Teen’s brains are wired to seek pleasure, avoid pain, and conserve energy. On top of that their prefrontal cortex isn’t fully developed yet, which means they don’t always make decisions that are in their best interest. 

They’re learning so much about how to navigate relationships and manage their day-to-day lives. 

Things like:

👉Handling setbacks, like not making the sports team or getting the job
👉Learning to be comfortable with how they look/sound/act
👉Figuring out how to make and keep friends
👉Discovering how to delay gratification and work towards long-term goals
👉Understanding dating and romantic relationships

So many of these things are impacted by neurological development, and I love a good metaphor for explaining complex processes like this. 

Joey Mascio, my guest for episode 134 of the De Facto Leaders podcast is full of great metaphors to help kids understand how their brains work. 

Joey is a Teen Life Coach, former teacher, and creator of the SideKick To Hero mindset coaching app for teens. He’s also the host of the Secrets to An Awesome Life podcast. 

In this episode we talk about helping teens embrace discomfort, navigate the nuances of dating and friendships, and create a personal narrative that helps them reach their goals.

In this episode, we discuss: 

✅Does self-help focused on relaxation and taking a break help teens find happiness? 

✅How he uses Victor Frankl’s 3 ways to find meaning to coach teens, including: meaningful work, connection with others, and having a productive attitude toward unavoidable suffering. 

✅Tips for helping teens and tweens handle rejection. 

✅How to help teens navigate the nuances of friendships and dating

✅Ways to help teens delay gratification and get comfortable being uncomfortable. 

In this episode, I mention the School of Clinical Leadership, my program for related service providers who want to take a leadership role in implementing executive functioning support. I also give you strategies that support self-directed talk and working memory. You can learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/efleadership

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

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