This module is designed to:
offer encouragement to parents who are struggling with rebellion in their home. offer instruction about what rebellion looks like.
This module is not designed to:
be a checklist to determine whether your teen is a "rebel."
Teen rebellion is behavior with a reason
Youth specialist Tim Sanford encourages parents to realize that children always do things for reasons. He explains that many times parents don't know the real reason behind a teen's behavior. He says, "God didn't make us random beings, so our behavior (even rebellious behavior) is stemming from a reason. It's important to get to the ‘itch' (core reason) behind the ‘scratch' (outward behavior or attitude)." Whether dealing with basic issues such as respect or complex issues such as at-risk behavior, parents sometimes struggle to understand the difference between healthy teenage autonomy and blatant teen rebellion. What looks like rebellion may actually be a teen's natural "itch" for greater independence.
Why is my teen struggling?
In his book Losing Control & Liking It, Sanford offers some explanation about the struggles most parents face with their teens. He writes:
Your teenager is in the process of moving away from you. Therapists have a term for this: developmental individuating. It means your child is doing the following:
disconnecting leaving the nest launching out becoming his own person growing independent becoming a free moral agent
These phrases sound nice and inviting when they crop up on a psychology