‘Talking To Your Teen’ Is Focus Of Next Dinner With A Doctor

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7 Mar 16
Image of Mom and Son showing their love for each other

It’s tough being a teenager. And, as many parents know, having a conversation with your teen can be every bit as difficult.

“Talking to Your Teen” will be the focus of the next Dinner with a Doctor, hosted by SBH Health System (St. Barnabas Hospital). The event will be held on Tuesday, April 12th in English and on Thursday, April 14th in Spanish at the Braker Building, 4422 Third Avenue, on the St. Barnabas Hospital campus (beginning at 6 p.m.). There is no cost to attend the event, which will include the serving of a delicious and healthful meal.

Presenting will be Dr. Paulo Pina, a board certified pediatrician with SBH Health System, and Caroline Davis, Director of Teen Services at the Teen Health Center at SBH Health System. A graduate of the NYU Langone School of Medicine, Dr. Pina is the Ambulatory Pediatric Care program director at SBH Health System, assistant director of its pediatric residency program, and an Assistant Professor at Albert Einstein Medical School.   Davis, a graduate of Marist College, holds a Masters of Arts in Christian Ministry from North Park Theological Seminary and a Masters of Science in Non Profit Leadership and Social Justice from Fordham University.

The seminar will make some of the following points when it comes to you and your teenager:

  • Change your expectations. After all, the brain of a teenager is a work in progress. While it’s tempting to treat teens as though they were fully capable of logical reasoning, decision-making, and impulse control, physiologically they aren’t there yet.
  • Stop treating your teenager with suspicion. Teenagers should feel their home is a refuge where they feel safe and protected, find love and acceptance.
  • Establish boundaries and stick to them. Everyone that lives in your house should be part of making the household run.
  • Honor and respect your teen. Respect their opinions and ask for them.
  • Make allowances for their daily minor mistakes. Don’t jump on them for every minor infraction.
  • If your teenager never talks to you, talk to them or leave them notes. Make sure they know that they can come to you whenever they need to speak with you.
  • Show them love.

Dinner with a Doctor

St. Barnabas Hospital holds Dinner with a Doctor on a regular basis, with members of the hospital’s clinical staff discussing various health issues while attendees enjoy a light meal. Past events have included presentations on such topics as aging joints, attention deficit disorder, breast cancer treatment, dental health, diabetes, heart care, hospice and palliative care, men’s health, pain management, questions to ask your doctor, vascular disease, wound healing, and women’s health. To meet the diverse needs of the community served by the hospital, presentations are offered in English, Spanish and other languages.

“We encourage members of our community to take advantage of the Dinner with a Doctor series,” said Len Walsh, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at SBH Health System. “We enjoy the opportunity to meet with them and provide some answers to questions they may have on various health and medical topics. The upcoming presentation, ‘Talking to Your Teen,’ deals with a topic that many families struggle with. While there are no easy answers, we feel our experts can provide information that will help families in our community with their own parent/teen discussions.”

Dinner with a Doctor is free and limited to 60 people. You must be 16 years of age or older to attend and reservations are required to assure that space will be available. To RSVP contact Diana Loubriel at 718-960-9295. Parking is available by entering the hospital campus at Third Avenue and 183rd Street.

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Contact:
Howard Matzner/Steven Clark
Andover Communications
(201) 482-4008
hmatzner@andovercommunications.com