Fostering Trust and Emotional Openness

In today's world it is important to create an atmosphere of trust, even when dealing with challenging issues such as depression. Rather than striving to strictly control a teenager's behavior, parents can be of significant help by shifting towards expressing their own feelings and experiences related to their relationship with the child. This approach not only fosters a deeper understanding of the emotional situation but also helps identify common ways to overcome difficulties. Open and sincere communication becomes a powerful tool that connects hearts and creates conditions for support and mutual aid, which is especially crucial when emotions run high.

What strategies help parents speak openly about depression and seek support?
Parents can openly discuss depression by shifting the focus from trying to control their child's behavior to understanding and expressing their own feelings related to the child. This means reorienting the conversation: instead of demanding that the teenager simply meet expectations, parents are encouraged to share their experiences, emotions, and attitudes toward the situation. By doing so, an atmosphere of trust is established, enabling a deeper examination of the problem and paving the way for support.

Supporting citation(s):
"In conversations with parents, it is better to guide them towards changing the external manifestations of their behavior in relation to their children. A crucial behavioral shift involves reorienting parents from controlling their children to expressing their own feelings and experiences related to the child." (source: link )