When is it Time to Ask for Help?

A Parent's Guide to Teenage Behavior

It can be hard for a kid to admit when things aren’t okay. If your teen is displaying negative patterns of behavior, they may be trying to communicate through their actions, instead. Research shows that upsetting experiences and stress are often the culprits behind behavioral issues in teens, and just because you can’t always see an underlying cause, doesn’t mean there’s nothing wrong. This guide offers some helpful ways to identify problematic behaviors, understand the effects of highly stressful situations, and help your child cope and move past their experiences in a healthy and proactive way. This assessment is intended for educational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for medical advice or treatment.

The family is both the fundamental unit of society as well as the root of culture. It... is a perpetual source of encouragement, advocacy, assurance, and emotional refueling that empowers a child to venture with confidence into the greater world and to become all that he can be. 

Marianne E. Neifert, Dr. Mom's Parenting Guide

 After nine months of living in a shelter, with her husband incarcerated and her children in foster care, Janine managed to find housing and a job and finally got her kids back. But the family’s challenges were far from over. All that upheaval and uncertainty was tough to bounce back from. Sibling conflicts and even violence erupted and became daily occurrences at home.

Janine felt like a failure, a “bad mom” who didn’t know how to set ground rules for her children or stop the fighting. She turned to IYR Family Counseling for help.

Opening Hearts and Minds With Metaphors

The well-practiced professionals on IYR’s Family Counseling staff know that patience, empathy, and especially creativity are keys to helping clients break old patterns and create true change in their lives.

Program Spotlight: Family Counseling Services

Parenting is not always easy. But family support and communication are essential ingredients to a promising future. IYR’s Family Counseling services have helped hundreds of Idaho families find positive solutions to family challenges.

When a teenager acts out, sometimes he or she is not the only one in the family who needs to heal. At Idaho Youth Ranch we're committed to treating the whole child, not just one symptom or issue. And in many cases, that also means treating the whole family. Thanks to the coordination bewteen IYR's Anchor House and Family Counseling programs, a family in southern Idaho is finding a new direction together.