How to build teen resilience

You want the best for your teen.

You want them to succeed, have good friends, and engage in the world in a meaningful way.

But at times the growth from the bedroom where your teen is scrolling their device surrounded by wet towels and empty plates to a responsible adult feels too big.

You worry the moodiness may never end.

You worry over their confidence, lack of organisation, or motivation to exercise…

You worry when they stay up late or yell at the family.

There are many parents worried about the resilience of their teen.

But there is often a vital misunderstanding about resilience and how to develop it.

Resilience is commonly equated with grit.

Like if you can trek through the woods alone in the rain you have resilience.

Which leads many parents to fret when their teen struggles during a power outage let alone a forest alone in the woods.

But resilience is much more than internal personal characteristics or grit.

Resilience is also a person’s ability to access support to overcome a challenge.

This generation of teens is facing more challenges than any previous generation.

Rates of mental health and suicide are higher than they have ever been.

Now more than ever we need to build support for teens.

The parent teen connection is a vital part of teen resilience and positive growth.

But it is so difficult in modern life to maintain this connection.

Not only do devices present challenges to this connection…

But the pressure on parents is more than it has ever been.

Never in history have parents been expected to parent alone or in pairs, and more households have two working parents than previous generations.

Parenting is one of the most important things you will do in your life.

The challenges of teens today require parents to improve their knowledge about emotions, motivation and behaviour to be able to support their teens.

But parents barely have the time to try to get dinner on the table let alone learn about and improve their emotional intelligence.

Which is why I have created Parent Thinking Space. To receive these free resources to your email inbox weekly click here. And when you sign up you will also receive my free guide to improve your connection with your teen today.