Tactics For Dealing With Emotional Teens

by Iza del Carmen, MomAuthority.com

Dealing with a teen that is struggling with anger and depression is quite different than confronting an adult with the same problems. Although we may look at them and see an adult-sized person, the transition from child to grown-up is far from complete. Remember this when attempting to help your teen beat their emotional issues and also keep in mind that they are individuals. Not every approach will work with every teen; you know your child best, so trust your instincts and, above all, be patient, even when they are less than pleasant with you.

Stop And Listen

Many teens complain that their parents do a lot of talking and very little listening. Make sure that you give your child a chance to say his or her piece before spouting off about how they should handle a situation.

Many teens with anger and depression problems feel that way because they think no one listens or cares about their problems. So, make sure to take the time to let your child vent their frustrations and disappointments to you. For some teens, knowing that you care about their problems and are interested in what is going on in their lives is enough to turn their mood around.

Talk It Out

Talk with your teen on a regular basis about everything that is going on in their lives. Communication is important in every type of relationship and the parent-child relationship is not excluded from this rule of thumb. Whether their problems are with anger or depression, getting to the bottom of things together and providing them with feedback will certainly be more effective than ignoring a problem and hoping they outgrow it as an adult.

Let them know that they are loved and cared for, but express your concern or disappointment in their current actions. Give them the chance to explain their own position and reasoning for their moods and behaviors, as well. By opening up the lines of communication, you may be able to get inside their mind and see just what has effected their disposition in such a drastic way, to better help them resolve their problems.

Advise, Don’t Dictate

When your teen opens up to you about the things that are going on in their life that have caused their moods to change, try not to tell them what they have to do to fix it. You can certainly offer them advice as to different ways to handle the problem, but let them make the choice for themselves. This is especially important when dealing with teens that have problems with anger. Giving them a few rational options to consider is much more effective than telling them to not be angry over something that has them upset.

Nothing can make a teenager rebel more than being told that they absolutely must do something a certain way. Instead, give them the tools that they need to make the right choices and deal with their problems. Knowing that they have your confidence that they can make the choices on their own will help them to put their anger or depression behind them.

Tactics For Dealing With Emotional Teens, Part 1 (c) 2008 MomAuthority.com