124: Carolyn Lambert: Parent of a Wilderness Therapy Student and Parent Coach

<p>Carolyn Lambert is the founder of <a href= "https://www.nathanswaypoint.com/about">Nathans WayPoint</a> a parent coaching service. Carolyn shares her challenging journey of helping both of her teenagers get help for crippling anxiety and depression. Carolyn helped her son enroll in a residential treatment program and two years later her daughter asked for help and was enrolled in a wilderness therapy program. Carolyn shares the challenges she faced in getting help for her teenager and how it changed the course of her own life to help parents through coaching.</p> <p>Bio from Nathan's WayPoint:</p> <div id="bgLayers_comp-jutj5o5c" class="X-jRX"> <div id="bgMedia_comp-jutj5o5c" class="_1J6n9">My outgoing teenage son had just begun his freshman year in high school.  I expected some adjustments, of course. But just a few weeks into the new school year, he began to change. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my sweet, social, high-achieving child… was disappearing.</div> </div> <div class="" data-mesh-id="comp-jutj5o5cinlineContent" data-testid="inline-content"> <div data-mesh-id="comp-jutj5o5cinlineContent-gridContainer" data-testid="mesh-container-content"> <div id="comp-jutj37s0" class="_2bafp" data-testid= "richTextElement"> <p class="font_8">He stopped participating in activities outside of school and spending time with his friends. He stayed mostly in his bedroom, playing video games. He withdrew more and more—until he barely spoke to anyone.</p> <p class="font_8"><span class="wixGuard">​</span>When your child isn’t well, you bring him to doctors and specialists, and you hope they have answers. But doctor after doctor and we had no answers. A psychiatrist prescribed antidepressants and told him to “man up.” I was frustrated, angry and afraid.  I knew something was terribly wrong and none of the experts I trusted was able to help.</p> <p class="font_8"><span class="wixGuard">​</span>I learned there is an assumption that teens who have these behaviors are being lazy or combative. And somehow our parenting skil