Let’s Talk Mental Health
When Your Teen Opens Up, Listen First
Clip: Season 2 Episode 1 | 1m 25sVideo has Closed Captions
When a teen opens up, listening first can build the trust that makes advice possible.
Important conversations rarely happen on a parent’s schedule. Chad Nightingale and Dr. Kyle Boerke discuss being available when children need to talk, even at inconvenient moments. Their advice: resist the urge to launch into a lecture. Being present and listening first can build the trust that helps children feel comfortable asking for guidance.
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Let’s Talk Mental Health is a local public television program presented by WTVP
Let’s Talk Mental Health
When Your Teen Opens Up, Listen First
Clip: Season 2 Episode 1 | 1m 25sVideo has Closed Captions
Important conversations rarely happen on a parent’s schedule. Chad Nightingale and Dr. Kyle Boerke discuss being available when children need to talk, even at inconvenient moments. Their advice: resist the urge to launch into a lecture. Being present and listening first can build the trust that helps children feel comfortable asking for guidance.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipThey need us and so we have to be there.
- And they're not gonna need us at convenient times.
- No, that's well said.
- It's gonna be inconvenient.
It's gonna be right before you wanna go to bed.
It's gonna be when the Bears just kicked off the football game.
Like it's not gonna happen when you hoped it was going to happen.
And so you just have to go, okay, I'm gonna lay myself aside here and I'm gonna pay attention to my kid.
- One of the hardest parts about being available for these conversations too is we wait.
We hope that our kiddos are going to come to us and ask these things.
And, yes, do they happen at inopportune times?
For sure.
But then the reason we're so excited is 'cause we had a lecture plan that we wanted to give them on X, Y, or Z and they finally asked about it.
So it's my time.
I can teach them this.
Nope, your job is to be present and to let them talk and stay quiet.
And that's really hard for a lot of parents 'cause we have years worth of experience, years worth of knowledge and we know we can help them, but that's not your job right then.
It'll come when they ask for help, but first is to stay quiet and listen to be able to get that information.
And now you've earned the right to be able to have that conversation where you're giving them the advice because you were present and listened to them first.
- That's very true.
- Mm-hmm.
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Let’s Talk Mental Health is a local public television program presented by WTVP