The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl

Good Inside
Good Inside
  • 4.4 (76)
  • Parenting
  • Updated Weekly

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl is a podcast from Good Inside for parents or adults raising, caring for, or loving a tween or teen. Hosted by clinical psychologist and mom of three Dr. Sheryl Ziegler, this show explores what’s really happening during this intense and transformative stage of life — from big emotions and shifting friendships to dating, academic pressure, social media, identity, and body changes. Each episode slows things down and looks beneath the surface so you can respond instead of react — because your kid may be growing up, but that doesn’t mean they need you less. They need you differently. **About Good Inside** Good Inside helps parents raise confident, resilient kids. Founded by clinical psychologist and mom of three Dr. Becky, our unique approach helps families solve current challenges, and get ahead of future ones, by focusing on the child behind the behavior and the parent behind the parenting. With an app, workshops, podcast, books, and GiGi — a proprietary chatbot trained in the Good Inside approach — members have 24/7 access to personalized, practical support for every age and stage of parenting. No question is too specific, no scenario too tricky to untangle. It’s real, sturdy guidance parents can lean on in the moment, helping them feel capable, grounded, and never alone. goodinside.com

  1. 4d ago

    When Your Kid Says "I'm Ugly," Here's What to Actually Say

    Somewhere around 9 or 10, your kid starts watching their own body: how it looks, how it compares, whether it's keeping up. And most of us freeze, because nobody handed us a script for that moment. Dr. Sheryl sits down with pediatrician Dr. Whitney Casares, author of My One of a Kind Body and the new Raising Body Confident Kids, for a conversation every parent of a tween needs. They get specific: the exact three-step self-compassion script Whitney uses when her own daughter climbs in the car saying "I'm ugly, look at my skin." Why "you're so beautiful" is the wrong reflex. How diet culture went from Special K commercials to an algorithm that feeds your kid more of it every scroll, and how Whitney quietly resets that algorithm behind the scenes. What to say when a grandparent comments on your kid's body at the dinner table. And the smallest, most doable practice for parents carrying their own body baggage: slowing down for one minute. * Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible: Girl Scouts: If you have a daughter in kindergarten through 12th grade, visit girlscouts.org to learn more Frida: Shop Frida for Kids at Walmart and Amazon today Good Inside’s Dr. Becky and Dr. Sheryl have a new show on YouTube - Teens & Screens, a bi-weekly video series helping parents navigate today's biggest technology questions. Watch the first episode on youtube.com/@goodinside. Follow Dr. Sheryl on Instagram Learn more about Good Inside Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  2. Aug 5

    Your Kid Isn't Lazy. Their Brain Is Wired for Momentum. | Dr. Alex Reed on ADHD in the Teen Years

    Middle school strips away the training wheels. Elementary school's one teacher becomes six. The hand-holding disappears. For a kid with ADHD, that's when a lot of quiet fear starts, both theirs and their parents'. Sheryl sits down with Dr. Alex Reed, a clinical psychologist specializing in neurodevelopment, to talk about what ADHD actually looks like as kids move into the teen years, and why so many of them fall through the cracks. They get into the three ADHD subtypes, why hyperfocus (yes, the same kid who can't sit still for homework but plays video games for four hours straight) is actually a strength you can work with instead of against, and "body doubling," an evidence-based strategy that makes starting a hard task dramatically easier just by having someone do it alongside you. They also get into who gets missed: girls who mask their struggle by overachieving until they burn out, and kids of color who are far more likely to be disciplined for the same behavior their white peers get evaluated for. * Looking for more support in the in-between years of parenting? Good Inside Teen gives you practical tools, scripts, and expert guidance for the moments that can feel most overwhelming with tweens and teens. Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible: Girl Scouts: If you have a daughter in kindergarten through 12th grade, visit girlscouts.org to learn more Frida: Shop Frida for Kids at Walmart and Amazon today Good Inside’s Dr. Becky and Dr. Sheryl have a new show on YouTube - Teens & Screens, a bi-weekly video series helping parents navigate today's biggest technology questions. Watch the first episode on youtube.com/@goodinside. Follow Dr. Sheryl on Instagram Learn more about Good Inside Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  3. Jul 29

    Middle School Isn't a Problem to Solve, It's a Skill Being Built

    Phyllis Fagell has spent years inside a middle school as a counselor, and she's here to make the case that the silence, the friend-group churn, and the sudden need for privacy aren't warning signs. They're the work of growing up. Dr. Sheryl and Phyllis talk through why middle schoolers pull away from their parents (and why it's not rejection), the real numbers on how often friendships shift during these years, and the "superpowers," belonging, security, self-regulation, that actually predict resilience. Also: why the popular kids aren't as happy as you'd think. Looking for more support in the in-between years of parenting? Good Inside Teen gives you practical tools, scripts, and expert guidance for the moments that can feel most overwhelming with tweens and teens. * Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible: Girl Scouts: If you have a daughter in kindergarten through 12th grade, visit girlscouts.org to learn more Good Inside’s Dr. Becky and Dr. Sheryl have a new show on YouTube - Teens & Screens, a bi-weekly video series helping parents navigate today's biggest technology questions. Watch the first episode on youtube.com/@goodinside. Follow Dr. Sheryl on Instagram Learn more about Good Inside Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  4. Jul 22

    AI Can't Do the One Thing Your Teen Needs Most

    Your tween or teen is already using AI. For homework, for image generation, for drafting the text they're too nervous to send, and, more and more, for the human stuff: breakups, mental health, how to ask someone out, how to talk to you. Dr. Sheryl sits down with Dr. Dana Suskind, a pediatric surgeon, professor of surgery and pediatrics at the University of Chicago, and the author of "Human Raised," to make sense of what kids actually need from us as AI moves into the middle of their lives. Dana's take is refreshingly un-panicked: she's not anti-AI, and not pro-AI. She's pro-human. She implants technology for a living, she builds AI tools herself, and she's clear that the real risk is what we quietly stop practicing when everything gets easy. AI is frictionless. It never pushes back. But that messy, imperfect back-and-forth between a parent and a kid? As Dana puts it, that's not a bug in the system. It's the curriculum. Sheryl and Dana get into the questions parents are actually asking: why teens open up to chatbots more than to people, whether that's a problem or a relief, what her waiting room going silent taught her about where we're headed, and why "good enough" parenting is exactly what kids need. * Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible: Kt by Knix: Use the code GOODINSIDE for 15% off period underwear Girl Scouts: If you have a daughter in kindergarten through 12th grade, visit girlscouts.org to learn more Follow Dr. Sheryl on Instagram Learn more about Good Inside Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  5. Jul 15

    My Tween is Pulling Away. Is That Normal? - Revisit

    A revisit from the Good Inside archives, hosted by Dr. Becky. As our kids grow up and pull away, it can feel like they’re breaking up with us. This week, Dr. Becky talks to a mom wondering why her son feels so distant as he begins middle school. He seems to have plenty of time to play video games and talk to his friends but she feels like she doesn’t know anything about his life anymore. Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible: Kt by Knix: Use the code GOODINSIDE for 15% off period underwear Girl Scouts: If you have a daughter in kindergarten through 12th grade, visit girlscouts.org to learn more Follow Dr. Sheryl on Instagram Learn more about Good Inside Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  6. Jul 8

    Muscles, Masculinity, and the Thing We Keep Mistaking for Health

    Boys have body image issues too. They're just harder to spot. Dr. Kyle Ganson is a researcher at the University of Toronto who studies body image, eating disorders, and masculinity in boys and young men. He's also a dad. And yes, his six-year-old already flexes at him every morning. In this conversation, Dr. Sheryl and Dr. Kyle get into what's actually happening to boys in a culture built around gym influencers, supplement stacks, looks maxing, and bulking protocols — and why parents keep missing the warning signs. (Spoiler: it looks like discipline and it looks like health. That's the problem.) You'll hear about the 1-in-7 statistic that most parents have never encountered, what muscle dysmorphia actually is and how it shows up in teenage boys, why the "respectful curiosity" approach matters more than rules, and how Arnold Schwarzenegger was genuinely different from what your son is watching on YouTube right now. * Looking for more support in the in-between years of parenting? Good Inside Teen gives you practical tools, scripts, and expert guidance for the moments that can feel most overwhelming with tweens and teens. Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible: Kt by Knix: Use the code GOODINSIDE for 15% off period underwear Girl Scouts: If you have a daughter in kindergarten through 12th grade, visit girlscouts.org to learn more Follow Dr. Sheryl on Instagram Learn more about Good Inside Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  7. Jul 1

    The Even-Keel Kid: What to Do When Your Child Can't Name Their Feelings

    Your kid seems fine. Easygoing, no meltdowns. But when you ask how they're doing — nothing. "Fine." "I don't know." A shrug. And then one day you notice something's off, and you spend weeks trying to figure out what. Sarah comes to Dr. Sheryl with exactly this. Her 10-year-old son is kind, resilient, good at everything — and totally unable to name what he's feeling. She's tried asking directly. She's tried asking sideways. She's modeled emotions, referenced Inside Out, sat on his bed and guessed out loud until something landed. And now, as his school closes and his whole world reshuffles, she can feel him shutting down again. In this conversation, Dr. Sheryl helps Sarah understand what's actually happening under the surface — why even-keeled kids often pay a silent price for their regulation, how puberty complicates the picture, and why trying to get them to talk isn't always the right first move. They talk through the "mixed feelings" shorthand, the power of asking about what your kid actually cares about (no agenda, no pivot to the real stuff), and — in one of the most specific pieces of advice you'll hear on this show — why getting your kid physically activated might open more doors than any question you could ask. * Looking for more support in the in-between years of parenting? Good Inside Teen gives you practical tools, scripts, and expert guidance for the moments that can feel most overwhelming with tweens and teens. Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible: Kt by Knix: Use the code GOODINSIDE for 15% off period underwear Girl Scouts: If you have a daughter in kindergarten through 12th grade, visit girlscouts.org to learn more   Follow Dr. Sheryl on Instagram Learn more about Good Inside Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

  8. Jun 24

    When Your Kid Comes Out: What to Say, What to Skip, and What Really Matters

    Sarah Kate Ellis has spent more than a decade as President and CEO of GLAAD, the nation's largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization. She's a TIME 100 honoree. She's testified before Congress. She's had two audiences with Pope Francis. She's also a mom of two teenagers. In this conversation, Dr. Sheryl and Sarah Kate get into what parents actually need to know — not the policy, not the politics, but the real stuff. What does it mean when your kid starts watching shows with queer characters? What do you say when they come to you? What do you do when you already said the wrong thing? Sarah Kate's answer to almost all of it: love out loud, and leave room for exploration. Kids are watching everything — your reactions to the neighbor who just came out, the stranger at the store, the character in the movie. They're taking notes. You don't have to have the perfect words. You just have to stay close. Topics covered: Why kids test the waters before they ever come out to you — and what to do in those moments The terminology parents trip on (and what "queer" actually means) What to do when you've already had a bad reaction What trans kids actually need from their parents (Sarah Kate's left-handedness analogy is one of the best things in this episode) Whether to celebrate when your kid comes out — and how to do it right * Looking for more support in the in-between years of parenting? Good Inside Teen gives you practical tools, scripts, and expert guidance for the moments that can feel most overwhelming with tweens and teens. Thank you to our partners for making this episode possible: Kt by Knix: Use the code GOODINSIDE for 15% off period underwear Follow Dr. Sheryl on Instagram Learn more about Good Inside Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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4.4
out of 5
76 Ratings

About

The In-Between Years with Dr. Sheryl is a podcast from Good Inside for parents or adults raising, caring for, or loving a tween or teen. Hosted by clinical psychologist and mom of three Dr. Sheryl Ziegler, this show explores what’s really happening during this intense and transformative stage of life — from big emotions and shifting friendships to dating, academic pressure, social media, identity, and body changes. Each episode slows things down and looks beneath the surface so you can respond instead of react — because your kid may be growing up, but that doesn’t mean they need you less. They need you differently. **About Good Inside** Good Inside helps parents raise confident, resilient kids. Founded by clinical psychologist and mom of three Dr. Becky, our unique approach helps families solve current challenges, and get ahead of future ones, by focusing on the child behind the behavior and the parent behind the parenting. With an app, workshops, podcast, books, and GiGi — a proprietary chatbot trained in the Good Inside approach — members have 24/7 access to personalized, practical support for every age and stage of parenting. No question is too specific, no scenario too tricky to untangle. It’s real, sturdy guidance parents can lean on in the moment, helping them feel capable, grounded, and never alone. goodinside.com

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