by janetedgette | May 10, 2025 | "Typical" Teen Behavior, Counseling adolescents, Counseling teens, Doing therapy with teenagers, Family life, Parent-Teen communication, Parenting teens, Teenagers
We all want to raise kids who are confident and who will speak up for themselves, so we encourage them to have a voice. A voice is important, but so is having the discernment to know when you are effectively advocating for oneself and when you are simply using... 
by janetedgette | Aug 13, 2024 | "Typical" Teen Behavior, Counseling adolescents, Counseling teens, Doing therapy with teenagers, Family life, Parent-Child communication, Parent-Teen communication, Parenting, Parenting teens, Teenagers
Until we re-examine our cultural narrative about adolescence that says all teens are “crazy,” “uncommunicative,” and “irresponsible,” there will continue to be a generation gap that is more apparent than real. After all, when you... by janetedgette | May 6, 2024 | "Typical" Teen Behavior, Family life, Mental health, Parent-Teen communication, Parenting, Parenting teens, Teen behavior, Teenagers
Never has the adage “I was a teenager once too, you know” been more tone deaf to the experience of being a teenager than it is today. So much has changed in the past decade-plus, in ways that have altered the DNA of how kids communicate with one another, entertain and... 
by janetedgette | Feb 12, 2024 | "Typical" Teen Behavior, Counseling adolescents, Counseling teens, Doing therapy with teenagers, Family life, Mental health, Parent-Teen communication, Parenting, Parenting teens, Teen behavior, Teenagers
Recent advances in brain research have confirmed for us that there are qualitative differences between the brain of an adolescent and that of an adult, impacting the way adolescents remember, think, reason, focus attention, make decisions, and relate. Dan Siegel,... 
by janetedgette | Oct 4, 2023 | Doing therapy with teenagers, Family life, Mental health, Parent-Child communication, Parent-Teen communication, Parenting, Parenting teens, Parenting young children
People often say they find it easier to empathize with individuals with whom they share a history or religion or culture or occupation than with individuals with whom they feel they have little in common. At first blush it makes sense; you figure you can more... 
by janetedgette | Oct 3, 2023 | Family life, Mental health, Parent-Child communication, Parent-Teen communication, Parenting teens, Teenagers
If you’re struggling to get genuine conversations going with your teenager, consider these three questions. “I try to ask open-ended questions like they told me to but even still, my daughter just kind of shrugs and gives me only a word or two before going...