Having a tough time connecting with your teen? Here are some helpful connecting tips for parents:
- Touch more. Teens still need touch, but now get less from parents. Find creative ways to keep touching them, i.e. high fives, a playful punch on the arm, sitting close enough to touch on the couch, etc.
- Make eye contact. It’s amazing how this simple action can make another feel seen and validated.
- Use his/her name. (It also helps them feel seen and validated!)
- Find ways to have at least one positive interaction every day even if it’s just a text to say hello or waiting until they are asleep and whispering a few words of love and appreciation. It still goes into their system and may help you out as well!
- Show unconditional love. Let them know that they don’t have to DO anything to be loved. They just are!
- Help them connect. Help your teens connect with people instead of isolate (if that is a tendency of theirs).
- Help them connect to God. Help them connect to God who is always present and available, since parents aren’t!
About the Author: Laura M. Brotherson, LMFT, CST, CFLE
Laura M. Brotherson is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Certified Sex Therapist, Author and Founder of "The Marital Intimacy Institute" with a mission to help couples create "sextraordinary" marriages. She counsels with individuals, couples and families in private practice (and online) and is passionate about helping couples navigate the intricacies of intimacy. She is a pioneer in the field of healthy sexuality especially for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and is a trusted expert on this delicate topic.
Laura shares her passion for building strong marriages and families as the author of the best-selling books, And They Were Not Ashamed — Strengthening Marriage through Sexual Fulfillment, Knowing HER Intimately: 12 Keys for Creating a Sextraordinary Marriage, and her latest book --From Honeymoon to Happily Ever After: 23 Keys to Prepare for a Sextraordinary Marriage. with nearly 100,000 total copies sold. She also has a fabulous online course for women to help them develop their "Sexual Wholeness."
As a Certified Family Life Educator, Laura is also actively engaged in helping to build strong marriages and families by providing marriage education through Couples Cruises, articles, newsletters, radio and television broadcasts, "The Marital Intimacy Show" podcasts, and presenting at conferences and workshops. Laura is a regular contributor to the KSL Television "Studio 5" morning show.
She and her husband, Kevin, have been married 29 years, have three grown children and are the founders of "StrengtheningMarriage.com" — your trusted resource for education, products and services to strengthen marriages… intimately!
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