Handling the chronically sassy and sarcastic teen

Is your teenager always sassy or sarcastic? Clinical Psychologist Chris Fulton, PhD offers some advice for communicating with your teen in a positive tone to overcome some of the sassy and sarcastic comments.
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Handling the chronically sassy and sarcastic teen

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So with a teenager who is chronically sassy, or hostile, or sarcastic, you’ve got to make sure not to meet them in kind. You’ve got to make sure you avoid your sarcasm, you avoid the negativity. And what you need to do is kind of tow a pretty tight line there. You have to give them a chance to correct themselves. I call it the ‘try that again’ method. So what you do is you can tell your kid, “Hey, listen,” after they’re sarcastic with you, say, “Hey, listen, I need you to try that a little nicer.” And give them a chance to self-correct. Make sure to model again the good behavior and the appropriate way to communicate. If you need to, you can throw in a consequence – it’s kind of like using a foul language – you can throw in something real small in there, like a fine, like a dollar or something like that. And you could also do a chore, but something really small. But make sure that you communicate positive feelings in a positive relationship and usually, they’ll overcome some of the sarcasm.

Is your teenager always sassy or sarcastic? Clinical Psychologist Chris Fulton, PhD offers some advice for communicating with your teen in a positive tone to overcome some of the sassy and sarcastic comments.

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Chris Fulton, PhD

Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Christopher Fulton is a licensed clinical psychologist and has been in private practice for over ten years. He received his doctorate in 1994 from the California School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles. Dr. Fulton has clinical training and experience in a variety of settings, and also has administrative, teaching, supervision, consulting, research and psychological testing experience. Dr. Fulton provides consultation and ongoing therapy for children, adolescents and adults. He conducts group, individual, couples and family therapy and actively works with a variety of childhood disorders, including: adjustment disorder, ADHD, anxiety, depression, oppositional defiant and other emotional-behavioral disorders. Among his most frequent areas of concentration is divorce, for which Dr. Fulton offers therapy for all involved.

Utilizing research-supported methods in treatment, Dr. Fulton's approach to therapy involves a combination of cognitive-behavioral, family systems and interpersonal interventions. In his work with children, Dr. Fulton involves parents and assists them in developing appropriate responses to their children, since he believes that ultimately the parent will make the most significant impact on the child. Dr. Fulton helps parents establish appropriate boundaries, communication and methods of discipline in order to increase positive relationships with their children.

 
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Transcription: 
So with a teenager who is chronically sassy, or hostile, or sarcastic, you’ve got to make sure not to meet them in kind. You’ve got to make sure you avoid your sarcasm, you avoid the negativity. And what you need to do is kind of tow a pretty tight line there. You have to give them a chance to correct themselves. I call it the ‘try that again’ method. So what you do is you can tell your kid, “Hey, listen,” after they’re sarcastic with you, say, “Hey, listen, I need you to try that a little nicer.” And give them a chance to self-correct. Make sure to model again the good behavior and the appropriate way to communicate. If you need to, you can throw in a consequence – it’s kind of like using a foul language – you can throw in something real small in there, like a fine, like a dollar or something like that. And you could also do a chore, but something really small. But make sure that you communicate positive feelings in a positive relationship and usually, they’ll overcome some of the sarcasm.