Adolescence
is a period of maturation and individuation. With that comes young people's desires in forming close personal friendships. The COVID-19 crisis, with its forced social distancing, has thwarted this important developmental process. As a consequence, youth might display a range of problematic behaviors that on face-value might seem negative, oppositional, and defiant. These displays, however, are probably just the tip of the "iceberg." Lurking below the problem behaviors might be intense feelings that reflect a sort of disruption of a youth's need for social development. These feelings tend to be akin to disconnection and powerlessness. You can help the youth and caregivers you work with by explaining the how young people's feelings are like the iceberg. Furthermore you can help families by using problem-solving techniques that look beneath the top of the iceberg and see the other feelings at the base. Another technique is to use psychiatrist, Dan Siegel’s “The Name it to Tame it” approach. In this method, a youth that is struggling with overwhelming feelings is helped to verbalize in words the names of those feelings. When that happens, youth are better able to feel centered and secure.