Anna Sidis, Clinical Child Psychologist speaks about Self-care for Adolescents. [ReachOut.com] [Clare speaks] Self-care is really important for adolescents. They’re at a phase in their lives when they're trying to figure out who they are; they're trying to work out who their friends should be; and they're also separating from their parents and figuring out how to do that in a way that feels okay for them. Adolescents are also going through lots of changes in regards to their physical body, their person, their personality and also what's happening in the brain is really important too. For teenagers, what happens with brain development is actually really interesting – the parts of the brain that are responsible for emotion and the parts of the brain that are responsible for reward, develop first. So this is what's called the Limbic System. Other parts of the brain that are responsible for understanding the consequences of your behaviour - like the frontal lobes - develop much later, possibly not until 20 or 25. So what that means for adolescents is that they're struggling with really big emotions that they haven't had before. They might be sensitive to emotional stimuli and to non-verbal communication and they're also going to have difficulty making decisions because they're frontal lobes aren’t yet developed. So they might make decisions that don't make sense to us, or that don't fully think about the consequences. [What can adolescents do: Things that they enjoy, Sport, Gaming, Art, Music] There are many things that adolescents can do, to live well. Simply put this is really just about the things that feel good for them. So for some it is sport, for others gaming or art or music. And adolescents should be encouraged as part of this development process, to find out what feels good for them and what helps them to manage the stresses that they’re under. Many adolescents struggle with negative or harsh self-critical thoughts. And one practice that a lot of people have started to use, is something called mindfulness. [Mindfulness: Looking and observing thoughts, Not overthinking] Mindfulness is an approach that is really just about looking at your thoughts or observing your thoughts, rather than getting hooked or caught up in them. And young people have found this practice to be really helpful - particularly using some smartphone apps , such as one that's called Smiling Mind. [Advantages: Step back and reflect, Not try to avoid certain thoughts] The advantage of this is it kind of just allows a teenager to step back a little bit from those thoughts - and not try to avoid thinking about them. Most young people find when they trying to avoid a thought that it tends to make them focus on it more. [What can parents do: Relating with adolescents, Try not to jump in and fix, Do not be dismissive] Parents can help a child that is struggling with these kinds of thoughts by initially connecting with them on how hard it is to have these experiences, rather than jumping in and trying to fix it or solve it. And certainly trying to avoid being dismissive of a thought that we might think of as silly - for them it is really important. So making that young person feel really heard is a big part of supporting them through that process. So it's important for parents to connect with their adolescent to understand that it is difficult and that together you can work through whatever problems they might be facing. [ReachOut.com] This video was produced with the help of 90seconds Productions on behalf of ReachOut Australia.