Hello Warriors (Parents of Teens)!
It’s been a while since I sent out any updates, but happy to connect with you today, because I’ve got a few bits of news to share with you! I hope you and your tweens and teens are doing well and want to hold space for you in the case you are struggling. I truly get it.
Recently, I’ve read many articles that explore different aspects of disruption within the psychological fabric of our culture as a result of the ongoing pandemic. Adolescents are effected in unseen and profound ways. Since teens are biologically primed to seek independence, deepen their connections with their peers and experiment with new ways of being in the world, many teens are experiencing mental health challenges and unsure just how to cope.
From this article on Web MD Pandemic Has Harmed Mental Health of Teens:
“Pandemic-related lifestyle changes have wreaked havoc on teens’ lives, with many experiencing disruptions to their normal routines,” Freed said in a poll news release. “Our poll suggests that pandemic-era changes may have had a significant mental health impact for some teenagers.”
“Peer groups and social interactions are a critical part of development during adolescence. But these opportunities have been limited during the pandemic,” Freed said. “Many teens may feel frustrated, anxious and disconnected due to social distancing and missing usual social outlets, like sports, extracurricular activities and hanging out with friends.”
These concerns are echoed in real time by the teens I’ve had the privilege of working with over the past year. Many teens tell me that they mechanically move through the challenges the best they can, but feel a deeper sense of frustration and anxiety and unsure what the future holds.
I get it.
To a parent, you may only be seeing anger, withdrawal, rebellion, depression, self sabotage, self-harm or anxiety. But it’s important to realize, for a teen, they may be using the only coping skills they currently know and have.
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By providing a safe space to process some of these big feelings and by providing powerful tools, many of the teens I’ve worked now feel more prepared to move through big challenges by self regulating and managing their triggers, emotions, anxieties and stress more effectively.
It’s powerful work indeed.. (Read testimonials here.)
We have a few news items to share, new courses coming up, and dates to announce!
New Course Dates Announced!
The 12-Week Transformation Course for Teens
Who: Teens & Young Adults 14- 20
When: Starts May 18, 2021
(time TBD depending on the participants’ availability)
The 12-Week Transformation Course for Teens is a group coaching program & course designed to prepare your teens with tools to transform their lives (and yours). Please read more about the course, the course outline and the tuition fees here.
The course starts in about 3 weeks, so if you are interested, There will be first a short call with the parents to make sure we are on the same page in terms of expectations and then a call with your teen to make sure it will be a good fit.
PLEASE register your teen today as group size is limited.
The 8-Week Transformation Course for Younger Teens
Who: Teens & Tweens 10-13
When: Starts June 14, 2021
(time TBD depending on the participants’ availability)
The 8-Week Transformation Course for Younger Teens is a group coaching program & course designed to prepare your tweens & younger teens with tools to prepare them for the upcoming teen years and beyond.
Miro will co-facilitate this course with me again and we both look forward to connecting with your teen. Here’s a short example of the feedback we got from the last time we ran this course:
To read more about the course, our course outline, and the tuition fees here.
As with our 12 week course, the application process involves a short interview with the parents first and the young person to determine if the course is a good fit.
Group
I am launching something new, a weekly group coaching program for teens called “Group”. Group will meet once a week, facilitated by Lainie Liberti who will begin each session with a weekly “prompt” inspired by the participants.
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Each teen is encouraged to reflect, share and consider other experiences and perspectives. There will be no advice given, rather this is a space to be in community, co-creating a safe forum to be seen and heard.
Who: Group is open to anyone who has worked with Transformative Mentoring for Teens in the past or with Project World School. Other teens will be considered and accepted on a case by case basis, but the culture of Group is reserved for those who have experience with community co-creation AND self-inquiry practices.
The time is still to be determined depending on the time zones of our participants, but we are focused on hosting Group on Mondays starting soon.
Have a teen who might be interested? Inquire here.
1:1 Teen Coaching
Yes, I offer 1:1 coaching but only take on 2 clients a month. I have one spot open, if you have a teen who has a specific issue, challenge or problem they want to work through. Oftentimes I have a waiting list to work with me, so if you are interested, please inquire now. More info about my 1:1 coaching programs can be found here.
Finally, for my next big announcement: (Drumroll, please?)
Book
I’m writing a book and I’m writing it for you parents of teens!
The book explores the teen experience today. It’s written as a guide for parents packed with lots of information to help you make sense of how the world looks through their eyes and how it corresponds with their developmental stage. I also share personal stories of self-directed learning on this topic, healing from my own childhood and adolescent trauma and how to use tools to facilitate greater connection with your teen. The book will arm you with powerful tools to be able to support your teens to handle emotional and psychological challenges head on. Amazing, right? I’m excited.
So, if you have specific requests or there’s something you want to make sure I cover, please reply back with a note letting me know your thoughts. If you are excited about this book, please let me know that too. It will keep me writing when I’m feeling lazy.
Yes, encouragement is welcome, and I do appreciate your words.
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Fun & Games
For those who are not aware, I’ve been hosting two FREE meet ups each and every week, a safe space for teens and tweens to come together to play games, hang out, meet other young people from around the world, talk philosophy, draw and of course, play werewolf. For more information about these FREE weekly meet ups, register here.
Transformative Mentoring for Teens
What Can You Expect?
So, here’s a few thoughts I had. What does 1:1 mentoring and the Transformative Mentoring for Teens programs promise to you and your tweens / teens?
It’s simple:
- Support and validation
- Help develop positive coping skills
- Normalize self-inquiry
- Safe space
- Fosters hope
- Tools to deal with challenges head on
- Accountability
Transformative Mentoring For Teens is designed as a guided experiential journey into “self” through profound self inquiry, using powerful tools to empower your teen’s transformation into a confident self-actualized adult.
I’m convinced, this is exactly what teens need right now.
Thank you for reading this far.
If you have any questions, feedback or thoughts for me, please don’t hesitate to hit reply. I appreciate your support and again, it’s my honor to support the young people in your lives. 
All my best,
Lainie Liberti
Author, Speaker, Community Leader, Teen Coach, Adolescent Behavioral Specialist and Alternative Education Advocate