We've all been there. You’re standing in the grocery store at the exact moment your child decides to have an emotional outburst because they're out of his favorite candy or she wants a particular type of cereal—or for no particular reason at all. We've all had those moments where our kids’ emotions become too much for us to handle and the embarrassment and frustration and overwhelming swell of our own emotions lead us to have rough days as parents.
Have you ever opened your mouth and heard your parents come out? Being intentional about what you say to and around your children can help mold who they become and how they deal with the world as they grow up.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve faced drastic changes and heartache as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic. On a grand scale, both the residents of Idaho and our global society have have struggled to adjust to a new norm—a "stay-at-home era" as schools and businesses close, and those not considered "essential workers" face layoffs and work-from-home orders while we wait for COVID-19 to pass.
“When routines get disrupted at home, kids don’t have the emotional vocabulary to communicate how that added stress affects them. That’s when we see them acting out,” said Justin Hacking, LCPC, who is the Clinical Supervisor at Idaho Youth Ranch.
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.
Studies show that healthy families create healthy communities everywhere.
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.
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.
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.