12/31/2023 0 Comments Teenager has dark thoughts![]() ![]() Parents instinctively want to reassure their child. The last step is to flip the initial comment into a positive reminder, such as, “If I work hard and ask for help, I can learn the math.” 3. Then have them come up with a plan, such as getting extra help from a teacher. “Maybe that’s, ‘I enjoy my math class,’ or ‘I worked hard and got a B on a previous math test,’” Hurley said. Next, have them come up with three possible alternative thoughts. Psychotherapist Katie Hurley, the author of No More Mean Girls, suggests an exercise she calls “Flip It.” Ask your child to state the negative thought, such as, “I’m terrible at math,” and to verbalize how that thought feels, such as frustrating or embarrassing. If they need even more distance, ask them how they’d advise a friend in a similar scenario. Your child might come up with, “Maybe Maia didn’t mean to leave me off the invite list,” or “Maybe my teacher didn’t realize I was raising my hand.” From this new vantage point, can they see the situation more clearly? Can they imagine other outcomes? Use the word “maybe” as a prompt. Ask them to imagine that they’re sitting in a hot air balloon lifting them high into the sky. Visual imagery can help restore your child’s perspective. Take them on an imaginary hot air balloon ride. 4 Ways to Change Negative Thinking in Teenagers: 1. These strategies can help a negative teen recognize and change negative thoughts and thinking patterns. “Pessimists say, ‘I did poorly on the math test, and I will suck at math and never be able to do it.’ Some of it may be modeling of parents or others, some might be a biological tendency for mood fluctuation, but I think most is learned habits that can be changed.” “Optimistic thinkers view a negative event, like failing a test, as temporary,” explains psychologist Mary Alvord, author of Conquer Negative Thinking. ![]()
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