A Healthy Relationship With Your Teen: How To Build It

By: Alexia Cabreras, MS, LPC Associate Supervised by Melissa Barton, MA, LPC-S Parents, do you feel like you're at a constant impasse with your teens? I bet it feels like everything you do is an issue! Frankly…it could be you are lacking a healthy relationship with your teen. Teenage years are one of the hardest to parent, and the changes in their lives doesn't make building those relationships any easier. Many times, as they get older, it feels like building a healthy relationship with your teen is something of the unknown. But the reality is this: it's never too late to start making the changes necessary to form a strong foundation between you and your teenagers.

How to build a healthy relationship with your teen?

Listen to your teen

We've all been teenagers before; we know what it's like to want to talk to our parents and feel like they don't care to listen to us and hear us out. Don't be that parent! Let your teens come to you and make them feel comfortable enough to approach you when they need an adult in their lives. Don't discredit what they say; let them express their thoughts and emotions before jumping in; they'll feel as if they were at least given the opportunity to share with you their concerns.

Set boundaries

At the end of the day, you are the parent. Be firm with your boundaries; let them know what's okay and what's not. They may not necessarily like it at first, but with time, boundaries are understood and respected. This results in less conflict between you and your teen as expectations are set in place.

Normalize change & quality time

Do things you don't always get to do together! Have fun, go out, and enjoy quality time with one another. They're only teens once; enjoy them while you can before they're off to college in the blink of an eye. Change is normal, and it's healthy too, every day won't look the same, so incorporate changes in your routine to increase the bond between you both.

Apologize and forgive

Say sorry; as adults, it can be hard to accept what we've done wrong. The truth is, we aren't perfect; it's okay to acknowledge our shortcomings and work towards fixing them. If you apologize, you allow your teen to recognize they can be just as vulnerable back. Let them know you forgive them; it's all about how to work toward moving forward together.

How long does it take?

There is ultimately no timeline to how fast you can build a healthy relationship with your teen. Like everything, it takes time especially if it's something new to you both. As long as you remain consistent, change can happen fairly quickly. If you experience push back, that's okay! Changes like these can be common, but they eventually get better.

Teens

If you're a teen reading this, trying to find ways to build a healthy relationship with your parents, try some of these techniques on them instead. Listen to them, set healthy boundaries, be open to change or create change, seek quality time and don't close yourself off to it, apologize, but also forgive. Change goes both ways, and it's never a single sided action.

Begin Therapy to Build a Healthy Relationship With Your Teen in Katy, TX!

If you are ready to start working on your relationship with your teen, one of the therapists at The Counseling Center at Cinco Ranch can help! We provide mental health counseling, as well as other mental health services. To begin counseling in Katy, TX follow these three steps:

• Contact our office to set up an appointment or to learn more information
• Meet with one of our knowledgeable therapists
• Find ways to thrive through therapy today!

Other Therapy Services We Offer: 

Here at The Counseling Center at Cinco Ranch, we offer counseling services for people of all ages in areas including counseling for kids, counseling for young adults, teen counseling, couples counseling, eating disorder treatment, men's issues, women's issues, anxiety treatment, depression therapy, trauma counseling, family therapy, and group counseling. Our therapists strive to post blogs regularly. We provide helpful information on a variety of mental health topics. To learn more about our therapists and our counseling services, please reach out to the Counseling Center today!