SHOULD I CONSIDER MEDIATING WITH MY TEENAGER?

Parents understand how conflicts over curfews, homework, and household duties comes with their teen’s developing capability, maturity and changing relationship with them as time goes by.

Some estimates, though, are that in some 20% of families the conflicts are intense, prolonged, and unhealthy. When severe, such conflicts can result in truancy, leaving home, and involvement with self-destructive behaviors that can threaten the entire family.

Compared to family counseling where adolescents can be in extended therapy for any number of reasons, such as anxiety and depression, school and social stress, exploring identity, and adjusting to life changes, parent-teen mediation is short term and focused on dealing with current specific issues.

What makes parent-teen mediation different from other forms is the empowerment it affords teens by acknowledging their need for greater autonomy in a way that’s acceptable to them and their parents.

Some parent-teen mediation programs provide co-mediator, which consists of an experienced adult and a trained teenager. The obvious advantage of this approach can serve to allay the teenage participant’s perception that the adults are “running the show.” At times the teenage mediator can act as an “interpreter” of the adolescent’s language and perspective.

Evidence suggests the majority of parents and adolescents in mediation report a positive change in their relationship and would recommend this unique process to others.