Mindfulness in parenting adolescents: love breeds love, hate breeds hate

Abstract

After several years of intensive parental skills training for parents of adolescents, extra topics were arising that were not covered in the program’s curriculum. Stress, uncertainness, and strong emo- tions in dealing with adolescents and how to make positive contact were important issues that parents were still concerned about when leaving the group. This article describes the experi- ences of how extramindful parenting group training was used after the formal parenting skills training group ended. Parents were then learning to listen to the child with full attention, emotional awareness of the self and child, self-regulation in the parenting relationship, and self-compassion.