When I had my baby, everyone told me to get ready for the sleepless nights and terrible twos. No one told me to about the obnoxious teen years. Raising a teenager is not what it use to be. The life of a teenager has become more complex with the addition of a fast pace world, add-in technology i.e. social media, cell phones and internet. Parents are having to watch their teenagers every move through several mediums. As parents, we want to protect our teens from everything that will hurt them and encourage them to move towards growth.
Some of the challenges with raising teenagers, can be because they force us to confront our own difficulty during this period. Sometimes this challenge can remind of us the help we wish we had when we were teenagers. How we talk and engage with our children is vital to getting through the difficult teenage years.
Unbeknownst to the adolescents, parents can often feel vulnerable about parenting. Seeking answers through friends, family, or parenting books. A sense of self-doubt, at times can take over. According to Brene Brown’s recent audiobook, ‘The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting’ she emphasizes the difficulty in raising adolescents with a sense of love and belonging, and a sense of self-worth. Raising an adolescent with self worthiness is not easy, fostering compassion in that individual is a complex effort.
I have worked with families for years and enjoy working with adolescents in particular because there is so much space for transformation to occur in therapy. Parenting with compassion and empathy, gaining an understanding for your child’s behaviors and moods will promote an open space for conversations to occur. Children and teenagers learn best by watching others and parents. If you desire to teach your teenager compassion, leading by example, i.e. be a role model your child needs, by being who you wish your child to become. Unfortunately, parenting does not come with a manual, my hope is to guide families towards change they are seeking. Working with families to develop a deeper understanding of their teenagers and themselves, in which they both gain tools and coping skills to grow through the difficult years.
Contact me to schedule your appointment.