Unlocking Healthy Conversations: Strategies for Talking with Teens About Mental Health
In Part Two of our series on effective communication, Rebekah Gibbons, LICSW, will take participants through four common scenarios. In each scenario, she will teach parents and caring adults how to use communication strategies that work. You will learn how to validate your teen’s feelings and discuss sensitive topics.
A place to learn
At Families for Depression Awareness (FFDA), we focus on the families of people living with depression or bipolar disorder ("mood disorders"), equipping family caregivers with education and training so they can provide effective, constructive support to their loved ones.
Mood disorders affect everyone in a family, not only those with the diagnosis. Each family member should be able to have their needs identified and addressed.
In addition to passing along a higher likelihood of having a mood disorder, parents living with a mood disorder can find it hard to engage with their children, take care of household chores, do their work, and sometimes even to get out of bed.
Family caregivers risk wearing themselves out as they help their loved one seek treatment, manage the household and the family, and try to keep a roof over their heads.
Since our beginning, we have shared family stories to help caregivers feel like they are not alone, show that families can address mood disorders together, inspire hope, and dispel stigma. Each year, we add to our library of honest and inspiring accounts of families facing the challenges of mood disorders and suicide.
More Than Mood: Depression Symptoms Webinar
For Caregivers, Family Members, and People Living with Depression3
Bipolar Disorder in Adults: The Basics
For family caregivers and others with an interest in supporting someone with Bipolar Disorder