Are You Concerned About Their Welfare of Your Teenager?

Have You Lost the Ability to Communicate Effectively With Him or Her?

Every parent wants their child to have every chance at success- to grow into a happy, fulfilled and productive adult. If your child is off track in his or her life, it is immensely painful.

The skills required for successfully raising a teen are very different than those required for raising a child. In spite of the best intentions, this is where many parents get off track and find themselves painfully struggling.

If you are reading this, it is likely that at least one of the following is true:

• Your teen’s school performance has fallen off and they’re not fulfilling their potential.
• You can no longer communicate with your them without it turning into a fight.
• Your teen is out of control and you do not know how to get them back on track.
• Your child is labeled with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD) and you don’t know how to effectively help them manage their behavior.
• They may be experimenting with drugs or alcohol.
• You know your child is capable of achieving much more, but they’re just not doing it.
• They are putting themselves in dangerous situations or hanging with the ‘wrong crowd’.

I have worked with struggling teens in one capacity or another for many years. I ran a gang intervention program in one of the worst areas of Chicago for 5 years, helping hundreds of families struggling with issues like gang-involvement, drug abuse, and dropping out of school.

I’ve also worked with kids from the “other side of the track” with very affluent families where they seemingly had everything going in their favor, yet seemed to struggle just as much.  The power struggles and shouting matches were just as intense, substance abuse was just as rampant, and mom and dad were equally stressed out.

In these many of years of working with families I developed an extremely effective approach to helping them resolve even the most difficult problems quickly and effectively.

This is not therapy.  I’m not here to facilitate spending excessive time talking about the past.  Instead, I’ll help you shift your perspective on the problem, understand why your teenager is behaving the way she does, and most importantly help you devise and implement new communication strategies that will get results.  (I am not slamming therapy.  I was actually trained as a therapist, it’s just not the nature of the work I do with families any more).

I know this may sound like a bold claim, but if your family works with me and you implement the tools I share with you, you will get results.  Things will change.

How It Works

Primarily I consult with parents. This can just as easily be done by telephone as face-to-face, so geographical distance is not a limitation.

The focus of this coaching is twofold:

1. To give you the necessary knowledge to fully understand your teen and why he is behaving the way he does.
2. To know exactly what to say to her (as well as when and how to say it) so that she will start to behave differently.

By learning new communication strategies and ways of handling difficult situations, YOU will become the catalyst for positive growth and change in your teen. That sense of frustration and feeling like you have no control over the situation will dissipate and be gone. You will watch your relationship with your teen dramatically improve and will begin to experience the relaxed and joyful home life you desire.

Working Directly with Your Teen

Sometimes I will also work with your teen, but usually it is not necessary. Face-to face contact is usually better for working with teens because the rapport and relationship that comes from it is important. That said, if you have a motivated teen that really wants help and we aren’t geographically close to each other, using technology we can still make it work.

The most important thing in working with a teen is this: they have to want it. I can teach teens many great skills that will help them start making better decisions and that will make their lives immensely better, but they still have to want it. I will not work with teens that aren’t interested in working with me. It is a waste of my time and your money.

As I indicated above, if your teen is resistant to help but you are ready to learn and practice new strategies, this alone will cause the shift necessary to get the wheel spinning in the other direction.

How To Get Started

If you want to get started, the first step is to set up a free, exploratory session with me. This session will last about 30 minutes and there is no obligation whatsoever. This way you can ask any questions you may have, and we can get to know each other to make sure we’re a good fit to work together. In that session, we’ll discuss how our coaching relationship will work, fees, etc.

To start that process, simply send me an email: joshua (at) yoursuccessfulteen (dot) com. I’ll typically get back to you within 24 hours to set up a phone meeting.