Building Resilience in
Teens
How to help your teen deal with life’s
challenges.
www.Fultonpsychologicalgroup.com
Fulton Psychological Group
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Individual Therapy
Group Therapy
Parent Training
Family Therapy
Couples Therapy
Psychological Testing
Psychiatry
www.Fultonpsychologicalgroup.com
Resilience Factors
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Personal Factors:
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Family Environment:
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Easy temperament: outgoing, flexible
High self-esteem
Mastery approach: success due to ability and failure due to
self (made a mistake, didn’t prepare) or environment
Warmth, closeness and structure
Close relationship with someone outside the family
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Offers support system and positive coping model (mentor)
www.Fultonpsychologicalgroup.com
Characteristics of a Resilient Teen
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Maintains a hopeful outlook
Able to accept circumstances that cannot change
Develops realistic goals and works toward them
Takes responsibility and learns from mistakes
Keeps a long term and broader perspective
Self confident
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Parent Strategies
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Be empathetic (we want to feel understood)
Have reasonable expectations
Use reasonable discipline methods
Give more decision making as teen matures
Be communicative (think aloud)
Don’t react negatively to negative emotions
Give more responsibility to your teen
Model healthy lifestyle
www.Fultonpsychologicalgroup.com
Tools to Teach Your Teen
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Effective communication
Honest appraisal of self
Problem solving (empathize-identify problemidentify viable solutions-come up with solution)
The model of success
How to reach out and get help
Conflict resolution
www.Fultonpsychologicalgroup.com
Teaching Responsibility
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The good news is that it’s
your fault
Mistakes are a part of
life
Have responsibilities
More decision ability
Money management
Create schedule,
structure
www.Fultonpsychologicalgroup.com
Recovery Skills
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Ability to bounce back
Calm self physically
Reassure self (recognize strengths)
Reflect on what happened
Take responsibility but avoid internalizing
Take broader perspective (not the end of the
world)
Consider alternatives for future action
Learn from mistakes
www.Fultonpsychologicalgroup.com
Teaching how to Overcome
Challenges
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Don’t fix it for your child
Ask before offering suggestions
Don’t get mad about mistakes
Role model and “think aloud” about problem
solving and preparation
Ask your teen how he would handle situations
outside himself (e.g. in a movie, a friend’s, your
own)
www.Fultonpsychologicalgroup.com
Relationships
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Make sure you work on having a positive
relationship with your teen
Empathize and active listen
Separate relating and managing interactions with
your teen
Make sure your teen has good peer relationships
Make sure your teen has good relationships with
adults
www.Fultonpsychologicalgroup.com
Self-Regulation
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Ability to monitor and
control emotions
Includes two components:
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Cognitive (self-reassuring)
Physiological (adrenalin,
cortisol)
Calm down before doing
anything else
Social referencing
www.Fultonpsychologicalgroup.com
Healthy Habits
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Have fun with your teen
Take care of body through
exercise & nutrition
Keep a balance in life
between work and fun
Reduce chronic stress and
tension
Visualize hopeful outlook
Learn and practice relaxation
skills
www.Fultonpsychologicalgroup.com
Threats to Resilience
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Trauma
Divorce
Disability
Loss of a loved one or
support system
Chronic stress
Too much change
www.Fultonpsychologicalgroup.com