11/12/2024
Journal Prompt 📝✍️
Take 15 minutes and sit with a journal or blank piece of paper. Write down the word or words: confusion, confused, and confusing.
Before going into word dump fashion, sit with the word(s) for a few minutes and reflect.
•Ask your teen to try to define this word without looking it up. No rush. Have them ponder the word over the course of the day or week. Having them reflect on when they use it? And what does it emotionally feel like?
•See what other emotions resonate with you towards this word.
•Now write down how you define it (without looking it up)? And when does it seem to come up the most.
•In therapy with children and teens when we are teaching about emotions, it is very common when asked about how they feel for a response to be, “I don’t know.” Along with, “I’m confused.” The term confusion can be used in academics, emotions , life and all aspects of a person specifically when something is hard to understand for that individual.
If you ask your child how they feel, and they respond with “confused.” That’s okay. One thing that’s important for you to know , they may not have the word for the feeling part and they may be feeling more than one thing . Hence, the confusion. A lot of times to help with this, we have them color out what’s happening for them. It’s okay to give them prompts to help them understand what might be happening and it’s also okay for them to be confused.
Especially as teens, they may not want you to tell them how they feel.
•What was this experience like for you?
It is necessary to consider one’s culture and family background when we use words to describe our feeling parts. As well as understanding there are times words/ dictionary definitions may shift based on translation.
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***This post does not replace a therapy session.
***Every child, family and adult will have different needs and strengths.
