As you get ready for school in the morning, you take great care to make sure what you wear and how you fix your hair will not invite jokes and laughs from your classmates. You keep your head down in school to make sure you don't look the wrong person in the eye. You are embarrassed because you didn't know the answer in class. You are the only one of your friends who does not have a boyfriend or girlfriend. And to top it off, when you get home from school you can't seem to do anything right. People all around you (including yourself) are placing nearly impossible expectations on everything  you do. You need help! But you are not alone. Teens actually thrive when they form a connection with someone who they feel safe talking to.

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Imagine you are a senior in high school, your entire high school career, your entire life, is about to culminate in several important coming-of-age moments: Prom, Senior Prank, Graduation and Grad Night. Maybe high school was hard for you, you struggled to keep good grades, you made and lost important friendships, you accomplished things you didn’t think possible, you became a whole new person, and now, for better or for worse, it’s over. Now imagine those moments that are meant to provide closure, moments that are meant to usher you from  one stage of your life to another... are gone. You don’t get to party with your friends at Prom, you don’t get to take your power back from school with a senior prank, your high school career doesn’t culminate as it has for generations past in that momentous walk down the isle to receive your diploma - ready to take on the world. And you don’t get to gather with friends to celebrate one of your life's greatest achievements to date. Did you imagine it? Did you put yourself in their shoes? If you did, what you are feeling is grief. Grief is not reserved for death, it is an emotional, visceral response to loss. Teens have lost coming-of-age moments and rituals, they’ve lost the ability to celebrate becoming an adult, and celebrate freedom and independence. We have these moments for a reason; for closure. Adolescents have a right to be upset. As a parent it is imperative to validate their grief; don’t deny it, don’t invalidate it, don’t tell them it could be worse. This sucks. A lot. But they’re resilient enough to feel the depth of their grief and come out on the other side. But only if feeling grief, loss and profound disappointment is allowed.