Teens Under Pressure

“Just try it, everyone does it, it’s not even that bad.”
“Hurry up and just take it, no one is looking.”
“She’s such a prude, don’t even try getting to know her.”
“That new kid is a loser, no one likes him.”

The pressure to fit in, to be liked and respected, and to be accepted by peers is a very normal human experience.  While much of the pressure our children and teens face is explicit (like the examples above), they can also feel pressure by just watching or knowing that peers are engaging in behaviors that they are not. For example, knowing that all their friends have snapchat and they are not yet allowed to download that app can feel like pressure to a teen.

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Faults in Our Stars: Developing a Flexible Mindset for Ourselves and Our Children

One of our main objectives at CBT Westport is working together with kids and their parents to achieve a growth and flexible mindset.  As part of this objective, we practice taking risks and learning how to tolerate mistakes.

Professor Thomas Curran, an Assistant Professor of psychological and Behavioral Sciences at the London School of Economics, views perfectionism as a relational trait rather than an individual trait.  This makes sense when we are treating children and adolescents who oftentimes look to their environment (home, school, sports team, parent/coach/teacher) as a conduit to his/her/their perfectionism.

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A Parents’ Guide to Kids & Teens Social Struggles

Watching your child or teenager be rejected or experience unkindness can be incredibly painful and anxiety-producing.  We want our children to fit in, to be liked and appreciated for who they are, and to feel a sense of belonging.  When social problems arise, we can react in different ways: feeling overwhelmed, feeling worried that our child will suffer or things will only get worse, or becoming critical of our teen or their friends. Our efforts to control the situation can backfire and lead our kids to feel unsupported.  When this happens, kids tend to stop sharing their bumps in life with us (for fear we can’t handle it).

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Signs of a Healthy Break up

Whether you are the one ending the relationship or on the receiving end of the break up, the termination of an important relationship is never fun. A healthy end to a relationship can actually be as important as the relationship itself. Further, the factors involved in a break up can affect the way we manage future relationships. Although there are often negative emotions involved in a split, it is entirely possible for the end of a relationship to be rooted in principals of mutual respect, dignity, and good communication.

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Thanksgiving Stress: Three Ways to Keep Calm During the Holiday

Stress is a pretty normal part of life. But with Thanksgiving this week and the holiday season approaching soon after, many people experience additional seasonal pressures on top of their daily stressors.

Indeed, a recent study asked over 2,000 Americans who celebrate Thanksgiving about their thoughts and feelings about the upcoming holiday and found that 53% think that stress will double this year compared to others.

To help manage stress related to the holidays, we share three tips you can put into practice this week right alongside carving your turkey.

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