If You Want to Stop Yelling At Your Teen, Stop Yelling at YOURSELF!
Okay, so this might be a stretch. You probably don't "yell" at yourself out loud, but be honest, how do you speak to yourself on the inside?
How often do you "yell" at yourself in your head?
How often do you tell yourself that you're "not good enough", or that you "should have done better"?
The truth is, if you want to stop yelling at your teen, you have to stop yelling at YOU!
Start treating yourself with kindness, and it will be easier to treat your teen with kindness.
Why Do We Yell?
If you're like most parents, you yell to be heard.
Maybe you yell out of anger, overwhelm, or fear.
If you're like most parents, sometimes you yell because you believe, "that's the only way my kids will listen."
I want you to dig deeper.
What Does Yelling Do?
Yelling triggers the Fight/Flight/Freeze response.
This is why yelling is a good idea when trying to protect a child from a dangerous situation. You yell "STOP" and a child is likely to freeze before running into a busy street.
However, when it comes to teaching something to your child or teen or punishing them, or disagreeing with them, yelling is not the best option.
Like I said, yelling triggers the fight/flight/or freeze response.
It actually puts your teen in survival mode. When getting yelled at, rather than listening to what's being said you start focusing on the speaker because you perceive them as a threat. You start looking for an escape or you start getting angry in preparation to fight for your survival.
I've taught about how "calm is contagious" as Rorke Denver says, and how humans are herd animals. The other thing that yelling does is escalate the emotional tension. It spreads to the person being yelled at, and they are likely to yell back.
This is the fight response.
How to Stop Yelling
2. Have compassion for you and your teen.
3. Practice who you want to BE when parenting is easy.
4. Practice who you want to BE when parenting is hard.
5. Use Thought Downloads and the Model
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