YOUR TEEN NEEDS YOU NOW - MORE THAN
EVER
You know the teen years are fraught
with insecurity and uncertainty so you’re consciously giving your teen space
while staying positive and kind.
Maybe you’re even bending over
backwards to love on them without coddling, but it’s like you’re on two
different wavelengths and they don’t see or feel your efforts, or they don’t
want to.
This incredibly painful disconnection
comes to light when your teen yells, “You don’t love me!”, in a heated moment
of anger, frustration or despair and your heart breaks. In desperation you ask,
“How can you NOT know how much I love you?!?!”
/\ /\ That moment right there is why I
need to read this article.
Your teen is a DEEP ocean of emotions
that changes weather patterns in the blink of an eye. They’re going from 16
basic emotions to the capacity for 87 without the language to express them or
the executive function to filter or regulate them. That’s why your teen
struggles to communicate feelings and clearly express their needs.
Unlike your cell phone, they don’t get
a software update overnight and start talking like a psychologist. They’re
getting all new hardware, but the software development requires mentorship from
you.
Whether your teen is a closed book of
mystery or emoting all over the place like a 20ft billboard you can’t not
see, you aren’t’ responsible for their feelings. However, by understanding
these 6 secrets you can close the gap between you and your teen.
1. What are they doing right?
- Your teen’s self-esteem is dropping up to 30% so daily correction from
school or at home feels like criticism and even condemnation. Focusing on what
they’re doing wrong or need to change is demotivating and you’re training your
reticular activating system (RAS) to see more faults.
The Gottman Institute, founders of
relationship study with over 40 years of empirical data, currently show a
minimum healthy ratio of positive (affirming or encouraging) to negative
(corrective) comments is 3:1. You teenager desperately wants you to affirm what
they're doing right, no matter how small.
i.e., “I'm proud of you for doing
that.”
“Thanks for doing that (or fill in the
specifics).”
“I appreciate you (fill in the blank).”
2. “Do you love me in my
mess?” - Your teen’s brain is rewriting a new, more complex identity
and in the process, they don’t know who they are which is frustrating and
scary. You’re first reaction is likely, “what are you being this way?!”, or
“what happened to you?!”. That’s normal.
Are you willing to look beyond their
moment to moment, day to day mess and love them in the process of figuring out
their new brain? Will you answer YES when they don’t know how to love
themselves?
P.S. The level of grace and
compassion you show your teenager is likely the same level of compassion and
grace that you have for yourself, and what you were shown as a child.
3. Be their cheerleader -
Enforcement of rules or expectations to ensure accountability and fulfilling
their potential erode self-esteem, increase anxiety, and promote greater
avoidance. That pass/fail environment focusses on behavior and outcomes, not
the emotions that drive them, which is a breeding ground for shame.
Encouragement is a powerful tool to
support your teen in developing their own internal motivation and healthy
coping strategies because you’re working with the emotional gatekeeper in their
brain.
You can hold firm boundaries and allow
natural consequences all while being encouraging. A sincere, “I believe in
you”, said to your teen when they’re riding the struggle bus means more than
you realize.
4. “Do you hear me?” –
When your teenager’s having an emotional outburst that sounds disrespectful,
angry and blaming, it’s normal to want to shut that done with a firm, “Don't
talk to me like that!”. That’s like throwing fuel on the fire.
They current emotional outburst is the
raw feed of those new 87 emotions and shutting them down has much greater
consequences. Rather than require your teen to deny, abandon, or suppress their
feelings, they need your help to refine the delivery (boundaries around
specific words/phrases like swearing or name calling are good when you
encourage them try again or circle back). But they can’t do that until their
brain is regulated.
Using empathy and validation is the
most effective way to calm their emotional brain and get their executive
function back online so they feel seen and heard, not brushed off, shut down,
fixed, or labeled as over sensitive and dramatic.
i.e., “This must be really hard.”
“It seems like you're really angry
about this.”
5. “When
is it my turn to talk?” – Your teen is constantly being talked at,
lectured to, told what to do, what to learn and regurgitate, and what they
should think and believe. Then when they try and share, they feel interrupted,
corrected, judged, and fixed with endless advice.
When you allow space for your teen to
process by just listening (no teaching momenta), they share more often and find
their own answers. This is how their higher-level thinking develops - not being
told what and why they should solve their challenges.
And if they don’t feel heard by you
they’ll take that inner dialogue elsewhere and risk getting some sketchy
feedback about key life choices.
6. “I need to be
different than you” – Your teen is figuring out who they’re
becoming, and I promise you it’s not as much like you as what feels
comfortable. The problem for your teen is their fear of being judged,
criticized, or not loved in their differences might keep them from revealing
those to you.
Disagreements and differentiation can
feel scary, so you dodge them or send unconscious messages that sameness is
better, even required.
Being curious about and delighting in
your teen’s developing differences in opinion, passions, values, and beliefs,
(with boundaries, of course) creates emotional safety and belonging so your
teen doesn’t seek unhealthy external validation to know they’re welcome and ok.
Alwyn Burger
Founder Be Remarkable
Cell No: 082 306 6287
https://www.facebook.com/BeRemarkableSA
https://www.facebook.com/RemarkableCoachAlwyn
https://www.facebook.com/BeRemarkableWarriorProgram
