A Well-Lit Path: A Blog from Westtown School

Linda Rosenberg McGuire

Linda Rosenberg McGuire was the Dean of Students at Westtown School from 2011 until 2018. She is a parenting coach, consultant, speaker, and avid writer, providing insight, support, and education for parents and teachers who live and work with teenagers. She works with schools to inspire and reinvigorate their faculty to work successfully with even the most challenging students. Linda is passionate about helping parents develop more effective relationships with their teenagers, stressing the importance of listening, limit-setting, and building competence, character, and independence. Linda has 30 years of experience working with children, most of that time focused on parent-teen relationships. Linda began her career as a caseworker and trip leader for teens-at-risk, leading to work as a community mental health therapist and a school-based counselor. For the past 12 years Linda has been employed in independent school administration, working with teenagers, parents, and faculty as a program director and a dean.Linda received her BA from Bowdoin College, her MSW from the University of New England, and her Master of Organizational Leadership from Nichols College.
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Recent Posts

The Teen in Trouble: When to Defend and When to Support

Posted by Linda Rosenberg McGuire on November 12, 2014

Our teenagers rarely need us to defend them, but they always need us to support them. Parents sometimes assume that supporting their child means defending them. I would assert that defending your child may be a short-term remedy, but it does not provide the sustainable and effective support that teenagers both crave and require in order to become accountable adults. What situations require defense and how to circumvent our desires to stand in between our child and a difficult situation?  


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Topics: How to get your teen to talk

The Art of Not Reacting to Your Teen's Reactions

Posted by Linda Rosenberg McGuire on November 7, 2014

So, you just told your child they can't do something. Maybe you said no to a concert, a movie date with a young driver, or a gathering with no adult supervision. What happens next? Does your child storm out of the room fuming under their breath? Sulk for an entire evening? Slam his door on the way into his room?

All of these possibilities are disruptive and unsettling to a parent. However, they are totally normal reactions when teenagers don't get their way. One of the mistakes parents make is to call their teenager on how they "react" to being told no. Teenagers, like all of us, do not like to be denied something they want. Most are not mature or self-aware enough to thank their parent for making the tough decisions.

If you have a teenager that defies you, then that is something to be very concerned about. But, if you simply have a teenager who feels angry at you, and as a result may say a throw-away comment, or spend an evening showing just how much they disapprove of your decision, then you have a teen who is acting well within the parameters of normal behavior. 

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Topics: How to get your teen to talk

How to Get Your Teens to Talk

Posted by Linda Rosenberg McGuire on October 27, 2014

blog teenWe all want our teenagers to open up and talk to us, but it is often easier in concept than in execution. After spending my career working with teenagers, raising my own, and in my current role as the Dean of Students at a top independent school, I have a couple of insights that might help.

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Topics: How to get your teen to talk

Four Surprising Ways to Raise Your Teen's Self-Esteem

Posted by Linda Rosenberg McGuire on October 17, 2014

It's a quintessential parenting dilemma: How to build our kids' self-esteem and still help them be self-aware. After spending my career working with teenagers, raising my own, and in my current role as the Dean of Students at a top independent school, I have a couple of insights that might help.

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