HELPING YOUR FAMILY

Children Having Difficulty Communicating Emotions to Their Parents

Children often do not share their feelings with their parents and will even hide them when they are not quite sure why they feel the way that they do, or simply wouldn’t know how to communicate what is difficult for them. Close relationships like a parent-child relationship can make it hard to catch small changes in behavior. You may notice that your child has become less engaged in family activities or with family members, but it may be hard to pin-point the reason behind it. It is even harder for children to come to their parents with their feelings as they get older. Children may begin to feel gaps in the bond that they share with their parents and start to feel as if the attachment to their parents is not as strong as it once was. If unresolved, your child may feel as if they or their feelings are not important, which can lead to increasingly severe symptoms of depression and anxiety, which may show up as frequent conflicts between parents and children, or defiant behaviour and stroppiness. Parents may also notice that their child is acting out, doing poorly in school, and also exhibiting self and outwardly destructive behavior.

Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) can be an excellent way to understand difficult emotions and strengthen the bond between parent and child. EFFT can be a bridge between parents and children that allows children to communicate their emotions and the problems that they are being faced with. It is a great way to allow parents the opportunity to learn how to help their child manage their emotions and behaviors while learning the skills to support their children, and help to take on the lead role in effecting positive change in their child and their relationship.

Parents Having Difficulty Communicating Emotions to Their Child

EFFT is also helpful in a reversed role where the parent may be the one who feels a more significant gap in the relationship with the child. This tends to happen in parents who have begun to rely more on their children for support in times of sickness, or it could be coming with age. As parents enter older ages, they tend to rely on their children more. Many parents who begin to rely on their children for help or guidance can start to feel as if they have lost their sense of individuality and need more assistance for activities that they used to be able to do on their own. Parents may also be going through stressful life events such as divorce, a medical diagnosis, or the loss of a loved one.

This can lead to negative emotions for the parent and a child leading to conflicts in the relationship, as both the emotions of parent and child are not shared clearly or effectively. Both then can start to disengage when feeling lonely or exhibiting symptoms of depression. Neither simply may not know an effective way to share their feelings with their children. Parents often have a harder time asking for assistance from an emotional standpoint as well.