Parenting a teenager is difficult especially when your teen is depressed, violent, abusing alcohol or drugs, or engaged in other reckless actions. It may be overwhelming or you may feel exhausted by spending days and nights worrying about where your teenager. You will always be worrying about with whom your child is, who are his friends or company and what are they doing.

Your fears are genuine because teenage is a very sensitive age and you don’t know how your child is going to handle it. You don’t know not because you failed as a parent, but you failed to be a friend of your teen and give him/her confidence that you are always there for him/her to help, guide and act as his/her friend. You may feel bad about failed attempts to commune, the nonstop fights, and the open insolence. Let’s not leave it!

I am Elizabeth John, Child & Adolescent Counselor at Lifecare Counseling Center. I have come across many such parents who lose hope, stop making efforts and simply leave things on destiny when it comes to handling a troubled teen. Parenting a troubled teen seems like an impossible task, but there are several ways through which you can ease the stress and chaos at home. Help your teen to overcome anger and guide him/her for changeover into a happy, successful young adult.

Let’s check out some of the ways to teach your teen anger management skills:

Make An Anger Rule for Your House: There are different expectations of about handling anger in different families. Some of them have very little tolerance for yelling, while in some families, yelling is normal. You need to create rules about what is the acceptable behavior and what behaviors will not be tolerated in the home. Never allow physical violence, or threats in your home and decide a punishment or clear consequences for breaking the rules.

Draw a line between Anger and Aggression: Tell your teen a clear difference between angry feelings and aggressive behavior. Angry feelings are acceptable in your home while aggressive behavior is not at all acceptable. Make it clear that throwing things, slamming doors or breaking home stuff is not allowed. Teach your teen a difference between aggressive behavior and being angry—even if it is only verbal aggression.

Educate About Assertiveness Skills: Occasionally, hostile behavior and anger issues stanch from a lack of assertiveness. Teach your teen how to take stand for himself/herself in the correct way. Tell them why it is important to speak up for yourself but they must know that you cannot violate anyone else’s rights.

Allow for Self Time-Outs: Tell them how they can put them in time-out when they are struggling with anger. Give a quick break, gather thoughts anywhere where they feel comfortable or end a conversation with the person that is getting heated.

Teach Coping Skills That Are Socially Acceptable: Teach your teen socially appropriate ways to deal with angry feelings. It has been found that those who lack coping skills become verbally or physically aggressive quite easily. Being a parent it is your job to help your teen to deal with rough emotions, like disappointment and frustration.

Problem-Solving Skills: Teach your teenager problem-solving skills. Whether he/she is struggling with a school project or trying to solve a problem, encourage him/her to discover five potential solutions. Then, tell to review the pros and cons of each potential solution before choosing the most suitable solution for the problem.

Apart from the above-mentioned ways, there are some other ways that can help you prevent angry feelings from building up inside.

• Exercise
• Listen to music
• Write down your thoughts and emotions
• Draw
• Meditate or practice deep breathing
• Share your feelings with someone close
• Distract yourself

You can take assistance from Lead Child & Adolescent Counselors.

They are professionals and know how you and us can together bring your children out of the anger condition. They take sessions, give therapies, and recommend safe medicines to control the anger of teenagers. They also help parents to understand the behavior of their child and find the reason behind it. They also educate them on how to take care of the anger, depression, abusive nature and other symptoms of adolescence.

If you take care of your teens today, they will never face any such adult problems and lead a happy and successful life ahead!