Mending What's Broken: A Parent's Guide to Rebuilding Trust with Your ADHD Teen After Vaping and Lies

This week on The Path to Peace Therapy Podcast, we tackle one of the toughest parenting challenges: rebuilding trust after a teen's repeated lies. Specializing in ADHD and family dynamics, Stephanie Buckley, AMFT, provides a compassionate yet firm roadmap for parents and teens caught in the painful cycle of deceit, especially when it involves issues like vaping.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The "Why" Behind the Lie: Why teens, especially those with ADHD, lie about things like vaping. It's often not malicious, but a complex mix of impulsivity, dopamine seeking, and fear of disappointment.

• The Cloth Analogy: How every lie is a tear in the fabric of trust. We explore why a simple "I'm sorry" isn't enough and how to repair the damage with new, stronger "stitches."

• The Repair Pathway: How to create a system that allows for mistakes but requires accountability. We'll differentiate between the vaping (the relapse) and the lying (the breach of trust), and explain why honesty is the fastest way back to a stronger relationship.

• Actionable Strategies for Teens: A practical plan for teens to rebuild trust through radical honesty, transparency systems, and making amends with action, not just words.

• Actionable Strategies for Parents: How to hold firm boundaries with compassion, separate your teen's behavior from their worth, and use "graduated trust" to restore privileges step-by-step.

• The Power of Modeling Repair: Why parents must be willing to apologize for their own mistakes to teach teens a vital life skill.

Relapse & Repair Roadmap Rebuilding Trust After Lying, Deceit, or Vaping

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PNhVB7hzjaTw3UsPiETi_Q806WyrTF-VVOLWHtAIzYk/export?format=pdf

 

To Book An Appointment The Path To Peace Therapy Website 

https://www.thepathtopeacetherapy.com/book-online

The Path to Peace Therpy Blog over 65 posts 

https://www.thepathtopeacetherapy.com/blog

 To Book An Appointment The Path To Peace Therapy Website 

https://www.thepathtopeacetherapy.com/book-online

The Path to Peace Therapy Blog over 65 posts 

https://www.thepathtopeacetherapy.com/blog

Good Therapy

https://www.goodtherapy.org/therapists/profile/stephanie-buckley--20250310

Theravive

https://www.theravive.com/therapists/stephanie-buckley.aspx

This episode is for educational purposes and to provide support. They’re not a substitute for professional mental health evaluation, diagnosis, or treatment.”

The more we learn to recognize the signs behind the behaviors, the more compassion and support we can offer to our kids, our partners, and ourselves.

Thank you for spending this time with me. If this episode was helpful, I’d love it if you shared it with a fellow parent, caregiver, or educator who might need it too. You can also subscribe to stay up to date on future episodes and check out additional tools and resources at The Path To PeaceTherapy.com. Follow me on Instagram @The Path to Peace Therapy

And as always, take a deep breath, give yourself some grace, and remember: peace is possible, and you don’t have to do this alone.