For parents and guardians
Adolescence is a period of major growth and change. Young people are developing greater independence, forming their identity and learning to manage increasingly complex emotions, relationships and decisions.
At the same time, many are growing up with academic pressure, social media, constant comparison and uncertainty about the future. Behaviours that can sometimes feel confusing or challenging to parents are often part of this wider process of growing up.
As children become more independent, the role of parents changes too. Support increasingly means being able to listen, stay connected and try to understand what may be happening underneath the behaviour — without always needing to solve the problem immediately.
EmpowerYOUth offers information and practical tools that can help parents and guardians better understand adolescence and support young people’s wellbeing at home.
About EmpowerYOUth
EmpowerYOUth is a learning programme for young people aged 14–18. Its aim is to help young people develop practical emotional coping strategies and strengthen their resilience.
The programme uses interactive discussion, practical activities and student-centred learning to help young people better understand their emotions, manage stress, strengthen relationships and respond more effectively to life’s challenges.
A key part of EmpowerYOUth is that young people have a voice in what they learn. The programme is flexible and participatory, and young people choose many of the topics they want to explore.
It is normally delivered over eight sessions:
Session 1 — Getting started and choosing topics
Sessions 2–3 — Values, strengths and purpose
Sessions 4–8 — Topics selected by the young people
Facilitators use discussion, open questions and participatory activities rather than relying only on traditional teaching.
For parents, understanding how EmpowerYOUth works can make it easier to talk with their child about what they are exploring and to support that learning at home.
Using the Cards at home
The EmpowerYOUth Cards contain short ideas, questions and practical exercises connected to topics young people may face.
Parents can use them as gentle conversation starters. You might look at a Card yourself first, invite your child to choose one, or simply ask whether they would like to look at an idea together.
The Cards work best when they are offered without pressure. They should not become homework, a test or another way of questioning a young person.
The aim is to create space for reflection, connection and understanding.
Using the Nine Boxes at home
The Nine Boxes is a simple reflection tool that looks at different areas of a young person’s life, including:
Values & Purpose | Family | Friendships | Relationships | Learning | Leisure | Daily Responsibilities | Physical Health | Mental Health
The idea is balance. When one area becomes difficult, other parts of life may still provide support and stability.
Parents can use the Nine Boxes together with their child as a way to begin a conversation. For example:
Which area feels strongest right now?
Which area might need a little more attention?
Is there one small thing that could help this week?
It is not a test or a diagnosis. The purpose is to notice strengths, support and areas that may need care.
Four short videos for parents and guardians
The four EmpowerYOUth parent videos are designed as a short series. Each video is approximately 10 minutes long.
They can be watched in order as a short introduction to adolescence and EmpowerYOUth, or individually when a particular topic feels relevant.
Together, the videos move from understanding adolescence, to understanding EmpowerYOUth, to practical ways of supporting wellbeing at home, and finally to using the EmpowerYOUth platform and tools. The third video is explicitly designed as part of a sequence, and the fourth brings the previous themes together in practical use of the platform.
You do not need to watch all four videos at once. Start with the topic that feels most useful to you.
Small changes in the way we listen, respond and create space for conversation can make a difference over time.
Understanding adolescents today
Approx. 10 minutes
Adolescence involves major biological, emotional and social change. This video looks at what is happening during this stage of development and some of the additional pressures young people face today, including academic pressure, social media, comparison, identity and uncertainty about the future.
It helps parents look beyond behaviour and consider what may be happening underneath it.
Approx. 10 minutes
It explains the eight-session structure, the role of young people’s choices and the main approaches used to strengthen resilience, including values and purpose, Nine Boxes, CBT and DBT techniques and help-seeking.
Approx. 10 minutes
This video focuses on three important relational experiences:
Acceptance | Connection | Understanding
It offers practical exercises that parents can use to listen with greater curiosity, reflect on their own expectations and better understand their child’s perspective.
Understanding adolescents today
Approx. 10 minutes
It explains how the Cards can be used as gentle conversation starters and how the Nine Boxes can support reflection and small actions.
The central message is that the platform should support conversations, not replace relationships, school support or professional help.
For the programme
About EmpowerYOUth
EmpowerYOUth is a 22-month Erasmus+ funded project focused on supporting the mental wellbeing and resilience of young people aged 14-18.
The project equips youth workers, guidance counsellors, teachers, and others who support young people with practical tools to help adolescents navigate challenges both in school and in everyday life.
Building on Previous Projects
The project builds on the success of two previous international initiatives, BUILD and I-YOU. These projects explored topics identified by young people themselves, including family relationships, friendships, anxiety, mental health, and social media communication. Research and pilot programmes showed that structured conversations using the Socratic dialogue, and practical coping tools based on cognitive-behavioral therapy approach (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy approach (DBT) can support young people feel more resilient, confident, and supported.
Youth Perspectives and Challenges
EmpowerYOUth brings together partners from Iceland, Bulgaria, and Italy. The project was launched during a two-day meeting in Reykjavík where partners shared insights from youth surveys conducted in each country. Alongside ongoing mental health concerns, young people highlighted increasing worries about loneliness, stress, and financial understanding, both inside and outside of school.
Self-Coaching Tools and Methods
A core element of EmpowerYOUth is the use of simple self-coaching tools developed through the I-YOU project (cards). These tools help young people reflect on emotions, strengthen communication skills, manage stress, and develop healthy coping strategies. Many of the coping strategies draw on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) which focuses on changing unhelpful thinking patterns or behaviors, and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), which emphasizes emotional regulation, mindfulness, and effective communication.
Support for Parents
Importantly, EmpowerYOUth is not only designed for professionals working with youth. Parents can also benefit from many of the tools and ideas developed through the project, which can be used at home to support open communication, emotional awareness, and positive mental health.
A European Collaboration for Youth Wellbeing
How the programme works
Programme Structure and Duration
The programme runs for 8 weeks, with one 40–60 minute session per week. At the beginning of the course, all students participate in an introductory session together with a Values and Purpose module delivered across two sessions. These initial sessions help students explore what matters most to them, understand how values influence choices and behaviour, and develop a shared language for reflection, emotions, and decision-making throughout the programme. Students then choose five additional modules from the remaining topics, allowing the programme to focus on areas they find most relevant and meaningful.
Topics and Learning Modules
Programme modules include: Values • Anxiety • Mental Health • Body Image • Friends • Family • Sexuality • Social Media • Loneliness • Bullying • Money • School Stress
Facilitation and Participation
Sessions are delivered by teams of two trained professionals, such as youth workers, guidance counsellors, teachers, social workers, or psychologists.
Students actively participate through discussions, focus groups, and questionnaires, giving them an important voice in shaping the learning process and reflecting on their own experiences.
Supporting Emotional Awareness and Resilience
A central element of the programme is helping students understand how thoughts can influence emotions and behaviour. Students learn to recognise common unhelpful thinking patterns, including:
- Mind Reading – assuming we know what others think without evidence
- Fortune Telling – predicting negative outcomes about the future
- Catastrophizing – exaggerating problems until they feel overwhelming
- All-or-Nothing Thinking – viewing situations as completely good or completely bad
Students also practise strategies for responding to these thoughts, such as:
- taking time to consider all available evidence;
- exploring alternative explanations;
- reflecting on how likely the feared outcome really is;
- asking themselves: “What advice would I give a friend thinking this way?”
The programme is grounded in cognitive-behavioural approaches, which show that changing unhelpful thought patterns or behaviours can positively influence emotional wellbeing. Students’ resilience is assessed before and after the programme in order to support reflection, progress, and learning.
A Safe and Supportive Environment
EmpowerYOUth creates a safe and supportive space where young people can discuss sensitive topics, identify personal values and strengths, and learn where to seek support when needed.
The programme is specifically tailored to the needs of adolescents and encourages openness, reflection, emotional awareness, and respectful dialogue.
Preventative and Practical Value
The programme helps young people better understand everyday challenges, develop coping strategies, and strengthen emotional awareness.
Through structured learning modules and practical self-coaching tools (cards), EmpowerYOUth helps young people build skills they can apply in school, at home, and in everyday life.
For parents
Supporting Young People at Home
Parents play an important role in supporting their children’s wellbeing, particularly during adolescence – a time of increasing independence, identity development, and emotional change. While young people seek greater autonomy, ongoing parental presence and support remain important protective factors for mental wellbeing.
Many of the tools and strategies used in EmpowerYOUth can also be applied at home, helping families communicate openly and effectively, recognise emotional changes, and encourage healthy coping strategies.
European Collaboration and Expertise
EmpowerYOUth is a collaboration between partners from Iceland, Bulgaria, and Italy, bringing together international expertise in youth work, counselling, and mental health. The project helps ensure that effective, evidence-based strategies reach young people across Europe through the exchange of knowledge and approaches between partner countries.
The EmpowerYOUth platform is there to support conversations, not replace them. It does not replace your relationship with your child, school support or professional help when that is needed.
Contact:
info@empoweryouth.eu
