Loving Your Adolescent – Staying Hopeful, Staying Close While Letting Go – with Kirsten Nottleson

Adolescent life in our society is far from easy. We may wonder why our teens act distant, seem moody, and have trouble concentrating in the tasks before them. Our teenagers often blame themselves for the troubles they experience. When that is too painful, they can become angry with us or shut themselves away as they retreat into their towers of isolation.

But we don’t have to let them stay at such a distance from us. Teens and tweens need their parents to reach out for a genuine connection. Brain science has taught us so much that we didn’t know or understand in years past about teenagers and what kind of support they need to navigate the tricky waters of adolescence and grow into healthy adults.

In order to build bridges between our children and ourselves, we have to learn to stay thoughtful and supportive through the most intense of their feelings. We have to keep letting them know that, no matter how they feel or what they do, we love them and want their lives to be good. We’ll stand by them, no matter what.

This talk will help you understand the things that make life challenging for our teenagers and cues for decoding their often challenging behaviors. It will offer proven ways to become more deft at guiding them through these formative years. We can find doors into their internal world. We can find ways to make, rather than break, connection.

We have to have good support for ourselves in order to do this. We worry about the increasingly riskier behavior and social relationships our kids are involved in. Oftentimes, our own experiences as teens clouds our ability to see our children with fresh and present eyes. I’ll share a powerful parent to parent listening tool that can literally save your relationship with your child.

Additional topics:
– Learn to identify the specific connection makers and breakers that are most impactful for your child
– Chores and responsibilities: how to decide what hills to defend and which to let go of
– Play still plays a vital role in your relationship… how to inject it into daily life
– Learn how small moments of connection can make a big difference
– Handling “sass” or “attitude” (hint: the answer is not punishment)
– Making room for our grief and being flexible as the relationship shifts (and yes, it will)

For parents of children aged 9-19 years old.

For more info go to https://www.handinhandworkshops.com/loving-your-adolescent-natick/

contact [email protected] if cost is prohibitive