Open Communication BY THE CHILDREN’S COALITION FOR NORTHEAST LOUISIANA
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s a parent or caretaker you recognition throughout the community have to practice effective including: School Psychologist of the communication and prepare Year, Member of the Year awarded by the yourself for conflicts Louisiana School Psychological Association, and disagreements. The Oustanding Alumnus Award, Community key to building a postive Collaborations Awards, and relationship and sorting Rachel’s Challenge Hero out any communication award. Flint has conducted difficulties with your teenager many trainings throughout his is to keep the channels of career on school-based mental communication open. We can health, crisis prevention and get locked into unhelpful ways response, special education/ of communicating, that once civil rights regulations, autism we’re in are hard to avoid. intervention and other topics Your teenager still needs to for several school districts know you are interested but and agencies around the state. watchful, that you care and are He is the sole owner of Flint on their side, even if you don’t Smith Consulting, LLC where always agree with them. You he conducts professional FLINT SMITH need to have the skill and the development in these areas emotional resilience to go on in school, professional offering help, even in the face of indifference organizations, and related agencies. and opposition. Fint Smith is a nationally certified Q: What are some of the basic parents school psychologist who worked for 29 years and youth need to know about open in Northeast LA delivering psychological communication? services in the public school setting. He A: There is a lot of misinformation retired recently after serving as the Pupil about effective communication and most Appraisal Facilitator for Ouachita Parish parents already have a philosophy on how Schools. He has received many awards and this should be between themselves and their 56 JULY 2020 | WWW.BAYOULIFEMAG.COM
teenager. It is commonly understood that all relationship development hinges on good communication to some degree. Your ability to communicate well with your teen and their ability to reciprocate has a lot to do with the lifelong between you and your teen. If you have what counselors and psychologist refer to as “good rapport” before your child enters their teenage years, it is easier. Rapport is a harmonious, trusting, and empathetic connection between at least two people in a relationship. In fact, we need to intentionally develop rapport with our children and demonstrate the respect we expect from them. I have found through my years of counseling and intervention with teens and children when they feel you respect them they begin to trust you. Another foundational point to remember is all behavior is a form of communication. For example, if I ignore you, roll my eyes at you, refuse to comply, smirk at you, or undermine you I am communicating my feelings. These behaviors are what the Crisis Prevention Institute (crisisprevention. com, 2020) defines as paraverbals, or the way we communicate without using words or language. Some studies indicate at least a third of what is communicated from one person to another is nonverbal in nature.