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Written by Stephanie Buckley ADHD Specialist & Family Systems Coach If you feel like you are constantly repeating yourself asking your child to complete the same chores over and over again with little follow-through you are not alone. This is one of the most common pain points for parents of children with ADHD, and it often leads to frustration, conflict, and a sense that the child is not taking responsibility. But what appears to be a lack of effort is often a breakdown in e

Why your young adult can spend 8 hours scrolling on thier phone. The Conversation About the Phone That Never Goes Anywhere You have had the screen time conversation. Probably more than once. You have mentioned the hours. You have pointed to what they could be doing instead. And the conversation has not changed anything. Because the conversation has been about the symptom rather than what the symptom is solving. Screen time in a young adult who is stuck is almost never the pro

Written by: Stephanie Buckley, ADHD Parenting Strategist & Family Systems Coach ThePathToPeaceTherapy.com The Difference Between Supporting Your Adult Child and Enabling Them Where the line actually is and why the most loving thing you have ever done might be the thing that needs to change The Question Every Parent Is Really Asking You have probably never said it out loud. But you have thought it. Maybe it was the morning you called the doctor's office for them because the

The thing that made you vulnerable was not weakness. It was your greatest strength used against you. The Question That Lives Under Everything Somewhere under the confusion and the grief and the anger there is almost always a quieter question that the person recovering from narcissistic abuse carries with them. A question they may not even voice fully. But that organizes a great deal of the suffering. What did I do to make this happen? All of the both-people framework is true

The confusion was not a symptom of your instability. It was the intended outcome of a deliberate patter Written by Stephanie Buckley ADHD Parenting Strategist and Family Systems Coach The Particular Loneliness of Feeling Crazy There is a specific kind of loneliness that comes with narcissistic abuse that is almost impossible to describe to someone who has not experienced it. It is not the loneliness of being alone. It is the loneliness of being in a relationship often one th

This is not weakness. This is neurology. And understanding the difference changes everything. rapy.com The Question Nobody Asks With Genuine Curiosity....Why did you go back? It is one of the most common questions asked about narcissistic relationships. And it is almost never asked with genuine curiosity. It is almost always asked even by people who love you with an implicit judgment underneath it. A suggestion that going back was a choice that a reasonable person would not h

By Stephanie Buckley Family Systems Coach Parenting Strategist ADHD Specialist ThePathToPeaceTherapy.com StephanieB@ThePathToPeaceTherapy.com What Gaslighting Actually Looks Like in day to day life. It is not what most people think it is and recognizing it is the first step to trusting yourself again. The Conversation That Never Goes the Way It Should You rehearsed it. You chose the right moment not too late in the evening, not in the middle of something else. You kept

If you are the parent of an athlete, you know the feeling. Your child misses a crucial pass or strikes out at the plate. As a parent, you hold your breath, waiting for them to brush it off and get back in the game. But instead, you witness a complete shutdown. Their shoulders round, their pace slows, and their eyes drop. In a fraction of a second, their internal narrative has shifted from "I made a mistake" to "I am a mistake." As a Parenting Strategist and Family Systems C

Written by: L eading Parenting Strategist | ADHD & Family lSystems Specialist One of the most common frustrations parents express is this: “They do great in practice but when it’s game time, everything falls apart.”This is not a motivation problem. It is not laziness. It is not even a lack of skill. It's a nervous system problem. In practice, the environment is controlled. There is predictability, repetition, and reduced pressure. The child’s brain is operating in what we ca

Best Sports for Kids with ADHD (Based on Brain Type) Written by: Leading Parenting Strategist | ADHD & Family lSystems Specialist There is a common misconception that children with ADHD either “need to burn energy” or “should be put into sports to focus them.” While well-intentioned, this approach oversimplifies what is actually a far more nuanced neurological profile. ADHD is not a deficit of attention it is a difference in how attention is regulated. This distinction matte

Welcome back to The Path to Peace Therapy Podcast. I’m Stephanie Buckley a Parenting Strategist, ADHD Specialist and Family Systems Coach. Over three decades of marriage and raising a thriving neurodivergent son have taught me that family dynamics often hide deeper patterns beneath surface behaviors. Today, we explore a pattern that appears in nearly every family I work with: the dance between over-functioning and under-functioning. Understanding this dynamic can transform ho

Written by Stephanie Buckley ADHD Parenting Strategist & Family Systems Coach Imagine your child standing in front of a heavy, locked door. They try the left handle it’s solid and doesn’t move. Then they try the right handle, which jiggles slightly. Where will they spend the next hour? They will push against the handle that moves, using all their strength to open it. This simple image reveals a common challenge in family life: triangulation. Triangulation happens when a child

Written by Stephanie Buckley ADHD Specialist & Family Systems Coach One of the most painful interpretations a parent can make is the belief that their teen “doesn’t care.” It can feel like a lack of effort, a lack of responsibility, or even a lack of concern for their own future. But in many cases, what looks like apathy is actually a misunderstanding of how motivation works in the ADHD brain. Motivation in ADHD is not driven primarily by importance. It is driven by what we c

Written by Stephanie Buckley ADHD Specialist and Family Systems Coach Few parenting moments feel as triggering as perceived disrespect. A child rolls their eyes, snaps back, ignores a request, or shuts down completely, and in that moment, it feels intentional. It feels like a challenge to authority, a dismissal of boundaries, or a lack of care. Over time, these interactions can erode connection and create a cycle of tension where both parent and child feel misunderstood. But

Written by Stephanie Buc kley ADHD Specialist & Family Systems Coach There is a pattern that shows up repeatedly in teens and young adults with ADHD, and it often catches families off guard. A child who once appeared supported and capable someone who had accommodations, reminders, structured routines, and involved parents suddenly begins to struggle when those supports are reduced. Assignments are missed, time management falls apart, and daily responsibilities feel overwhelm

Written by Stephanie Buckley ADHD Specialist and Family Systems Coach One of the most common approaches to behavior in parenting is the use of rewards and consequences. The logic is simple: reward the behavior you want to see more of, and apply consequences to reduce the behavior you don’t. While this framework can be effective for many children, it often falls short for those with ADHD, leaving parents feeling confused, frustrated, and unsure of what will actually work. To u

Written by Stephanie Buckley ADHD Specialist and Family Systems Coach Transitions are one of the most challenging parts of the day for children with ADHD, and they are often the moments that create the most tension within the home. Moving from one activity to another turning off a screen, leaving the house, starting homework, going to bed can quickly escalate into resistance, frustration, or complete shutdown. For parents, these moments can feel disproportionate, as if a sim

Written by Stephanie Buckley ADHD Specialist and Family Systems Coach If you’ve ever found yourself repeating the same instruction over and over again “Put your shoes on,” “Turn off the TV,” “Get in the car”only to be met with no response, you are not alone. One of the most common frustrations parents of children with ADHD experience is the feeling that their child is not listening. Over time, this can begin to feel intentional, even disrespectful, as if the child is choosing

How I helped our rson when he was younger to self soothe and to self regulate and what I teach the each of the familes I work with today! Stephanie Buckley, AMFT ADHD Parenting Strategist & Family Systems Coach Host of The Path to Peace Therapy Podcast Stephanie Buckley is a Parenting Strategist and Family Systems Coach who specializes in ADHD, OCD, anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. Drawing from both professional expertise and lived experience as a mom to a thriving

By Stephanie Buckley, AMFT/ADHD Parenting Strategist & Family Systems Coach The Path to Peace Therapy – Hermosa Beach, California https://www.thepathtopeacetherapy.com The Path To Peace Therapy Podcast https://www.thepathtopeacetherapy.com/podcast When Anger Is Really Anxiety in Disguise You ask your teen a simple question and suddenly they snap. You check in on your college-aged child, and they bite your head off for “being controlling.” You try to offer help, and your young