Living with an abusive teen can make you question more than your parenting skills; it can make you question your sanity. Teens who are abusive and out of control make life miserable for everyone involved: parents, siblings, extended family, and even teachers. The first thing you should do if you are the parent of an abusive teen is to understand that you are not a bad person or parent. While a small number of abusive teens are violent because they come from violent homes or have experienced abuse in their lives, more often than not, there are other explanations.

Understanding why your teen is violent, out of control, or abusive can be difficult. The best place to start, however, is with your family physician. The physician can rule out any underlying medical conditions through an examination and blood work. This will help to identify if your abusive teen’s behavior is the result of alcohol or drug abuse. If your family physician is unable to find any cause for the behavior, it is also important to follow up with a mental health counselor, psychologist, or psychiatrist. In addition to identifying disorders your teen may be suffering from, the mental health specialist can provide you and your teen with coping skills.

As the parent of an abusive teen, it is important that you protect yourself and your other family members. While your goal may be to help your teen, you cannot sacrifice your entire life to him or her. If you are married, you still need to foster that relationship by getting away and being together. If you have other children, you absolutely must ensure that they are protected and safe from any kind of violent behavior. You should communicate to your teen that abusive behavior cannot be tolerated and that if forced to do so, you will make the teen leave to protect younger members of the family who cannot protect themselves.

Protecting yourself and your family from an abusive teen’s violent behavior does not mean you don’t love your teen. It doesn’t mean you can’t still try to help by seeking treatment for your teen. Involve the school counselor and your teen’s teachers in any treatment or course of action; it often takes everyone working together as a team to help the teen learn to manage anger, work through issues without violence, and manage mental health issues.

In the most extreme cases, your teen may need the help of an outside service, such as a brat camp or boot camp. These camps are designed to take on the teen for whom no other approach has worked. Through a combination of physical and mental exercises, the teen’s behavior is retrained. There are many different types of behavior modification camps available, from wilderness programs for the troubled teens to specialized teen boarding schools. This type of intervention may offer you a solution if you feel nothing else will work.

Your teen probably doesn’t like his or her abusive behavior any more than you do, and many teens respond well to therapy, behavior modification plans, and other forms of intervention. Don’t give up, don’t respond with anger or violence, walk away if you have to, and protect yourself and your family.

Author Bio: Norbert Georget is an accomplished professional speaker, teen motivator, parenting expert and author of the book, No-Nonsense Parenting For Today’s Teenager – How To Feel Like A Good Parent Even When Your Teenager Hates You. You may get a FREE REPORT called No-Nonsense Parenting for the Disrespectful Teenager. All the answers you’ll need to deal with your disrespectful teenager.

Category: Parenting
Keywords: abusive teenager,teenager,unruly,disrespectful teenager,parenting,parenting a teenager