Parents need to understand that the holidays may be more stressful than merry for their teen. Here are some ways to help teens manage their stress and avoid unhealthy coping strategies.
1. Talk About Triggers Before Gatherings At the holidays especially, keep the lines of communication open. As celebrations and events approach, talk to your teen about potential stressors. Help them brainstorm ways to cope with challenging emotions. Ask how you can be helpful.
2. Allow Breaks for Alone Time if They Need It Just like you might need a break from the family hoopla during the holidays, your teen might, too. If you support their need for space as part of teen stress management, they’ll be more apt to return to family gatherings refreshed and able to engage.
3. Empower Them to Create Healthy Boundaries It’s important for parents to assist teens in setting healthy boundaries. Remind them it’s okay to say, “No, thanks” if they feel overextended. As well, there may be relatives they can only take in small doses. In that case, help them come up with some polite phrases that allow them to slip out of extended conversations that leave them feeling stressed and agitated.
4. Support Them in Using Stress-Management Strategies Teens will benefit from keeping up healthy habits to reduce stress. For example, physical activity is well-known to decrease stress and boost feel-good endorphins. Encourage your teen to take a brisk walk, hit the gym, or do some yoga and meditation to help the mind and body relax.
5. Spend Positive Time Together Do things as a family that are fun, meaningful, or both to bring about positive emotions. Set aside time to go ice-skating together, play charades, or watch a feel-good holiday movie. Alternatively, try volunteering at an animal shelter, a homeless shelter, or food pantry.
6. Help Them Tap into the Power of Gratitude The attitude of gratitude may not come naturally to your teen at first. Research suggests that practicing gratitude is associated with greater happiness, fulfillment, and well-being. Ask your teen to make a list of three things they’re looking forward to each morning, and three things they appreciated about the day each evening.
7. Maintain Structure For some teens, the lack of structure during the holiday season is a stressor in itself. Helping your teen follow a schedule can be an extremely helpful aspect of stress management. As much as possible, try to coax your teen to stay on the same sleeping and eating schedule.
8. Decrease Your Own Stress You can’t give what you don’t have. If you want your teen to feel more relaxed at holiday time, you have to manage stress responsibly, too. Make time for self-care and find healthy ways to reduce your own stress at holiday time so you can support your teen from a more balanced place.
Happy Holidays!
