Hi @Mum333 , welcome to the ReachOut community! Thank you for sharing a little bit about your situation regarding your son. The challenges your son faces with self-confidence and social interactions seem really tough, and your concerns for his well-being are completely understandable.   It’s clear that you care deeply about your son’s well-being and want to strike the right balance between validating his feelings and encouraging a more positive outlook, which isn’t always easy.  Listening to your son’s concerns is an important step, and it’s great that you’re providing a supportive environment for him to express himself. Helping your son develop positive coping mechanisms for handling social conflict is another important step, and it’s great to see you already incorporating this into your support.  If you’re open to exploring additional strategies, we have resources available on building self-confidence and resilience in teens that might offer new insights or techniques to support your son. For example, we have one article on self-confidence and teenagers and another on coping skills, resilience, and teenagers. I hope you find these resources helpful :)  I am also curious as to whether you can recall specific times or situations in which your son feels most confident? Reflecting on these moments may help to identify his skills or attributes that he’s proud of. By recognising his strengths, you may be able to encourage him to leverage them, which may boost his confidence in challenging situations. I'd love to hear your thoughts around this.  ... View more