When JJ Virgin was on the show recently, we barely scratched the surface on something that has genuinely changed how I think about fueling my brain and body. I had to bring her back because this conversation is too important, especially for those of us running on empty, dealing with anxiety, or just trying to keep up with the relentless demands of modern parenting. JJ breaks down the research on creatine, and I'm not talking about some bro-science gym supplement. We're talking about mental clarity, stress resilience, and even studies showing women on SSRIs who weren't getting better finally finding relief when they added creatine. You'll walk away understanding why most of us are deficient, why the form of creatine matters way more than you've been told, and exactly how to use this tool to feel more like yourself again.

Order JJ’s SHEatine today: https://badmompodcast.com/creatine

FOR FULL SHOW NOTES & TO WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE, GO TO: badmompodcast.com/brainboost

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Why the supplement world got creatine completely wrong, and what that means for exhausted moms everywhere
• The shocking absorption truth about the creatine most people are taking (hint: it's not what you think)
• What happened when researchers gave creatine to women who weren't responding to antidepressants
• The invisible stress-tax modern life is charging your body, and how to stop paying it
• Why "just eat more protein" isn't the whole answer for women over 40
• JJ's secret weapon for crushing jet lag and sleep deprivation without the crash
• How to actually feel the difference without bloating, gut issues, or bulking up

📌 Connect with JJ Virgin

• Order JJ’s SHEatine today
• JJ’s website
• JJ’s store
• Well Beyond 40 podcast

RESOURCES & NEXT STEPS:

👉 If you’ve ever thought, “Am I doing this right?” or felt the pain of wanting to do everything but not having the tools, this episode is for you. Listen, share it with another parent who needs healing and guidance, and subscribe to The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation. And remember: you are not a bad mom; you’re a bada$$ in a broken system. Keep fighting.

📌 Connect with Vivian Glyck & The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation

• The Bad Mom Podcast on Instagram
• Vivian on Instagram
• The Bad Mom Podcast on Facebook
• The Bad Mom Podcast on YouTube
• The Bad Mom Podcast on TikTok
  
  

The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation is a Project Grit initiative: fortifying mental wellness for the next generation.

Just Like My Child Foundation is a proud nonprofit partner of Project, committed to equipping today's youth with the tools they need to thrive and build a better future.

"I just remember thinking, I have no context of what to say to my friend." That's Priya Patel at 13, watching multiple friends come to school with bandages on their wrists, completely paralyzed because no one had taught her what to do. Here's what this 20-year-old Wharton double major knows that most parents don't: your kid's mental health reflects their mental diet just like their body reflects what they eat. And the feed they're scrolling? It's either building them up or breaking them down, one algorithm at a time. Priya created Peer Responders, a mental health organization that teaches young people psychological first aid, was recognized by Prince Harry, and built 50 chapters across America. You'll walk away knowing exactly how to help your teen curate a mental diet that builds confidence instead of comparison, and why the most dangerous thought in Gen Z isn't nihilism but "I'll put relationships in my back pocket because I have time."

FOR FULL SHOW NOTES & TO WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE, GO TO: badmompodcast.com/priya

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Why Gen Z has more agency than any generation before - but also - the most dangerous comparison trap (and it's not what you think)
• The FBI hostage negotiator technique that convinced suicidal teens to get help when they refused to talk to adults
• What happened when schools tried to sweep mental health under the rug and why one friend's "13 reasons why" list changed everything
• The neuroscience behind your teen's doom scrolling habit and why their mental health literally reflects what they consume
• How a 20-year-old fills in boxes on her wall each week and why it's the most powerful tool against wasting your life on things that don't matter
• The Harvard study that proves the #1 factor for happiness isn't achievement (and why every award speech actually reveals this secret)
• Why "I have time" is the most dangerous lie your teen is telling themselves about relationships right now

📌 Connect with Priya

• Priya’s LinkedIn
• Peer Responders

RESOURCES & NEXT STEPS:

👉 If you’ve ever thought, “Am I doing this right?” or felt the pain of wanting to do everything but not having the tools, this episode is for you. Listen, share it with another parent who needs healing and guidance, and subscribe to The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation. And remember: you are not a bad mom; you’re a bada$$ in a broken system. Keep fighting.

📌 Connect with Vivian Glyck & The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation

• The Bad Mom Podcast on Instagram
• Vivian on Instagram
• The Bad Mom Podcast on Facebook
• The Bad Mom Podcast on YouTube
• The Bad Mom Podcast on TikTok
  
  

The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation is a Project Grit initiative: fortifying mental wellness for the next generation.

Just Like My Child Foundation is a proud nonprofit partner of Project, committed to equipping today's youth with the tools they need to thrive and build a better future.

Here's the thing: 90% of women don't just dislike their bodies. They hate them. And whether we want to admit it or not, we're passing that straight to our kids. Jennifer Joy Jimenez gets it because she lived it. From professional dancer with severe body dysmorphia to transformational health coach, she discovered something most therapists won't tell you: five minutes of freeform dance is more effective than antidepressants. And when our kids are hunched over screens like they're using fentanyl, stuck in their heads and disconnected from their bodies, this isn't just about fitness. It's about survival. You'll walk away knowing exactly how to use movement as medicine for yourself and your anxious kids, and why the daily dose of dance might be the intervention your family desperately needs.

FOR FULL SHOW NOTES & TO WATCH THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE, GO TO: badmompodcast.com/jennifer

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The body dysmorphia math that should terrify every mother (and what Jennifer's daughter said that made her burst into tears)
• Why sitting is the new smoking, and what screen addiction is actually doing to your kid's nervous system
• The scientific reason five minutes of freeform movement beats both antidepressants and regular exercise
• What changed between Jennifer's 55-hour traumatic first birth and her 90-minute second birth (hint: it wasn't luck)
• The non-negotiable house rules Jennifer enforced around devices, TV, and movement that actually worked
• Why your crabby teenager will eventually join your "crazy" dance party (even when they think you've lost it)
• The prescription for the 3pm slump that doesn't involve coffee or shame

📌 Connect with Jennifer

• Brave Thinking Institute: https://www.bravethinkinginstitute.com/
• Transcendance: https://www.bravethinkinginstitute.com/health-wellbeing/resources/ws/transcendance-masterclass/register/st

RESOURCES & NEXT STEPS:

👉 If you’ve ever thought, “Am I doing this right?” or felt the pain of wanting to do everything but not having the tools, this episode is for you. Listen, share it with another parent who needs healing and guidance, and subscribe to The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation. And remember: you are not a bad mom; you’re a bada$$ in a broken system. Keep fighting.

📌 Connect with Vivian Glyck & The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation

• The Bad Mom Podcast on Instagram
• Vivian on Instagram
• The Bad Mom Podcast on Facebook
• The Bad Mom Podcast on YouTube
• The Bad Mom Podcast on TikTok
  
  

The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation is a Project Grit initiative: fortifying mental wellness for the next generation.

Just Like My Child Foundation is a proud nonprofit partner of Project, committed to equipping today's youth with the tools they need to thrive and build a better future.

I remember JJ Virgin telling me years ago that her son Grant said, "I'm just gonna go get hit by a car" — and then he actually got hit by a car. Hit-and-run. Airlifted. Deep coma. Torn aorta. Multiple brain bleeds. Thirteen fractures. The doctors gave him a 0.125% chance of survival, and if he did survive, he'd be so brain damaged "it wouldn't be worth it." But here's what those doctors didn't know: JJ is a triple-board certified nutrition expert who knows more about fortifying the body and brain than anyone I've ever met, and she refused to accept those odds. In this raw, powerful conversation, JJ opens up about how she used everything from high-dose fish oil to essential aminos to rebuild Grant's brain, why she ran hospital stairs every single day to manage her anxiety, and the counterintuitive truth that saved both their lives — she put herself first. Here's what JJ knows that most parents don't: if you go down, everyone goes down. You'll walk away knowing exactly what to do tomorrow when you feel like you're drowning, why gratitude is a choice (not a feeling), and how exercise might be more powerful than any SSRI your kid's doctor wants to prescribe.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Why “good moms” feel like bad moms — and why that feeling is actually a sign you’re doing it right. Hint: the moms who should worry… aren’t.
• The brain-healing hack that defies survival odds. Clean fish oil and a few key nutrients made all the difference. Could this help your kid recover faster than you think?
• Exercise vs. SSRIs: One wins every time — and it’s not what you expect. Just getting off the couch might be the most powerful mental health tool you’ve got.
• Your kid needs you… but the strong version of you. Self-care isn’t selfish. Sleep, movement, and stress management are the ultimate acts of parenting.
• The “one thing” trick that gets you through chaos. Spoiler: it’s never about doing everything. Just the next right thing.
• Gratitude that actually works. It’s not about journaling your latte. It’s about spotting tiny signs of progress and hope—even in the mess.
• Tomorrow’s challenge: Treat yourself as urgently as your child’s needs. Pick your one thing. Protect your energy. Your kid can’t thrive if you don’t.

📌 Connect with JJ Virgin

• JJ’s website
• JJ’s store
• Well Beyond 40 podcast

RESOURCES & NEXT STEPS:

👉 If you’ve ever thought, “Am I doing this right?” or felt the pain of wanting to do everything but not having the tools, this episode is for you. Listen, share it with another parent who needs healing and guidance, and subscribe to The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation. And remember: you are not a bad mom; you’re a bada$$ in a broken system. Keep fighting.

📌 Connect with Vivian Glyck & The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation

• The Bad Mom Podcast on Instagram
• Vivian on Instagram
• The Bad Mom Podcast on Facebook
• The Bad Mom Podcast on YouTube
• The Bad Mom Podcast on TikTok
  
  

The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation is a Project Grit initiative: fortifying mental wellness for the next generation.

Just Like My Child Foundation is a proud nonprofit partner of Project, committed to equipping today's youth with the tools they need to thrive and build a better future.

When your child is spiraling into addiction, the first instinct is to hold on tighter: plead, negotiate, or wait for them to “hit bottom.”

But what if those instincts are exactly what are keeping your child in danger? What if addiction isn’t about waiting for readiness, but about stepping in before the fire spreads?

As parents, we often believe we’re failing when our kids won’t accept help. We blame ourselves, soften boundaries, or hope things will change on their own.

But that thinking is not only wrong, it’s dangerous. Addiction is defined by one simple truth: can’t stop. And someone who can’t stop doesn’t suddenly wake up one morning and choose recovery. They keep going until something or someone interrupts the cycle. Without intervention, the trajectory almost always gets worse, not better.

Christopher Doyle knows this from experience, both as someone who battled addiction from a young age and now after decades of helping hundreds of families pull their loved ones back from the brink.

His method flips the script on everything we’ve been told about “waiting until they’re ready” and shows parents how to intervene early, with clarity, compassion, and boundaries that stick.

How do you know you have an addiction issue on your hands? What actually gets someone to accept help?

In this conversation, Chris breaks down the myths that keep families paralyzed, the role of parents in creating leverage for change, and why setting boundaries when your child is in pain is the most loving act you can do.

When we see our kids sinking into anxiety, depression, or even addiction, our first instinct is: “How do I fix them?” We scramble for therapists, schools, treatments, and programs, anything that might help our child get better.

But here’s the hard truth: in many cases, it’s not only your child who needs help, you do too.

Addiction and mental health struggles rarely live in isolation. They ripple through the entire family system, quietly shaping how we respond, cope, and even enable.

Parents often carry just as much wounding, fear, shame, and unprocessed trauma as the kids they’re trying to rescue. And until we confront our own patterns, we risk perpetuating the cycle.

In this episode, I sit down with entrepreneur, bestselling author, and founder of Genius Network® and Genius Recovery, Joe Polish.

Joe’s worked through the pain of childhood trauma and years of drug addiction. Now he’s building one of the most respected recovery movements in the world.

Together, we explore why parents must be part of the recovery process, why control often makes things worse, and how connection, community, and unlearning our own patterns open the path to healing.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Parents need help too
  When a child struggles, families often focus all energy on “fixing” the kid. Why is it hard to make recovery work unless parents also seek support and do their own healing?

• Unlearning before learning
  Our instinct is to add more, more advice, more structure, more effort. Do the biggest shifts come from unlearning old survival patterns first?

• Recovery never happens alone
  Addiction thrives in isolation, secrecy, and shame. What kind of support actually changes outcomes?

• The biochemical & environmental traps
  What can parents change in the home environment that dramatically shifts a child’s likelihood of recovery?

RESOURCES & NEXT STEPS:

👉 If you’ve ever thought, “Am I doing this right?” or felt the pain of wanting to do everything but not having the tools, this episode is for you. Listen, share it with another parent who needs healing and guidance, and subscribe to The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation. And remember: you are not a bad mom; you’re a bada$$ in a broken system. Keep fighting.

📌 Connect with Joe Polish

• Joe’s website
• Read his book, “Life Gives To The Giver”
• Visit geniusrecovery.org
• Joe on Instagram
• Joe on YouTube

📌 Connect with Vivian Glyck & The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation

• 
  The Bad Mom Podcast on Instagram
• Vivian on Instagram
• The Bad Mom Podcast on Facebook
• The Bad Mom Podcast on YouTube
• The Bad Mom Podcast on TikTok
  
  

The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation is a Project Grit initiative: fortifying mental wellness for the next generation.

Just Like My Child Foundation is a proud nonprofit partner of Project, committed to equipping today's youth with the tools they need to thrive and build a better future.

Every parent I know worries about the same things: Why won’t my kid put down the phone? Why do they care more about strangers online than conversations at home?

Are they losing themselves to comparison, anxiety, and endless scrolling?

We set limits, we nag, we fight about screen time. Yet beneath the rules and arguments is a deeper fear: Am I actually reaching my child, or am I losing them to a world I don’t understand?

That’s why this conversation is so important. Instead of another expert telling us what’s wrong with “kids these days,” we get to hear directly from one of them.

On this episode, I sit down with 19-year-old Sierra Sasevich, who grew up in the very digital landscape we parents worry about.

But rather than dismiss adult concerns, she reveals how her generation really experiences phones, comparison, anxiety, substances, and connection.

What do parents get wrong about screen time and devices? How can a generation that scrolls for escape learn to live in the present?

Sierra takes us into the mindset of this generation, describing the pitfalls, but also highlighting the counterintuitive habits and small choices that actually make the difference.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Comparison is the root, not just the symptom
  Social media doesn’t just amplify FOMO; it rewires how teens judge their worth. How can parents interrupt the cycle of measuring against what’s missing?
• Algorithms aren’t neutral, but they’re not all evil
  Sierra explains how “training your algorithm” can microdose learning and self-discovery, if you resist its darker pull. Can tech become a tool for growth instead of despair?
• Why role modeling matters more than rules
  Teens notice when parents demand attention while glued to their own phones. How can putting your own device down become the bridge back to connection?
• The missing conversation about substances
  When it comes to substances, warnings aren’t enough. What do kids need to understand the real risks, especially with today’s far more potent drugs?

RESOURCES & NEXT STEPS:

👉 If you’ve ever thought, “Am I doing this right?” or felt the pain of wanting to do everything but not having the tools, this episode is for you. Listen, share it with another parent who needs healing and guidance, and subscribe to The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation. And remember: you are not a bad mom; you’re a bada$$ in a broken system. Keep fighting.

📌 Connect with Sierra Sasevich

• Sierra on Instagram

📌 Connect with Vivian Glyck & The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation

• The Bad Mom Podcast on Instagram
• Vivian on Instagram
• The Bad Mom Podcast on Facebook
• The Bad Mom Podcast on YouTube
• The Bad Mom Podcast on TikTok
  
  

The Bad Mom Podcast: Parenting The Anxious Generation is a Project Grit initiative: fortifying mental wellness for the next generation.

Just Like My Child Foundation is a proud nonprofit partner of Project, committed to equipping today's youth with the tools they need to thrive and build a better future.