

Get on Their Turf with Dr. Suzanne Simpson
Dr. Suzanne Simpson
Are you worried about your teen’s anxiety, screen time, or emotional distance? You’re not alone. Get on Their Turf is the parenting podcast that helps you support your child’s mental health and build lasting connection. I’m Dr. Suzanne Simpson, teacher and researcher with 3 decades of experience, and biweekly I share expert interviews, parenting strategies, and real stories from my work in classrooms and a youth psychiatric unit. Episodes explore teen anxiety, depression, screen time struggles, listening without fixing, and spotting early warning signs of stress or crisis. Let’s raise kids who feel safe, seen, and heard—because connection changes everything.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 11, 2024 • 27min
Finding Wellness: Understanding How to Understand with Vikki Ellis
This episode delves into how we understand. Vikki Ellis, who has taught all 27 years of her career in Indigenous communities, tells me the meaning of understanding. We explore what it takes to understand others, particularly youth in 2024, how we misunderstand, and the outcome of understanding and being understood. This episode is intended particularly for parents and educators, though Vikki gives universal insight into how we can better encounter anyone as an "understander."Find my interview playlist on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC8JprFdrPA&list=PLi7xFsX7h7tdxBsVx38UIRVrvnCc_9IBW New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.👉 Connect with me for more parenting insights and support: Instagram: / drsuzannesimpson LinkedIn: / dr-suzanne-simpson ...

Nov 4, 2024 • 46min
Clean: Talking Parenting for Sobriety with Scott Lang
Are you a parent struggling to support your child to sobriety? Narcotics Anonymous sponsor Scott Lang speaks candidly of his background and the work he does in helping others to freedom from substance use disorders. Clean since 1999, Scott talks about his journey from homelessness, prostitution, and incarceration. Scott describes how families can stop enabling drug use, and gives advice for parents to support sobriety in children of any age. Please note this episode contains talk about prostitution, drug use, and expletives.Find my interview playlist on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC8JprFdrPA&list=PLi7xFsX7h7tdxBsVx38UIRVrvnCc_9IBW New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.👉 Connect with me for more parenting insights and support: Instagram: / drsuzannesimpson LinkedIn: / dr-suzanne-simpson ...

Oct 28, 2024 • 31min
Finding Wellness: Talking Support with Dave Sattler
Dave Sattler, pastor of North Shore Alliance Church, lives the concept of "support" through his work with the marginalized and homeless. Dave oversees weekly drop-in groups, Christmas dinners for hundreds, and building housing both locally and internationally. In this episode, we talk about support: how we do it, how we know it, the challenges of support, and its reciprocation. When we know how to support others, we not only make this world a better place, but we find our own wellness.Find my interview playlist on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC8JprFdrPA&list=PLi7xFsX7h7tdxBsVx38UIRVrvnCc_9IBW New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.👉 Connect with me for more parenting insights and support: Instagram: / drsuzannesimpson LinkedIn: / dr-suzanne-simpson ...

Oct 21, 2024 • 1h 6min
Finding Wellness: Talking Support, Understanding, and Care with Andrew Neufeld
This episode launches a transition into my research findings about how we support wellness. Andrew Neufeld, Registered Clinical Counsellor and owner of Alongside You mental health clinic, explores how to support wellness. We discuss Andrew's own mental health journey, including what he needed from others as he faced anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. Andrew gives insight into my findings that we need support, understanding, and care to build mental health in others, and wellness in ourselves.Find my interview playlist on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC8JprFdrPA&list=PLi7xFsX7h7tdxBsVx38UIRVrvnCc_9IBW New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.👉 Connect with me for more parenting insights and support: Instagram: / drsuzannesimpson LinkedIn: / dr-suzanne-simpson ...

Oct 11, 2024 • 31min
Talking Trauma with Cea Sunrise Person
In this episode, Cea Sunrise Person, author of North of Normal and Nearly Normal, describes what it’s like to grow up with consistent trauma. She is candid about what trauma did to her as a child, and the challenges she still faces today as a result. You can see Cea’s story on the big screen in the 2022 movie North of Normal. Find my interview playlist on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC8JprFdrPA&list=PLi7xFsX7h7tdxBsVx38UIRVrvnCc_9IBW New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.👉 Connect with me for more parenting insights and support: Instagram: / drsuzannesimpson LinkedIn: / dr-suzanne-simpson ...

Oct 4, 2024 • 21min
Panic Attacks and Disorder: Speaking with Dr. Jordan Cohen
In this episode, Dr. Cohen teaches me about panic attacks and disorder. He differentiates between the two and explains why they are, diagnostically, considered a form of anxiety disorder. Dr. Cohen explains how they happen and what occurs in the mind and body. He discusses therapy and, as usual, ways to support loved ones who endure panic attacks and disorders.Find my interview playlist on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC8JprFdrPA&list=PLi7xFsX7h7tdxBsVx38UIRVrvnCc_9IBW New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.👉 Connect with me for more parenting insights and support: Instagram: / drsuzannesimpson LinkedIn: / dr-suzanne-simpson ...

Sep 27, 2024 • 31min
Talking Mental Health with Elder Ruth: An Indigenous Perspective
In this episode, Elder Ruth and I sit, in gratitude, on the traditional lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She teaches me about Indigenous ways of knowing in relation to mental health and wellness. Elder Ruth talks about her upbringing and her work as a Knowledge Keeper in our health authority and on the Downtown Eastside. She explains her time supporting others, ceremony, and her perspective to healing.Find my interview playlist on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC8JprFdrPA&list=PLi7xFsX7h7tdxBsVx38UIRVrvnCc_9IBW New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.👉 Connect with me for more parenting insights and support: Instagram: / drsuzannesimpson LinkedIn: / dr-suzanne-simpson ...

Sep 20, 2024 • 41min
Panic Attacks and Disorder: Through the Lens of Lived Experience
This episode is all about panic attacks and panic disorder. I speak with a former student who walks me through her experience with panic attacks and shares her best strategies and mindfulness practices to help offset the debilitating effects of this disorder. Find my interview playlist on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC8JprFdrPA&list=PLi7xFsX7h7tdxBsVx38UIRVrvnCc_9IBW New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.👉 Connect with me for more parenting insights and support: Instagram: / drsuzannesimpson LinkedIn: / dr-suzanne-simpson ...

Sep 13, 2024 • 41min
Substance Use Disorders: Speaking with Dr. Jordan Cohen
This episode is intended for parents who have children (of any age) either increasingly using drugs recreationally, or with a diagnosed substance use disorder. Dr. Cohen explains when substance use becomes a "disorder," as well as general concepts of use. We explore harm-reduction and abstinence based approaches, as well as what parents can do to support. Find my interview playlist on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC8JprFdrPA&list=PLi7xFsX7h7tdxBsVx38UIRVrvnCc_9IBW New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.👉 Connect with me for more parenting insights and support: Instagram: / drsuzannesimpson LinkedIn: / dr-suzanne-simpson ...

Aug 30, 2024 • 34min
Talking Substance Use Recovery with Cherokee Bent: An Indigenous Perspective
Cherokee Feather Bent explains how her substance use began and escalated. She is candid about her own trauma and mental health challenges and offers her Indigenous perspective of healing. Please note that this episode contains dialogue about trauma, miscarriage, suicide attempts, violence, and sexual abuse.Find my interview playlist on YouTube Dr Suzanne Simpson, at Get On Their Turf:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC8JprFdrPA&list=PLi7xFsX7h7tdxBsVx38UIRVrvnCc_9IBW New releases every second Monday 8:00 am PST.👉 Connect with me for more parenting insights and support: Instagram: / drsuzannesimpson LinkedIn: / dr-suzanne-simpson ...


