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Staff Writer

The Value of Helping Your Student Find Their Voice


While children often have some similarities to their parents, you as a parent know that your student is a unique individual. As they grow toward adulthood, many of their specific preferences, needs, and tendencies will become more clear. It is often a difficult transition when your student is nearing adulthood. As a parent, it is natural to want to protect your students by guiding them in a direction you feel is best. However, it is also important to help your student find their voice. This helps your student to connect with themselves, which Northwest College Support believes is an important piece of successfully living independently.


Helping Your Student Find Their Voice


When your student was young, they likely looked for you to help them interpret the world. This includes helping them to make decisions, know what is best, and care for their needs. However, as they grow toward adulthood, your student needs to connect with themselves and find their voice.


As a parent, you are in the ideal position to help your student to do this. For your student to find their voice, they first need to improve their self-awareness. Self-awareness is a skill that takes time to learn. However, you can help by asking simple questions that help your student to begin to explore their internal world. For example, if your student is upset with a friend, you might ask them how their friend's actions or words make them feel. Then you can explore this with them.


Once your student has a good grasp of their feelings, the next step is to put these feelings and thoughts into words. This is vital in finding their voice. Being open and vocalizing internal thoughts can feel very vulnerable. If your student struggles with it, that is ok. As a parent, you can help by practicing it with them. This can include modeling, where you openly share your thoughts and feelings. However, it can also include role play. This is where you work with your student and help them try different ways to share, helping them discover what feels best for them in a safe and supportive environment.


Importance of Helping Your Student Find Their Voice


When your student finds their voice, they will have a good connection with themselves. This is very important in living as an adult and doing well in college and future endeavors. There are many reasons that finding a voice is helpful for your student. It helps them to be able to care for their needs, make healthy independent choices, and build good relationships that support their needs.


Self-Care


Being able to care for their own needs is a big part of transitioning into adulthood for your student. When your student is living as an adult, they will not have you or their teachers readily available to help. Therefore, their cultivation of self-awareness and finding their voice to improve self-care will help facilitate them in caring for their mental and physical health.

Helping your student to find their voice improves their ability to care for their needs in multiple ways. First, the development of self-awareness gives them a clear picture of what they need. Your student's needs will be unique, and therefore this self-awareness is vital. Additionally, when your student finds their voice, they can clearly communicate these needs. This will help them to set healthy boundaries, have positive relationships, and get help when they need it.

Independent Choices


Part of transitioning into adulthood is learning to make independent choices. These choices will vary in weight from where they live, what to eat for dinner, or what career they would like to pursue. However, these are all decisions that your student will need to make at some point. Helping your student to find their voice will make it easier for them to feel confident in these independent choices.


Feeling confident in making independent choices is very valuable for your student. They are more likely to make choices that are right for them. When they do, they are more likely to be successful in whatever they choose because it is truly a good fit for them.


NWCS Helps Your Student Find Their Voice


Helping your student to find their voice is not an easy task. As a parent, getting help is an option that can make this process smooth and easy. Programs at Northwest College Support provide ongoing support that facilitates lasting changes in your student's life. These programs help your student to build their self-awareness, giving them a good understanding of their unique needs.


However, Northwest College Support can also help your student to find their voice. Through individual therapy, group therapy, coaching, and more, your student will have a system of support that encourages them to grow and take responsibility for themselves. This in turn helps them to have the confidence to find their voice and take the first steps into adulthood with ease.


The transition into adulthood can be tricky; it requires guiding and supporting your student while allowing and helping them to find their voice. However, when your student finds their voice they are more likely to be able to care for their needs, build successful relationships, and thrive as an adult. At Northwest Colege Support, we can help. We offer programs for your student that provide both support and freedom as they learn to find their voice. If you feel your student would benefit from support and needs help in the transition into adulthood, we can help. Call (877) 485-2776 today to learn more about our programs and how they help your student find their voice.

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