If you have a teen in treatment, learning the skills to validate their experience AND continue to support positive change are critical to your teen’s long-lasting success.
Here are three reasons that parent skills training is critical to your teen’s treatment success.
1. YOU will benefit from learning and using new skills. It’s not likely that you’re living a stress-free existence if you have a teen who experiences emotional overwhelm.
Learning how to be more mindful of your own emotions, how to self-soothe when times get tough and how to unwind and openly communicate will help you at home, at work and in every single other aspect of your own life.
2. Participating in skills training shows that you think treatment is important and you’re committed to change in your family system.
By investing the time and financial commitment into changing your own role in the relationship and managing your own responses will reinforce that your teen is not a problem to be solved, but a part of a family unit that’s all working towards positive change and a happier, healthier way of life.
3. You’ll learn to accept what you can change and have the biggest impact over what you can.
You may not be able to directly change your teen’s behavior and that can feel super frustrating.
What you WILL do is learn how to change your responses which will provide an opportunity for your teen to change in response to you. It’s a win-win!