HELPING TEENS STAY BALANCED
SUPPORTING YOUR TEEN’S MENTAL HEALTH
HELPING TEENS STAY BALANCED
SUPPORTING YOUR TEEN’S MENTAL HEALTH
Authors: AMÉLIE SEIDAH, PhD, AND ISABELLE GENINET, PhD, PSYCHOLOGISTS
With all the changes it brings, adolescence can be an exciting time, but it can also be a difficult one. Luckily, there are things we can do as adults to create an environment that supports our teens’ mental health.
Maintaining an open and caring relationship, teaching your teen to regulate their emotions when they feel overwhelmed, and reminding them of the importance of healthy lifestyle habits are good places to start.
CULTIVATING A TRUSTING RELATIONSHIP THROUGH GOOD COMMUNICATION
Adolescence is a period of tremendous growth and discovery. As a result, your teen may start to experience anxiety or have questions about tough topics. Talking to them openly and honestly about things like love, sex, alcohol, drugs, and depression will help your teen feel more comfortable with you, feel less worried, and make better decisions.
To encourage your teen to express themself, listen to them with curiosity and an open mind, without interrupting or judging them. Then, share your perspective and boundaries while keeping in mind what they just told you. Instead of immediately offering advice, invite them to look at the situation from a different angle. Through these interactions, you will also pass on your own values, which will serve as anchors for your teen.
Helping your teen cope with overwhelming emotions
When your teen is overwhelmed by big emotions, helping them regulate should be the first priority. So, before you start looking for solutions, you need to make space for those difficult feelings with kindness and compassion. Short meditation and self-reflection exercises can help your teen recentre, as well as better manage their relationships with others. Once they’re in a calmer state of mind, it’s time to find solutions and make an action plan.
Meditation ExercisesSelf-compassion: an effective way to overcome challenges
When you’re going through a hard time, are you kind to yourself? Just like you, teens are often hard on themselves during difficult times. Unfortunately, the “tough love” approach isn’t sustainable and ultimately makes us less resilient when faced with problems by dragging us into a spiral of self-loathing.
By teaching your teen to practise self-compassion, which simply means treating themself with the same kindness and compassion that they would give another person, you can help them face their problems with courage instead of ignoring them or running away from them.
EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF HEALTHY LIFESTYLE HABITS
The benefits of healthy lifestyle habits may seem obvious to you, but what about your teen?
SLEEP ON IT
Teens need 8–10 hours of sleep to function well during the day and maintain a positive mood.
That said, it’s sometimes hard to convince teens to go to bed: there are games or movies to finish, friends to text, etc. By explaining why they need to sleep, you’ll have a better chance of getting them on board.
GET MOVING!
The benefits of physical activity for your teen go without saying! In addition to strengthening their body, daily movement will help reduce their risk of health problems and improve their mood, self-esteem, and social life.
KEEP SCREEN TIME TO A MINIMUM
While electronic devices are great communication tools, if they’re used too often, they can interfere with concentration and make teens less motivated to move or spend time with people in the real world. Talk to your teen about their screen time and try to plan activities with people they enjoy being with.
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LEARN ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS’ BOOK
TOUT SAVOIR POUR COMPOSER AVEC LES TURBULENCES À L’ADOLESCENCE – ISABELLE GENINET, PHD, AND AMÉLIE SEIDAH, PHD, PSYCHOLOGISTS
This practical guide aims to help teens get to know themselves better, develop better critical thinking, and improve their self-observation skills. With concrete strategies and helpful advice, teens will learn how to cultivate a positive attitude (e.g., openness, curiosity, flexibility) and, above all, understand the importance of taking action. And this, in turn, will help them feel better equipped to deal with life’s ups and downs . . . and cope with the emotional turbulence of adolescence!
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