CNN Health lets us listen in on an interview with author and psychologist Lisa Damour. Damour reveals how science helps us understand the teenage brain and facilitates support to our loved ones.
Jessica DuLong writes (excerpt):
CNN: You say parents need to worry about kids feeling alone with psychological pain — that, like all of us, kids need to feel seen. How can we do that?
Damour: Parents underestimate how powerful empathy is in terms of helping kids feel better. Too often we jump straight into problem-solving mode when they just want us to listen and say, “Oh, that really stinks. I’m so sorry.” Either that’s as much of a solution as they need, or they’ll go figure out their own solution. The two most useful lines in all of parenting teenagers are:
Do you want my help, or do you just need to vent? And…
Is there anything I can do that won’t make this worse?
Those will usually cover your bases.