Expert Advice to Improve Parent/Teen Communication

Parents communicate love to their children in many different ways from protecting them to helping them to giving them more freedom. Sometimes, however, children misinterpret their parents’ words or actions. Protection can be seen as control; too much help can be seen as a lack of confidence; giving a child the freedom or room to fail can be seen as not caring.

In a recent article published in Psychology Today, Kenneth R. Ginsburg, MD, MSEd, a pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), offers tips to help parents better communicate with teens. By showing adolescents they are worthy of being loved, their self-worth grows and eventually that love will form the basis for all meaningful relationships throughout their lives.

“It is not what we do, it is their understanding of why we do what we do that frames our relationships and shapes their reactions.”
— Dr. Ginsburg

Dr. Ginsburg is Co-director of the Center for Parent and Teen Communication in the Division of Adolescent Medicine at CHOP, and author of Building Resilience in Children and Teens: Giving Kids Roots and Wings.

To learn more, read How We Communicate That We Love Our Teens.