Dr. Lisa Damour Included in CNN Piece About Why You Might be Butting Heads with your Teen

She states, "Although your teen's brain is working toward a better and more beautiful psychology, this perfectly natural process can often be difficult for families to manage." She says, "If we set high standards for them or speak to them as the best versions of themselves, we tend to get that back from them." In a different CNN piece, she also weighs in about the importance of parents giving their kids hugs and how there are right and wrong ways to give them.

 

Dr. Damour also offers some thoughts about the stress parents feel two years into the pandemic as part of a CBS News story. "It's safe. It offers relief. And now these very tired and very overwhelmed parents know they're not alone," she said. "February is always a hard time of year in family life. It's the armpit of the school year. Under normal conditions, this is a hard time of year. These conditions, plus two years of a pandemic, is extraordinarily difficult." Damour says every parent reaches a point of frustration and exhaustion, but there is a lot of shame surrounding that.