Our biggest struggle in parenting is understanding and communicating with one another, shares Katie Millar Wirig. Katie is an actress-turned-therapist who is offering some serious insight into how to connect emotionally with our teenagers. “We’re saying, ‘I love you,’ but there’s a communication barrier,” she explains, referring to the different love languages that our children may or may not respond to. She breaks down the five love languages: words of affirmation, service, gifts, physical touch, and quality time. Katie is the author of Becoming a Mean, Teen Parenting Machine: A step-by-step guide to transform your relationship with your teenager. “When they have a strong relationship with God, it will change their behavior more than any reward or punishment will ever do!” Katie reveals.

TAKEAWAYS

We want to see behavior change, but it’s more important to get to the root of the problem to see that happen

Parents should keep communication with their kids both creative and direct

Break free from reactive parenting and embrace proactive parenting

Teens often suffer from “spotlight syndrome,” which means they falsely believe everyone is watching them and judging them