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Don’t jump into problem-solving mode. Listen to your child first
Parents are too task-focused. Children may feel they are not being heard.
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We have to remember when we are dealing with our teenagers, the limbic brain – the emotional one – is in the driver’s seat.
ST ILLUSTRATION: CEL GULAPA
June Yong
Imagine you are upset over an obstacle you’re facing at work. Have you ever aired your frustration to someone only to have this person reply with a deadpan face asking if you’ve tried troubleshooting by doing X or Y?
The suggestions may be sound but did it also feel like your emotional processes had just been short circuited, and you walked away from the interaction feeling strangely unseen?
