You may be nervous to start talking to your middle or high schooler about their mental health, but you can gradually make it part of the family routine. Here’s how to get started and how to approach topics of feelings and mental health to make the conversations productive.
- Check in with your child regularly and allow them to lead the conversation.
- Be curious but not overly intrusive.
- Make these conversations a natural part of your family routine and make sure everyone participates in talks about their feelings.
- Identify emotions by name like happy, nervous, and excited. Good and bad are not emotions.
- Don’t lead them with their answers or tell them how they should feel about situations.
- Acknowledge what they are saying by repeating back what they said and saying that you understand.
- Know when to pause – if you hit a roadblock take a break from the conversation.
- During stressful events make extra space for conversations about thoughts and feelings. These could include moves, graduations, deaths and large events in the news.
