In this episode, I take you back to January 2021 — living in my parents’ basement during the pandemic, supporting my mother through stage four lung cancer, and struggling deeply in my relationship with my daughter.

I made a choice that felt selfish at the time: I left for three months to pet sit 40 minutes away. That space became transformational. During that season, I committed to personal growth, discovered the power of validation through Sash Bear’s Family Connections program, and began to see how conditional love and generational patterns were shaping our relationship.

This is a conversation about hard truths, healing family dynamics, and learning how to love without conditions.

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Episode Highlights: conditional love vs unconditional love, validation in parenting, emotional dysregulation, borderline personality disorder in families, DBT for parents, Sash Bear Foundation, pandemic parenting struggles, codependent relationships with adult children, generational trauma patterns, healing family dynamics, turning the lens inward, personal growth for parents, 75 Hard challenge during pandemic, breaking emotional conditioning, supporting adult children without rescuing

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What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why stepping away can sometimes strengthen a parent-child relationship

• What validation truly means (and how it transforms communication)

• The difference between conditional and unconditional love

• How to support an adult child without enabling them

• Why emotional growth requires uncomfortable reflection

• The power of allowing your child to sit in their own consequences

• How guilt can become a doorway to growth

• Why healing starts with loving yourself first
  

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Chapters

00:00 – Welcome Back

01:15 – Living in the Basement During the Pandemic

03:50 – Leaving for Three Months (Choosing Myself)

06:20 – Codependency & Control

08:05 – Discovering Sash Bear & DBT

10:40 – The Power of Validation

14:50 – Conditional vs. Unconditional Love

19:30 – My Own University Story

24:00 – Generational Patterns & Emotional Conditioning

27:45 – Guilt, Growth & Spiritual Perspective

30:50 – Letting Her Sit in Her Decisions

31:45 – Loving Without Conditions

33:00 – Final Reflections & What’s Next

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⭐If this episode resonated with you, I invite you to subscribe and continue this journey with me. In future episodes, I’ll share personal reflections, practical tools, and conversations with other parents who are walking a similar path.

You don’t have to do this alone. Let’s turn the lens inward, together.

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Resources & Links MentionedSash Bear Foundation (Family Connections Program)The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan HolidaySash Bear Annual Walk

In this episode, I’m speaking directly to the parent who is quietly struggling while their teen or adult child is in crisis. Whether it’s mental illness, self-harm, substance use, dropping out of school, or emotional instability, I know how heavy this can feel.

We talk about the guilt, shame, exhaustion, and overwhelm that often go unspoken. I share my own experience navigating this season of life and why the first real shift doesn’t start with fixing your child — it starts with turning the lens inward.

This episode is about self-compassion, recognizing the ego and fear that protect us from uncomfortable truths, and becoming aware of the inner dialogue running in the background. When we begin there, we build the steadiness we need to support our children without losing ourselves in the process.

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Episode Highlights: parenting a teen with mental illness, adult child mental health crisis, parent guilt and shame, parenting through self-harm, suicidal teen support for parents, overwhelmed parent, parenting burnout, emotional dysregulation in parents, conscious parenting, turning the lens inward, letting go of parent guilt, supporting a struggling child

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What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why guilt and self-blame show up so strongly when your child is struggling

• How ego and fear can keep you stuck in avoidance or denial

• Why your child is not choosing to suffer for attention

• The importance of recognizing the “programming” running in the background of your own mind

• How self-compassion and awareness are the foundation for helping your child

• Why internal work must come before external solutions

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Chapters

00:00 – Speaking Parent to Parent

01:57 – You’re Not the Only One

03:08 – You Matter Too

05:14 – When Parents Become Resentful

07:43 – Choosing the Long Haul

08:28 – The Weight of Shame and Exhaustion

10:40 – Understanding the Ego

12:11 – Releasing Guilt

13:36 – They Aren’t Choosing to Suffer

15:33 – The Programming in the Background

18:22 – Changing the Inner Narrative

22:52 – Internal First, External Second

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⭐If this episode resonated with you, I invite you to subscribe and continue this journey with me. In future episodes, I’ll share personal reflections, practical tools, and conversations with other parents who are walking a similar path.

You don’t have to do this alone. Let’s turn the lens inward, together.

Welcome to the very first episode of Turn the Lens Inward. I’m Lisa Taylor, and in this episode I share why I felt called to create this podcast and who it’s truly for.I open up about my journey as a mother, a professional, and a woman who once felt completely overwhelmed by her relationship with her teenage daughter. I talk honestly about divorce, emotional dysregulation, mental health diagnoses, navigating limited resources, and the shame that so many parents carry silently.For years, I searched for solutions outside of myself. Eventually, I realized the most powerful work I could do was to turn the lens inward.

This episode is about what that shift looked like, what it taught me, and why I believe change is possible even when things feel hopeless.If you’re feeling exhausted, scared, or unsure how to help your teenage or young adult child, this podcast is for you.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why I created Turn the Lens Inward

• How divorce and family disruption impacted my relationship with my daughter

• What emotional dysregulation looked like in our home

• My experience navigating the mental health system

• How labels can help without defining your child

• The difference between control and true support

• What turning the lens inward actually means

• Why healing myself changed everything
  

Chapters

• 00:00 – Welcome and Why This Podcast Exists

• 02:00 – When Life Looked Fine but Felt Empty

• 04:45 – Choosing Change and Its Impact

• 07:45 – Watching My Child Struggle

• 10:30 – Navigating the Mental Health System

• 13:45 – Labels, Diagnosis, and Fear

• 16:30 – Losing Control and Hitting Bottom

• 18:45 – Turning the Lens Inward

• 21:15 – Boundaries, Growth, and Healing

• 24:30 – Who This Podcast Is For and What’s Ahead
  

⭐ If this episode resonated with you, I invite you to subscribe and continue this journey with me. In future episodes, I’ll share personal reflections, practical tools, and conversations with other parents who are walking a similar path.

You don’t have to do this alone. Let’s turn the lens inward, together.