When Parents Need Help First

Parents can do much to help their teenage sons or daughters

through a variety of difficult situations. Depression, violence, substance abuse, and bullying are all serious issues that parents and teens can work together to help resolve.

Sometimes, however, parents need to confront their own problems before they can help their teenager. Children who live in violent households, or homes where one of the caretakers uses drugs or abuses alcohol, often sustain severe emotional trauma that can last a lifetime. Even if a parent’s violent behavior or substance abuse occurred when a child was small, the child may still suffer repercussions during his or her adolescent years.