As any parent of a teenager knows, this can be a challenging age to navigate. They are riding a rollercoaster of emotions, constantly being pushed and pulled between wanting independence and needing guidance. They often feel misunderstood, alone, self-conscious, and conflicted, offset by periods of elation and confidence.
For parents, helping them navigate this phase requires a lot of active listening, patience, and a willingness to adapt to changing moods and needs. This is often easier said than done. How can parents help their teens build resilience to face the world and advocate for themselves? Here’s a guide for parents that may help.
Resilience gives kids and teens the ability to thrive despite challenges such as bullying, abuse, adapting to a new school, facing a breakup, and more. If your teen is having an especially hard time, introducing them to therapy in Danville CA can also help.
Top Tips For Fostering Resilience
From making connections to encouraging self-care, there are many ways in which parents can help their teens become more resilient.
- Make connections: Make sure your teen knows the importance of engaging and connecting with peers. These connections help them form essential skills such as empathy and effective listening. Suggest that they connect with friends in-person regularly, steering them away from monopolizing their time on the phone. Texts and phone calls are good for quick communications, but burying themselves in their phones for hours on end does not help to build a strong network. Connecting with others on a personal level is what provides kids with social support while strengthening resilience.
- Maintain a daily routine: Have them stick to a routine, which can be comforting to a teen in turmoil. While they may not let on, teens do crave structure in their lives. Work with them to come up with a routine, helping them adhere to set times for school, work, and play. But don’t be so rigid that rules can’t be broken every once in a while. Maintain flexibility while encouraging consistency, points out the American Psychological Association.
- Encourage self-care: Teach your teens the basics of self-care. They should be eating healthy, exercising, and getting enough sleep. They should also participate in hobbies and activities they enjoy. Self-care helps to maintain balance in their lives so they’re better equipped to face stressful times.
- Teach empowerment: Teens who feel helpless can learn how to feel empowered when they take the time to help others. Encourage them to do volunteer work, tutor a classmate, or help out a friend in need.
- Take a break: Taking occasional breaks can re-set their mind and recharge their batteries. Have them focus on something that’s within their control or that they can have a positive effect on.
- Move toward goals: Everyone should have a goal at all times. This gives us something to strive for and build towards. Teens are no different. Encourage them to set reasonable goals and move toward that goal one small step at a time. This helps them focus on a specific task while building the resilience necessary to move forward when faced with challenges.
- Nurture a positive self-view: When your teen is feeling down or worthless, have them recall ways in which they successfully handled hardships before. Remind them that overcoming those past challenges helped them build the strength they needed to get through the situation while learning how to tackle future challenges.
- Keep things in perspective: It can be hard to see the forest for the trees, as small problems tend to become huge in a teen’s mind. When they feel overwhelmed, help them view the big picture while maintaining a long-term perspective. Make it known that their current situation, while painful, will not last forever and that they will get through it. Keep an optimistic and positive outlook in your own life to show them that it’s possible to emerge from tough times better and stronger.
- Embrace change: Change is scary for anyone, but especially teens. Make sure they know that change is an inevitable part of life and that they can always make new goals to replace or enhance goals that have proven unattainable.
Contact Us For a Free Initial Consultation Today
Parenting a teen is hard work. So is being a teen! It’s often easier for them to speak to a third party rather than a parent. We can help them through this challenging time in life, thanks to our compassionate clinicians in Pleasanton CA and surrounding areas. To schedule your free consultation, contact Growing Together Preventive & Psychological Services today.
