: The Psychology of Raising Tweens & Teens

Dr. Lisa Damour is a clinical psychologist, New York Times bestselling author, and regular contributor to CBS News and the New York Times, and her podcast with journalist Reena Ninan tackles the psychological side of the teenage years with real clinical depth. The show is technically aimed at parents, but high school students will find it just as useful because Damour explains adolescent psychology in a way that helps teens understand their own brains. Episodes cover the things that actually consume a teenager's mental bandwidth: social media pressure, study habits that work versus ones that just feel productive, food and body image struggles, friendship dynamics, how to handle conflict with parents, and what anxiety looks like when it crosses from normal to clinical. Damour brings in research without making episodes feel like academic papers, and Ninan asks the practical follow-up questions that parents (and students) actually need answered. The show releases weekly on Tuesdays, with 261 episodes in the catalog and a 4.8 star average from 761 Apple ratings. Recent topics include fan fiction culture, teen piercings, and how to future-proof yourself in a changing world. For high school students, listening to this show is a bit like reading your parents' playbook, which can be surprisingly helpful for understanding why the adults in your life react the way they do. The psychology insights apply just as much to self-understanding as they do to parent-child relationships.