When I was a teenager, I couldn’t decide what career path I wanted to pursue after my high school graduation. While I wanted to earn a comfortable living, money wasn’t the only factor guiding my decision. I also desired to have a job that would allow me to help others in some way. If you’re searching for a rewarding career, consider counseling. Counselors have the opportunity to help people solve complicated problems on a daily basis. For instance, as a counselor, you might help a couple resolve marriage issues, aid a teenager battling an eating disorder, or assist an adult dealing with depression. I didn't end up becoming a counselor, but on this blog, I hope you will discover some of the most interesting aspects of being a counselor.
If you have a child or a teenager that is suffering from depression, you might feel powerless. You might be doing everything that you can to provide a good life for your child and make sure they have and do everything that they need to do in order to succeed. However, recovery from depression is going to be largely up to your child. You can provide the tools of therapy and medication, but it is going to be up to your child to use them and actually try to get better. Here are some tips for helping your depressed child be more willing to work their way out of the depression hole.
1. Encourage Physical Activity
One thing that you can do is encourage physical activity. Exercising and getting their heart rate up will help increase the chemicals that your child's brain makes to make them feel happy and decrease those that make them feel sad. This will help them improve their overall mood and allow them to function more effectively later in the day. This is a good tool if your child is so depressed that they are unable to do homework. Consider seeing if there are any physical activities or classes that your child could do at a local gym right after school before they start homework.
2. Listen and Respond Appropriately
Let your child know that you are here to listen to their problems or troubling thoughts. However, before you talk to your child, ask them how they would like you to respond. Your child might just want to know that someone is listening and that their thoughts are acceptable and don't need to be fixed. Offering advice to solve the problem or look at it from a different perspective might be harmful in this scenario. If your child truly does want advice, only providing validation could also be a problem. Ask your child for the response they are looking for and it will allow you to help your child more when they come to you.
3. Get Help
Talk to your child about the need for professional intervention and get them to a therapist and a psychiatrist to discuss their options. A therapist will be able to work with your child to develop a treatment plan they are comfortable with. That will increase the chances of them following through.
For more information, talk to a counselor like those at T M S Center of Nebraska LLC.
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