Today’s youth are growing up in an over-stimulated and demanding environment.
Those who ultimately thrive can readily demonstrate following life skills:
- Not letting fear stop you from trying
- Managing stress through self-soothing
- Managing jealousy and/or feelings of envy
- Showing confidence without being arrogant
- Hearing and weighing the viewpoints of others
- Practicing patience and flexibility on a daily basis
- Managing one’s temper and the expression of anger
- Taking ownership and responsibility for one’s actions
- Differentiating between rational decisions and impulses
- Knowing the difference between true love and infatuation
- Understanding that talents cannot overshadow preparation
- Awareness of one’s insecurities as well as one’s self-esteem
- Learning from one’s mistakes and accepting losing gracefully
- Not only focusing on the negative, but also seeing the positive
- Keeping other people’s feelings in mind and limiting selfishness
- Accepting negative feedback as an invitation for improvement
The coping skills a teen develops can make all the difference between hindering them or helping them attain their life goals. In working with youth, I have chosen to incorporate a medley of life-coaching, mentoring and counseling techniques. My reasoning is this:
Acting out behavior in most teens reflects an incompatibility between their skills and the demands being placed upon them by their environment. Kids will always look bad when challenged beyond their capacity to respond effectively. We need to see their behavior as a cry for help and answer that call. I help teens discover effective ways of responding to challenging situations.
Common areas where teens struggle:
- Executive Functioning: The ability to pay attention, organize, plan and prioritize, as well as start tasks and stay focused to completion.
- Language Processing: The capacity to focus on the important sounds in a noisy setting, and understand and recall the order of sounds and words.
- Emotional Regulation: Being able to manage emotions and impulses, and respond in a manner that is socially tolerable and sufficiently flexible.
- Social Skills: Knowing how to recognize non-verbal gestures of body language, follow directions, refrain from interrupting, and demonstrate empathy and rapport.
- Problem Solving: The capacity to identify the issue and understand everyone’s interests, as well list, evaluate, and select from the possible solutions options.
Teens need to learn flexibility, adaptability, and frustration tolerance in order to:
- Get to school on time
- Do homework
- Manage feelings
- Make new friends
- Clean their room
- Take “no” for an answer
I offer a FREE Initial Parent Consultation to confirm that I am a good match for your family. During this time, I will do a thorough assessment of the situation to give you my most helpful recommendations. You will get an immediate and direct experience of the value I provide.
Menu of Services Offered:
- Free Initial Consultation >
- Effective Parenting Classes >
- Adolescent Counseling 11-18 >
- Social Skills Assessment & Coaching >
- Young Adult Life Skills Coaching 19-24 >
Taking the Trouble out of the Teen Years
www.sandradupont.com
Providing service for: Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Culver City, Los Angeles, Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica, Venice, Marina Del Rey, Mar Vista, and Topanga Canyon.