Are Anxiety and Dysregulation the Same Thing for Teens?
Feb 02, 2026
Dear Parents,
Parenting a teen is already a wild ride. Parenting a teen with a trauma-impacted nervous system and anxiety? That’s an entirely different mountain range complete with unexpected weather patterns and the occasional avalanche.
In this week’s UnMuted Love episode, I sat down with parent coach and teen emotional-health specialist Emma Gleadhill, a woman with grounded wisdom and clarity that you won’t wan’t to miss.
Anxiety Isn’t Always What We Think
For trauma-impacted teens, anxiety rarely announces itself politely. It doesn’t look like quiet worry (though it is that, too). It looks like:
- Defiance
- Refusal
- Shutdown
- Perfectionism
- Avoidance
- Rage
- “You can’t make me” behavior
Trauma rewires the nervous system to scan for danger, even in everyday moments. So the “irrational” response your teen has to a math assignment or a social experience might be entirely logical to their body.
Their behavior is information, not defiance.
Emma and I agree: anxious teens are not broken. Their brains are trying to keep them alive using outdated strategies learned in unsafe early environments. And sometimes, genetics are involved. And with attuned parenting, safety, repair, and steady boundaries, those strategies can soften. Change. Heal.
Check out the full podcast at the links below.
Your Love Matters,
Ce
This week’s Unmuted Love podcast episode can be found at the links below:
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Creator of the Love+ Parenting Model found only in the Love Matters Parenting Society Therapeutic Parent Program.
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