63 | How to Parent an Anxious Teen When You Struggle With Anxiety Featuring Dr. Jeanne Retief
Hi Parents!
What happens when you’re the anxious one but you’re also the parent?
In today’s episode, I’m joined by Dr. Jeanne Retief, trauma survivor, panic disorder warrior, and founder of FIGGI Beauty, to talk about the raw, unfiltered reality of parenting when you’re still learning how to feel safe in your own body. Jeanne opens up about the breaking point that made her reevaluate everything, and how she’s learning to heal not just for her child, but with her child.
More About Jeanne:
Dr. Jeanne Retief is a former international human rights expert turned mental wellness advocate, and the founder of FIGGI Beauty - a brand built on the belief that beauty and healing can coexist. After years of working in high-stakes legal environments, Jeanne was diagnosed with panic disorder, prompting her to reimagine not just her career, but her relationship with herself. Today, she combines her lived experience, academic insight, and soulful honesty to support others navigating anxiety, trauma, and parenthood. Jeanne is passionate about redefining what strength looks like - especially for women who’ve spent years holding it all together - and uses her platform to champion nervous system care, emotional safety, and truth-telling as tools for growth.
We explore how anxiety shows up in the body, what it looks like to parent through panic, and why self-regulation isn’t about perfection, but about presence. Jeanne also shares how she began to break inherited emotional patterns and what it really means to model safety when your nervous system is still dysregulated.
This is an episode for every parent who’s ever felt like they’re “too much” or “not enough.” Jeanne reminds us that healing is messy, parenting is vulnerable, and that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is just stay present.
Big hugs,
Monica Crnogorac
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