- Joined
- Sep 10, 2006
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- 4,100
Hi all,
I'm hoping those who have teenagers/college-age kids can help me out here.
My niece just finished her first year of college. She broke up with her boyfriend (who was pretty mean with things he said to her) a few weeks ago. Now she just went on an Outward Bound trip where she felt so connected to people and had a great time. She has a lot of trust issues and self-esteem issues. She doesn't have a lot of friends.
Well, she's come back from the Outward Bound trip and is now having a crisis. She ran away (took the family car, but called her parents, and now is in a safe place). I talked to her, and she said she ran away b/c she misses everyone from the Outward Bound trip, and feels alone, like nobody cares about her. I think she is willing to talk to me more than her parents b/c (1) I'm not her parents and (2) I'm closer to her in age.
I gave her lots of support and made lots of suggestions (activities she can get involved in to build friends where she is, journaling, seeing a counselor, calling me whatever time of the day/night she needs to, reminding her how much her family loves her, etc.). Unfortunately, I've made the suggestions about activities before (with links and everything to various social clubs in her area), but she didn't act on it. Depression runs in my family, and I know exactly what she is going through (I did tell her that, which seemed to help her not feel so alone).
My brother (her father) says she does read quite a bit, so I was thinking that I'd like to find her a book or two that will help her process what she is going through. I want a book that is good for college age kids going through something like this. Any suggestions?
Also, any other suggestions are welcome. I will give my brother the link to this thread, so feel free to make suggestions for the parents, too.
Thanks all.
I'm hoping those who have teenagers/college-age kids can help me out here.
My niece just finished her first year of college. She broke up with her boyfriend (who was pretty mean with things he said to her) a few weeks ago. Now she just went on an Outward Bound trip where she felt so connected to people and had a great time. She has a lot of trust issues and self-esteem issues. She doesn't have a lot of friends.
Well, she's come back from the Outward Bound trip and is now having a crisis. She ran away (took the family car, but called her parents, and now is in a safe place). I talked to her, and she said she ran away b/c she misses everyone from the Outward Bound trip, and feels alone, like nobody cares about her. I think she is willing to talk to me more than her parents b/c (1) I'm not her parents and (2) I'm closer to her in age.
I gave her lots of support and made lots of suggestions (activities she can get involved in to build friends where she is, journaling, seeing a counselor, calling me whatever time of the day/night she needs to, reminding her how much her family loves her, etc.). Unfortunately, I've made the suggestions about activities before (with links and everything to various social clubs in her area), but she didn't act on it. Depression runs in my family, and I know exactly what she is going through (I did tell her that, which seemed to help her not feel so alone).
My brother (her father) says she does read quite a bit, so I was thinking that I'd like to find her a book or two that will help her process what she is going through. I want a book that is good for college age kids going through something like this. Any suggestions?
Also, any other suggestions are welcome. I will give my brother the link to this thread, so feel free to make suggestions for the parents, too.
Thanks all.