Tag Archives: teenage girls

Building Authentic Connections with Your Teenager

Patricia Vega, author of “Connections by Design,” talks on the importance of building an authentic connection with your teenager. Patricia emphasizes the need for empathy and understanding in nurturing a healthy bond with teenagers, as they navigate the, complexities of adolescence. Drawing from her experience working with troubled youth, Patricia shares the central message of her book: parents must listen and connect with their teenagers to guide them effectively. This episode offers valuable insights for parents seeking to strengthen their relationship with their teenage children.

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Understanding the Importance of Empathy and Understanding

In her book, “Connections by Design,” Patricia Vega emphasizes the significance of empathy and understanding in nurturing a healthy and authentic bond with your teenager. She highlights the distinction between, cognitive empathy, and true empathy, with the latter being essential for building a genuine connection. The, definition of empathy, involves emotionally relating to your teenager, regardless of whether you agree with their thoughts or actions. It is about understanding that they are going through a challenging phase of transitioning into adulthood.

podhero podcast Transform Your Mind
Podhero podcast

Vega emphasizes the need for parents to prioritize how their teenagers feel, rather than solely focusing on their own love and adoration for them. Teenagers need to feel loved, understood, and cared for.  They need, empathy vs sympathy.  By connecting emotionally with your teenager, you create a bridge that allows them to listen to your guidance and support.

Moosend email marketing software
Moosend email marketing software

Delving into the Complexities of the Teenager Mindset

The teenage years are a time of immense change and growth, both physically and emotionally. Patricia Vega delves into the complexities of the, teenage mindset, in her book, shedding light on the emotions and challenges that adolescents face. She refers to teenagers as “newborn adults” who are navigating the tunnel of adulthood for the first time.

Vega emphasizes the importance of connecting with your teenager before attempting to guide them. By understanding their pain, confusion, and loneliness, you can establish a strong bond that allows them to trust and listen to you. She shares stories from her experience working with teenagers in a youth program, where she witnessed firsthand the hunger for being listened to and understood. Teenagers often feel unheard and crave acceptance, which can lead them to seek validation from negative influences such as gangs.

Book Connection By Design
Book Connection By Design

The Inspiration Behind “Connections by Design”

The inspiration for Patricia Vega's book, “Connections by Design,” came from her experience working with teenagers in a youth program. She encountered, teenage girls, who opened up to her, sharing their stories of feeling unheard and unloved by their parents. These girls expressed a deep desire for their parents to listen to them and understand their perspective.

Vega realized that many parents unintentionally perpetuate toxic beliefs and patterns of communication that hinder their ability to connect with their teenagers. She believes that parents need to analyze their own beliefs and discard any toxic patterns in order to build a genuine connection with their children. Each child is unique, and no one knows them better than their own parents. By designing a connection based on empathy and understanding, parents can guide their teenagers through the challenges of adolescence.

Conclusion

Building an authentic connection with your teenage child is crucial for their emotional well-being and development. Patricia Vega's book, “Connections by Design,” offers valuable insights into the importance of empathy and understanding in nurturing this bond. By connecting emotionally with your teenager and prioritizing their feelings, and privacy you can guide them through the complexities of the, teenage mindset. Remember, every child is different, and it is up to parents to design a connection that suits their unique needs. You matter, and your role as a parent is instrumental in shaping the future of your teenager.

How to Treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Teenage Girls

Post traumatic stress disorder, in, teenage girls, usually develops for girls who have been sexually abused, neglected, or abandoned. Author and social worker, Kenya Aissa joins the, Transform Your Mind Podcast, to share strategies to develop, Life Skills, and conscious programs for, teenage girls with, post traumatic stress disorder.

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How to cultivate consciousness and life skills for, Post traumatic stress disorder, in teenage girls,

Today I am speaking with author, Kenya E. Aissa, MS, is a Social Worker whose experience counseling girls, ages 12-22, has given her valuable insight into their thoughts on the validity of spiritual practice. As a primary counselor in a, residential drug rehabilitation program, created specifically for traumatized girls (one of only a handful of such programs in the U.S.), Ms. Aissa created and implemented a weekly spirituality group.

In the next few years, she discovered that confusion, insecurity, and fearfulness are pervasive amongst girls, and they have few internal skills with which to combat these issues. Education and information about women’s spiritual lives are greatly lacking in our schools and in our society. For young women, this dilemma can result in:
• • Banishment of all spiritual and/or religious beliefs, due to anger and disappointment;
• • Adopting non-traditional practices simply for shock value, or to gain a sense of control;
• • A sense of abandonment and loneliness born of fear, which may result in filling the emptiness with negative people, substance abuse, unhealthy sexual relationships, or early motherhood;
• • Feelings of hopelessness, which may result in depression and other mental health issues.

Post traumatic stress disorder in teenage girls

How did you transition your Masters in psychology and counseling into specifically helping, Post traumatic stress disorder, in, teenage girls?

I started working back in the late 90s with my girls that were at a residential treatment center. I was really dropped into that position. I was a little bit blindsided actually, because I really wanted the job. I really wanted to work at a drug treatment facility. I really loved working with
children and I already had the experience. When I got the job I didn't know that I would be specializing, that my caseload would be specifically,
treating, Post traumatic stress disorder, in, teenage girls, I quickly gained the experience because I was with them all the time. I ran groups I worked with them and their families.

I drove them from place to place. I did all kinds of activities with them, and so I had to learn really quickly how to work with, Post traumatic stress disorder, in, teenage girls, These girls were neglected, abandoned, sexually abused etc. I had a couple of girls that were very involved in gangs and so then there's all of the stuff that comes with being involved in a gang. Often there’s a lot of sex, a lot of sexual assault, sometimes unwanted pregnancies a lot of drugs.

Then there’s a lot of fear because of the behavior. Then of course once the drugs become a factor that's another layer to the whole thing, because a lot of girls with, Post traumatic stress disorder, in, teenage girls, will get involved in drugs to mask the pain of their childhood. I had some girls who were prostituting. So there was there were a lot of things that I would say that every almost every kid had some sort of, sexual abuse, or, sexual trauma.

Why adoptions cause post traumatic stress disorder

When I was in,  adoptions, that I had had a lot of experience with, Post traumatic stress disorder, in, teenage girls, I could have real conversations with parents because we had parents that, especially with teenagers, we had adoptive parents that would give their adoptive kids back. No kidding. Teenagers are hard under the best of circumstances. They are worst with, Post traumatic stress disorder, in teenage, girls,

Teenage boys have a different set of coping skills. The way of treating boys with, PTSD, is different than it is with girls. My book Sacred Girl: Spiritual Life Skills For Conscious Young Women focuses on, on what works for, Post traumatic stress disorder in teenage girls. Helping them to find their voice and helping them to use tools to strengthen themselves and to gain empowerment.

I then came up with the appropriate strategies to treat, Post traumatic stress disorder in teenage girls. Our goal it's very action-oriented and so it's my belief personally that talking just isn't enough. You hear a lot about talk therapy and all that stuff and talking just doesn't do the trick for, Post traumatic stress disorder in teenage girls, You can't just talk your way out of the problem and so you really have to do something.

There has to be some action. That's really what my what my book is really about. It is allowing, Post traumatic stress disorder in teenage girls, and let's just say youth in general to understand that they have the power, they can cultivate life skills and coping skills. I really felt like the movement and the actual thinking of the activities was a way to connect to what was going on with their brain and connect them to their emotions. So we did a lot of yoga. Now I'm a yoga teacher but back then I really had no idea what I was doing.

We did the whole altar thing. In my book there's a whole section about altars.
For helping deal with, Post traumatic stress disorder, in, teenage girls, an altar could be their bedside table. Whatever have meaning for you, or that make you feel spiritually or psychically connected.

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Additional Resources and Links:

Studies show why teenage girls are more likely to develop PTSD
“Among youth with post-traumatic stress disorder, the study found structural differences between the sexes in one part of the insula, a brain region that detects cues from the body and processes emotions and empathy. The insula helps to integrate one’s feelings, actions and several other brain functions.”

http://blog.myhelps.us/10-ways-childhood-trauma-
impact-adults-in-love/

http://blog.myhelps.us/fuel-personal-growth-millennial/
http://blog.myhelps.us/about-me/

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Additional Resources

Using Trauma As Your Fuel For Post Traumatic Growth