Total Wellbeing: September 2019

Parenting Teens & Emotional Wellbeing

Welcome to the September 2019 edition of TotalWellbeing, your guide to the 8 dimensions of wellbeing. First and foremost, we want to take a moment to share that starting immediately you can now access your counseling services with MINES through an online text and messaging platform! It’s counseling whenever, wherever! Call us anytime for more info or to get set up!

Moving on, this month’s topics are parenting teens and emotional wellbeing. Needless to say, communication with teens can be tough, especially when it comes to discussing emotions. As your kids begin the transition to adulthood, you need to develop new strategies to communicate with them than you did when they were young children. Picking up non-verbal cues, learning new styles of communication, and fostering mutual patience, trust, and respect will set a solid foundation. For more information on occupational wellbeing check out these helpful articles, free webinars, and the information below.

Remember you can always catch past issues of TotalWellbeing on our newsletters page. This newsletter is aimed at providing helpful information about various aspects of your wellbeing and then connecting it all back to important and relevant parts of everyday life. If you have any thoughts, questions, or content you would like to see covered here please get in contact with us. You can email us directly by clicking here.

To your total wellbeing,

The MINES Team

Communicating effectively with your teens

Difficult communication can be frustrating, even downright infuriating. It’s important, however, to not read into your (or other’s) emotions or jump to conclusions. Get the facts and wait until you’re calm and collected to have a conversation. Here are 8 tips to help you talk with your teen(s) in on their level. Check out this article for more detail on each item.

Go to a neutral setting and try to have both parents present.
Other siblings or people should not be there.
Start out by saying, “I am concerned about …”
Don’t pass judgment or be defensive.
Find common areas that you agree on and establish some rules.
Discuss with your teen what would be a reasonable punishment.
Forget any kind of physical contact as punishment; this will not work.
Some teens communicate better in writing. Encourage your teen to write down their feelings.

If you or a household member would like to talk to a counselor about these topics, please call us at 1-800-873-7138 to get connected right away. Also, PersonalAdvantage has a ton of great resources and FREE webinars this month to help you focus on your wellbeing while also being productive at work and home.

Question of the Month

What are your top 1 or 2 “emotional drains”? What are the root causes of these drains, and are there ways communicating about them to others may help?

Quote of the Month

“One thing you can’t hide – is when you’re crippled inside.” ― John Lennon

Community and Global Perspective

This month, as we connect our themes to the global environment, let’s look at the community and world we live in as one of the primary influences and sources of stress that teens must navigate. One of your goals as a responsible parent should be to equip your children with the social and emotional tools needed to navigate the hurdles they will face. You should also strive to keep an open, honest, and trusting line of communication with your children/teens so that when the world gets to be a little too much, or they have questions, they feel safe coming to you for answers and solace. This will strengthen both you and your teens’ emotional wellbeing and help keep them grounded and on a safe and stable emotional platform. If you can foster and maintain this sort of relationship with your teens, as difficult as it can be, you and your children can learn to face the world together. If you find that you are having communication problems with your teens remember that you can use your EAP sessions for family counseling that may help to open up paths to improve your family dynamics and even make them flourish!

If you or a member of your household needs assistance or guidance on any of these wellbeing topics, please call MINES & Associates, your EAP, today for free, confidential, 24/7 assistance at 800.873.7138.

MINES does not warrant the materials (Audio, Video, Text, Applications, or any other form of media or links) included in this communication have any connection to MINES & Associates, nor does MINES seek to endorse any entity by including these materials in this communication. MINES accepts no liability for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided herein, nor any additional content that may be made available through any third-party site. We found them helpful, and hope you do too!

Total Wellbeing: September 2019

Parenting Teens & Emotional Wellbeing