This one is for you if you have kids at home (like we do) who are overly self-critical.

It’s hard to be a teen these days, especially if you are a girl. There is a lot of pressure on teens to look a certain way, to be popular, to achieve in school and sports and extracurricular activities.

If you have a teen who is hard on herself, what can you do as a parent?

Here’s a hint… telling her “Don’t be so hard on yourself” is NOT the answer.

The answer is self-compassion!

We sat down recently with self-compassion researcher, Dr. Kristin Neff and asked her to give us the inside scoop on the new research with teens.

Turns out self-compassion helps with pretty much everything…

Negative self talk…

Low self-esteem…

Depression…

Suicidal thoughts…

Eating disorders…

Self-compassion even increases healthy motivation.

Here is our conversation with Kristin. We talk about teens, mental health, whether boys or girls are more self-compassionate (the answer may surprise you!), current research, and resources to increase self-compassion.

Resources:

For more information about Dr. Kristin Neff’s free resources and her Mindful Self Compassion Program click here.

For information about a self-compassion program for teens click here.