As children enter the adolescent stage of development, they will need to be more empowered by their parents in many ways.  They will need clarification of who they are, where they are going, and how they are going to get there.  They will need to set off on a journey to establish an identity based on their own experiences.  There will be many obstacles for adolescents in their journey of exploring possibilities to develop this identity when their parents oppose them and their options are narrowed.  Adolescents will need to explore options, roles, and values.  It is important that parents empower their teensager in this system by allowing them to develop the behavioral expectations and put the targeted behaviors in their own words. An example of adolescentbehavioral expectations may look like the following:

Caretakers will talk about the joy the teenager brings to their life.

Caretakers and the teenager will discuss openly how they treated one another each day.

Caretakers will perform parental duties for the teenager willingly and without condition.