Discoveries for Parents
The Family Mobile: A Delicate Balance
How your teen's behavior can affect the entire family.
Families function under a delicate set of rules. When everyone is in balance the family holds steady, like a mobile hanging from a string. However, the beautiful mobile that ebbs and flows can easily swing wildly out of control. When this happens, a family finds itself in a delicate and desperate situation.
As our children grow, it is the job of a parent to help that child find its way to becoming an independent adult. Teens are challenging rules on a constant basis, yet there is a time when the challenges are beyond the normal limits. The family is under constant stress, there is a lot of yelling and screaming or avoiding, and siblings, mates and other significant family members can escalate in their unhealthy coping methods as well. You might suspect that unhealthy and unsafe behaviors are occurring and that social patterns are changing.
When one part of the mobile is pushing the rest out of sync, outside help is often sought. It is critical to understand that often it is not just one family member who could benefit from this help, but the entire family. A pediatrician or psychiatrist might prescribe medication: this can be helpful if you have an appropriate diagnosis and are being properly supervised with the assistance of talking therapy. Medication can be successful if given under the right parameters. But, simply giving your child a pill is not likely to fix the problem.
You might seek out the assistance of a therapist. This is probably a good idea and as a consumer you have the right to ask questions including what type of progress you might expect to see and over what period of time. This option for help can work well when the entire family is giving the option of participating. This might not be an option if your child refuses to actively participate in an open and honest manner.
Now, your family is spinning out of control, the pills aren't working, the family refuses therapy and the tension is unbearable. The mobile is breaking apart.
This is the time when everyone in your family would benefit from a time out. Time to let the mobile stop spinning and come to a complete stand still before it can learn to ebb and flow in the healthy manner it did before. There are many options that can be just the right answer with the guidance of an experienced educational consultant. This person will be able to support your family by recommending a specialized boarding option that will meet your individual needs.
Call today to find out how giving your child the gift of time away can help everyone in your family.
Discoveries for Parents was created to house general information, health awareness, peer-reviewed publications and abstracts, which may be useful for parents of troubled children.
