You love your teenager. So when they come to you with a problem, of course you want to help.
But what if all that helping is actually making it harder for your teenager to talk to you, and harder for them to build confidence in themselves?
In this episode, I'm challenging the belief that being a good mom means giving your teenager the answers they need.
Because your teenager doesn't just need good answers from you.
They need opportunities to discover that they can find answers themselves.
We'll talk about why immediately reassuring your teenager isn't always confidence-building, what can happen when you unintentionally start thinking FOR them, and how your loving attempts to help can change their experience of talking to you.
And I'll give you one question to start asking yourself:
Am I helping my teenager think, or am I doing the thinking for them?
Because you don't want your teenager dependent on you for every answer. But you don't want disconnection either.
You want to become someone your teenager feels safe thinking out loud WITH.
Maybe the thing that needs to change isn't your teenager's willingness to talk.
Maybe it's the pattern that happens when they do.
If you want help seeing the patterns happening between you and your teenager that may be creating distance—even when you're trying to create closeness, join me for the Trusted Lab workshop on September 9th.
→ https://lab.kristenduke.com/
You can't do different until you SEE different.
