Self-regulation, or the ability to modulate your emotions to maintain a sense of stability, is a valuable skill to develop to get through life. To maintain calm in a scenario of chaos takes practice and persistence. On the contrary, staying motivated in a demotivating environment is equally as challenging.
Developing skills to upkeep self-regulation can help adolescents and adults develop emotional maturity, restore their focus, maintain calm energy, and cultivate confidence.
The Importance of Self-Regulation in Adolescents
As children grow and mature, self-regulation helps them:
- Learn at school: Self-regulation gives adolescents the ability to sit and listen in the classroom
- Behave in socially acceptable ways: Self-regulation helps adolescents control impulses
- Make friends: Self-regulation helps adolescents learn to take turns in games and conversation, share, and express emotions in appropriate ways
- Become more independent: Self-regulation allows adolescents to make appropriate decisions about behavior and learn how to behave in new situations with less guidance
Developing Emotional Maturity
As we age, it is essential we develop an awareness of our environments. This helps to foster emotional maturity. In addition, we need to learn how to self-regulate in these environments, especially unfamiliar or new ones. This is not always an easy skill to foster, but it is crucial to develop during adolescence.
As young women and girls are exposed to substances of abuse, it is crucial they maintain the wherewithal to say “no” to peer pressure. This is one of the first times self-regulation is tested in stressful situations.
Furthermore, consent is crucial. Educating young women on the value of consent can help them navigate unsuspected sexual interactions. Here, again, self-regulation is vital.
Developing discernment is essential for the development of emotional maturity. The words “yes” and “no” are crucial to both opening us up to new opportunities and setting boundaries with the people and situations around us who are acting as distractors or wreaking havoc in our lives. When “yes” and “no” are used correctly in a young woman’s life, we see a restoration of focus.
Restoration of Focus
If life is too chaotic, it can be hard to maintain focus. Specifically, in adolescents, the school may start to become a problem. It can be hard to keep track of assignments and maintain the grades an individual is capable of obtaining.
To counteract this occurrence, self-regulation is essential. To drown out the noise of external pressure, it is important young women learn to listen to themselves. They can start by asking themselves the following questions:
- What am I passionate about? Will this activity contribute to or distract from my passions?
- What are my values? Does this decision uphold my values?
- Will this uphold or hinder my focus? Should I pursue something just because, or do I need a reason behind my decision?
Calm Energy
Once these questions have been answered and applied effectively, adolescents are more likely to make decisions to maintain calm energy in their environment. Everyone has a passion; it is just a matter of tapping into that niche.
Furthermore, values work is crucial at a young age as adolescents begin to establish themselves as adults. To maintain their values and passions requires focus. Nothing good comes without a certain level of sacrifice.
Understanding that principle significantly contributes to emotional maturity and the establishment of calm energy. To avoid feeling all over the place, young women need to cultivate confidence. Cultivating confidence can be accomplished through self-regulation.
Cultivation of Confidence
Repeating positive affirmations like “I am kind. I am smart. I am lovable” can help cultivate confidence in adolescents and adults. We are better able to self-regulate when we are confident.
When we are confident, we are better able to engage discernment in our decision-making processes. Once skills are built for self-regulation, confidence follows. The more self-regulation takes place, the more confident we become.
Hedgehog Therapy at Havenwood Academy
Hedgehogs are an excellent tool for self-regulation. When holding a hedgehog, they sense discomfort and anxiety. You have to maintain your composure, be confident, and find calmness for a hedgehog to feel comfortable in your hands.
At Havenwood Academy, we use hedgehogs in our residential facility to help maintain calm. It also requires focus to concentrate on the task of holding and being with a hedgehog. In time, this daily practice can help young women and girls develop attunement to their body’s unique adaptation to equilibrium.
Havenwood Academy’s Promise
At Havenwood Academy, our promise is to educate young women and girls on the importance of self-regulation. They will leave our facility with tools on how to heal their trauma, how to live in the present, and how to lean into their passions and values to make decisions.
Using cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, brain spotting, hedgehog therapy, music therapy, art therapy, nature therapy, and more, our alumni from Havenwood Academy are able to take on life’s challenges with the enthusiasm of maturity.
At Havenwood Academy, self-regulation is of utmost importance in the therapeutic process. Our highly skilled clinicians use this skill to support young women overcoming painful pasts, embracing a joyous present, and preparing for a bright future. Using various creative techniques like dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and hedgehog therapy, we cultivate the practice of self-regulation. DBT helps young women learn to “walk the middle path” from a “wise mind” standpoint. Hedgehogs cross-regulate with humans and require a calm presence. Self-regulation not only benefits our clients but also everyone else in their life. They leave setting the example for how to behave in stressful situations. If you believe you may be a fit for our program, we encourage you to fill out our easy online assessment today and find out if Havenwood Academy is suitable for you. We want each of our clients to start the path towards healing. To learn more about our program, call us today at (435) 586-2500.
Think Havenwood Might Be For You?
We encourage any visitors considering placing their daughter in treatment to fill out our online assessment as soon as possible. This two minute form will give our admissions team all the information needed to determine if your daughter is a good fit for our program.
Eric Allred was born and raised in Rigby, Idaho. He grew up on a family farm where he learned the value of work. He graduated from Rigby High School and attended Rick’s College, now known as BYU-Idaho. He received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Utah State University, received a master’s degree in organizational behavior and human relations from the University of Phoenix and a second master’s degree in marital and family therapy from Phillips Graduate Institute. Eric has been involved in Rotary and was president of a local Rotary Club. He enjoys being with his family and doing outdoor activities such as fly fishing.
Chase was very fortunate to start in this industry as a struggling 17 year old kid looking for a mentor and something to be passionate about. Wilderness therapy was Chase’s first stop in this industry and was truly a transcendental experience for him. Chase has an enormous love for this line of work and the power that it has in creating change in everyone involved. Chase’s biggest belief is the power a mentor, strong, healthy relationships, and accountability can have on anyone, especially youth. Taking a very relational approach to his work, Chase has always been very relatable to the students he works with. Being able to understand and relate to a vast variety of the same struggles as a lot of the students he works with has been able to help him continue to grow, learn, and teach. Chase believes that with great rapport and trust, he can use his experience to continue to coach and train new staff, and has the ability to find those staff with the passion for this industry, and help them grow. His love and passion can be felt the moment you talk with Chase about this industry and he passes that on to others he works with. In his spare time you will find Chase cheering for the Eagles, Yankees, and Mavericks, hanging out with his brother, learning more about Eastern Psychology, and continuing to grow and learn.