What happens when adolescence meets demand avoidance?

Teenage brains matter.

When I studied undergraduate psychology, twenty-five years ago, we were taught that most important brain development happened in childhood. Brains grow a lot in those first few years of life, and then, it was thought, most of the important structures were in place. There weren’t many studies of what happens when brains are actually working, because it was effectively impossible to see.  

That has all changed in the last twenty years. With advances in technology, researchers are now able to use magnetic resonance imagining (MRI) to look inside the brains of living people as they are thinking and carrying out tasks. They can actually see brains working.  This has had a dramatic effect on how we understand brain development, and particularly how we understand adolescent brain development. For it turns out that adolescence is a very important stage. There is rapid change, and teens are highly sensitive to their environment. 

It’s a time of high vulnerability and also great opportunity. It’s a time when things can go wrong, but also a time when things can go right. 

Adolescence is also a time when young people change, sometimes beyond recognition. Children who woke at 5am every morning are asleep until noon, young people who couldn’t stick at anything start to focus on goals.  Those who wanted to be with their parents all the time suddenly only want to be with friends or by themselves. It can feel to parents like all the rules have changed.

This can be particularly hard if your child is demand avoidant.  You’ve spent years understanding what makes them tick, and now adolescence has come along and none of your expertise seems to apply anymore. That’s what I’m talking about in this new webinar. Understanding adolescence and demand avoidance, and how the two interact. Most suitable for those with children aged 9-14, but also relevant to older adolescents (or those with younger children who want to think ahead!).

Please share if you know parents who might benefit. It is recorded.