Hey there @Loralei and welcome to ReachOut :)   I'm sorry to hear about your daughter's addiction. It can be difficult to cope with someone who is struggling with a drug addiction. Is there anyone around you that you or your other daughter are able to talk to about this? Talking to people, discussing what's happening, can be helpful in coping with the situation. Other coping methods that you may be able to use include self-care, which is doing an activity that you enjoy or that makes you feel better, such as exercise, a hobby or eating fruit. Having these activities for self-care, and then doing them when you're feeling stressed about your daughter can sometimes help ease the stress. What do you think?   I'm going to tag some other users in for their advice too :) @Happy @sunflowermom @Schooner @taokat  ... View more

Hey there @CSculptor, Thanks for giving us an update :) You've given some fabulous advice on how to approach the situation. Have you spoken to your daughter about how she's going with her anxiety and therapy-wise?   @DeerPark_123 thank you for sharing your story with us :) It sounds like you are a wonderful and supportive parent to your daughter. It can definitely be difficult to have these conversations with your kids, especially when they're young. It's fantastic that you want to do the right thing, but it's true that sometimes there's no one right way to handle things. Do you think having someone else talk to your daughter about these things might be helpful? It's unfortunate that conversations with her aren't going well but perhaps having someone else talk to her might help her understand. What do you think? ... View more

Hey there @Notperfect and welcome to ReachOut :)    It's fantastic that you have a lovely relationship with your daughter :) I can see from your post you are a wonderful and supportive father, and it's great that your daughter felt safe enough to open up about her sexuality with you.    ReachOut has a great article on helping your teenager with coming out that has some suggestions on things you can do to support them. A big thing is to be open and supportive and listen to them, which is something you are already nailing :)    You are doing an amazing job so far supporting your daughter. We're always here if you have anymore questions :)  ... View more

Hi there @Aiman and welcome to ReachOut :) I'm sorry to hear that this is going on with your son. I've never had children myself, but I can imagine that it is difficult when they have such strong negative feelings towards you. You mentioned that this is making you feel miserable, have you shared this with anyone before? Sometimes seeing someone such as a professional counselor or just a trusted friend and sharing our feelings can be a great way to help ourselves. Another way we can help ourselves is self-care, which is doing activities that we enjoy and make ourselves feel better, do you have anything like that? What do you think? I've tagged in some other users to share their fantastic advice as well Smiley Happy @sunflowermom @taokat @Happy @PositiveWhisper ... View more

Hi there @Ruffhead and welcome! :) How are things going with your son?   @Dad4good has already shared some fantastic advice on the situation that has hopefully been helpful to you :)    I also thought I might share an article of ReachOut called Balance Trust and Freedom, about the balance between trusting your teenager and giving them freedom. It has some suggestions that might be helpful. What do you think? ... View more

Hi there @miklou and welcome to Reachout :) I also moved your post to a different section of the forums so that more users are likely to see it. :)   I'm sorry to hear you're in this situation with your daughter. It's difficult when you've agreed to terms and they aren't followed. I have never been in this situation myself, but I can see that you do care about your daughter. It's great that you want her to be responsible and able to manage her finances. When you approach her about the topic, is it often at random times? Perhaps setting an agreed upon time to discuss the situation with your daughter might have more success.    I was also wondering if you bring up your previous agreement with her, if she's not meeting it maybe a way of opening up the conversation could be to make a new agreement. What do you think?    @Dad4good has offered some fabulous advice already, but I've tagged in some other users to share their fantastic advice as well :) @sunflowermom @taokat @Happy @PositiveWhisper ... View more

Hey there @Treadwell and welcome! You are more than welcome to post and share, it's more that we can't offer Australian-based supports to those outside of Australia, but our many amazing users absolutely have some wonderful advice that can be helpful to anyone :) It seems like @Schooner beat me to the welcome with their fantastic post. I wanted to thank you both for sharing your stories. It can be a real struggle finding the right person and the right meds to help but as the saying goes, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel, even if you can't see it :) Thank you again for sharing your wonderful advice! I'm sure it will be helpful to any parents going through similar things :) ... View more

Hey there @Hoag2 and welcome to ReachOut :)   You are more than welcome to use these forums as your sounding board, it's what we're here for :)    It's great that you are trusting of your daughter and her choices. First loves and first time having sex can be scary but important time for some people and having a supportive parent can make all the difference.    I hope that the appointment goes well tomorrow, it's fantastic that you were able to get one so quickly! Good luck :) ... View more

Hi there @taokat, I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your friend, it can be so hard to deal with the unexpected loss of someone so close to us. I'm also sorry that you felt unsupported by ReachOut, thank you for coming back and letting us know that it happened.  I'm glad to hear that things are improving with your daughter, it's fantastic that's she's been able to study again.  Since having that experience with her current counselor, have you searched anywhere else? It's unfortunately that you had a negative experience with them, the mental health system can certainly have its issues. There are several places that can offer support for young people such as helplines or other online services, what do you think?   I hope you are both doing well today :) ... View more

Hi there @danilanis and welcome to ReachOut :)   I'm sorry to hear about your daughter hurting herself. Is she at the age where you're able to talk to her about her actions? It may be difficult because she is still so young however it might help to try talking to her.  You also mentioned that she fidgets with the skin, does she have anything else she could use to fidget with? That way she can still fidget with her hands but she wouldn't be causing harm to herself. What do you think?    I've tagged in some other users to share some of their advice :) @Moggy3kids   @taokat   @Bren-G_   @Happy   @PositiveWhisper   @LostInUtah   @sunflowermom ... View more

Hi @sunflowermom,   It's fantastic to hear that things are going well with you and your daughter. Thank you for updating us :)   In regards to your daughter smoking pot, it can be difficult for anyone to break habits and it's great that you can express your concerns to your daughter. Have you already done this or is it something you are looking to do? I hope that the conversations go well for you both. :)  ... View more

Hey @Moloko,   You're right in that it can be hard to stop comparing ourselves to others. Do you ever share your struggles or advice with these other parents?    From reading through your thread, I can tell you are a wonderful parent to your daughter. Messaging your daughter can definitely be a great alternative when having a verbal conversation is a struggle. You mentioned that it's impacting the whole family, have you spoken to them about how your daughter has been affecting them? ... View more

@Hi there @Lonelychild and welcome to ReachOut.   Just a note: I edited your post to remove your location as we are an anonymous forum and it is against our guidelines to have personal information, such as location, to prevent users from being identified.    It's unfortunate that she left school because of bullying but it sounds like you are a supportive parent and it's great that you are there for her :) I think that community neighbourhood centres will sometimes run various types of groups that might be helpful for your daughter, are there any nearby?  I believe your idea of getting together with families who are in a similar situation is a fantastic idea. If you can't find anything in your local area, do you think you could organise one yourself? What do you think?   I've tagged in some of our other users to share any ideas they may have. :) @Moggy3kids @taokat @Happy @PositiveWhisper     ... View more

Hello @Katwoman and welcome to the forums :)   I'm sorry to hear that your having issues with your son. You mentioned that he's refusing to go to school, is that where the issues are coming from? Is there anything else going on that could be contributing to the issue? ReachOut has a fantastic article over here on how to help a teen who refuses to go to school. It suggests things like talking with your son and talking to the school. What do you think?    I've tagged in some of our other users to share their advice @Moggy3kids @taokat @Bren-G_ @Happy @PositiveWhisper @LostInUtah @sunflowermom @Orbit64   ... View more

Hi there @Carrisal23, How are things going? I am sorry for the late response.    It sounds like the situation with your stepson is frustrating for you. Aside from his father, is there anyone else you can talk to about his behaviour?    Although I'm not a mother myself, I can tell that you are doing your best to be a good stepmother to your stepson. While all this is going on, do you take some time out of your day to take care of yourself? Self-care is important and can help us recharge and relax before doing things. What do you think?   I'm going to tag in some of our other users for their advice as they have are very insightful :) @Happy   @taokat   @sunflowermom   @Nervous   @beepbeep   @Beemum   @PositiveWhisper   @compassion       ... View more