Read an excerpt from The Conscious Parent.
By Dr. Shefali Tsabary
300 pages; Namaste Publishing
Available at Amazon| Barnes & Noble | Indiebound 

Though we have already addressed defiance in our teens to some degree, because it's such an issue today, I want to return to the topic and add further insights. Dysfunctional teenagers don't emerge overnight. They are the result of years of subjugated authenticity and false promises. They have been dying a slow death and now have to fight a daily battle just to feel alive. No teen wants to be "bad." They simply don't know any other way to be.

The child who grows up to be a defiant teen does so because of a lack of authenticity, a lack of containment, or a lack of connection to the parents—or a combination of these. For instance, children who didn’t enjoy sufficient real connection with their parents may grow into teens who feel the need to act out in a flamboyant way in order to be noticed.