Interactions with teens can sometimes be frustrating. Even more so for parents of teens in crisis. Here is an exercise that you can use when dealing with negative interactions with teens.

This exercise is simple and easy to do almost anywhere. These are not cures for behavior. These are simple little ways to try and improve overall interactions with your teen.

Sometimes it can seem like your teen is always in a bad mood. Frustrations & tensions get high and it’s easy to let poor interactions with teens turn into a a pretty negative situation.

Of course there isn’t a cure for angry interactions with teens! Don’t we all wish there was one out there! However, if you follow these simple suggestions you might be able to start changing the negative interactions with teens from negative to positive.

Try starting every daily social situations in a positive way by saying something like, “Hello. Good Morning!” or “Hi. Good to see you this morning.” – this might sound small or even trivial to start your interactions this way, but by approaching the situation with positivity from the start you can condition your teen to instead be prepared, on a subconscious level, for an overall positive interaction.

Try not to get angry when you get a negative or passive response. It’s going to take time. Anything that’s worth it in the long run is worth the investment.

This is the key. DO NOT GET MAD. CONTINUE. Even if you get 100 negative interactions in a row, keep it up!

Studies have shown that continuing positive social interactions & experiences slowly change the way we think about people and situations. They also influence our mood as a whole and encourage positivity.

Interactions with teens are no different:

By simply continuing positive social interactions with your teen, they will usually come to anticipate this positive social interaction, and in turn start to respond in positive ways.

“Positive emotions have been linked to a creative and more generative mindset, and have been hypothesized to broaden one’s thought-action repertoire, increasing the flexibility of cognition and its scope.” – Seeing Positive: Positive Mood Enhances Visual Cortical Encoding by Adam K. Anderson.

Give the exercise a try and see where it takes your relationship.

Positive communication can only lead to positive outcomes. 

Nick Wilkinson. www.ActingNotReacting.com