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Take Control of your Teenager | No Thanks |
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| New Beginnings for a Troubled Teen |
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A fresh new start for a troubled teenager who once engaged in detrimental patterns of self-destructive behavior can be intimidating. At the beginning it may be very easy for your teen to slip back into old habits of destructive behavior, because these negative actions are what he/she may have ironically used as a security blanket. As negative as some of these behaviors may be, they may have provided your troubled teen with a twisted comfort to come home to. But as in their name, self-destructive behaviors are exactly that—destructive. And a parent cannot simply let detrimental patterns persist for the sake of their child. Once intervention has been made and the proper professionals have been contacted, self-destructive behaviors will be replaced with positive forms of coping. You need to give your teen something else to find comfort in than starving him/herself or cutting in order to let the emotional pain go away. Keep up your encouragement! Once your teen finds him/herself in a new environment where he/she is untangled from the web of negativity, he/she can finally breathe easy. But it is important for you to keep up your encouragement for your teen once he/she has started with his/her new beginning. During times when he/she may seem vulnerable, reminding him/her that a whole green meadow of beauty lies ahead is valuable encouragement. Help your teen keep his/her eyes focused on the new beginning. Looking back upon whatever negative things he/she may have struggled through comes later on when your teen is firmly set in his/her new start. But right now, he/she should be focused on the bright and positive start. Let your teen relish his/her new freedom Help your teenager see the beauty in this new beginning. He/she is no longer enslaved by destructive cycles of behavior. Point out the new-found freedom he/she has to have genuine control of his/her life. When caught up in the web of negativity, self-destructive behaviors control a teenager’s life, not the other way around. The feeling of calm within may take some getting used to for him/her. But the heavy strain that has lifted off your teenager will leave him/her emotionally healthy. Inspire and embrace This is not a time for blame. As much as possible, do not bring up past “should haves.” Instead, continue to point to the beauty that lies ahead. Encouragement and positive re-affirmation cannot be stressed enough. Inspire your teen to embrace this new beginning and let it embrace him/her in return. Each day that comes can be seen as a blank canvas where your teen can brush the most vibrant colors of a fresh and positive outlook. Let him/her rejoice in this beautiful work of art that he/she has created—a new start. |
