The Adolescent Self-Destructive Cycle

In this episode Neil responds to a question from a mother who is struggling with her 16 year old son, a positive young man who wants to please, but he gets himself in serious trouble every couple of months. This mother is concerned because Dad thinks their son is insincere and acting the part of the nice kid to get what he wants and she is feeling the fool for supporting him. Neil explains moral development and how some acting out teens have not internalized a value system, but others have and he reassures this Mom that her son does have an internalized value system, but is in a self-destructive cycle, supported by a family control battle. Neil gives this mother the necessary steps to end the control battle and support her son out of his self-destructive cycle. Neil challenges listeners to avoid shaming teens when they make bad decisions and instead ask the question, "why is a good kid like you, making bad decisions like this?" Have a question for Neil? Submit it now for discussion on a future episode of The Healthy Family Connections Podcast: http://neildbrown.com/submit