Colman Noctor: Teaching communication skills to help teens connect 

Listening skills are fundamental to nurturing well-rounded, capable, and empathetic individuals.   

"We’ve long heard mental health experts say that young people are becoming de-skilled in real-life conversation due to the pervasive use of online platforms. But what if they never learned practical conversation skills in the first place?"

One of the most common issues I hear about from young people in my therapy room concerns relationships. Whether it is through bereavement, romantic break-ups, or interpersonal difficulties such as bullying, exclusion or a friendship fallout, it’s clear that relationships are at the core of many young people’s worries.

At the in-patient mental health facilities where I worked, most young people said the relationships they formed with other young people while in the unit were the most important to their recovery. Peer, family, and intimate relationships can cause pain, but they are also crucial to our sense of wellbeing.