Teens and Stress

It Ain’t Easy Being a Teen: Helping Your Child Deal with Stress

Designed for: Parents and guardians

My daughter feels like she has to do everything – college has become so competitive.

My son has so much homework, he never sleeps.

Sports, music, drama, homework – I just don’t know how they do it.

Adolescence can be a challenging time with biological, psychological, and social changes. On top of the typical changes, stressors such as moving from middle school to high school, parental divorce, problems with friends or romance, grades and college pressure can overload some teens. Without coping skills, high stress can lead to anxiety, depression, withdrawal, aggression, physical illness or drug and alcohol use.

HiTOPS sees teens under stress every day and has some great tips and strategies for parents/guardians who want to help their teens deal with their high pressured life. Join a HiTOPS clinician to discuss health risks for the overly stressed teen. Using small group discussion, critical thinking and problem solving, participants will learn healthy practices such as relaxation techniques, guided imagery, music, exercise, breathing, yoga and other strategies. A referral network of professionals who work with teens will be supplied.

Our goals are to help parents and guardians:

• Share concerns as well as successes that have helped to decrease stress in their families
• Increase understanding about the effects of stress on teens
• Explore strategies teens can use to decrease stress and enjoy this time of their life

Average length of program: 90 minutes

Recommended number of participants: 20-100