At the beginning of a university journey, pressure to perform, expectations and a change in environment can generate stress and anxiety in young people. Careful support from the family is essential to guide this important leap towards adulthood.
The Professor of Psychology, specialized in vocational and relationship issues, Sonia Amaro, warns about the importance of understanding the first year of university as a crucial period of adaptation. “As a student or as a family The first stage of a university career cannot be evaluated solely by observing academic performance”, he maintains. This change involves more than simply sitting down to study; It is the beginning of a new stage of life that demands a capacity for adaptation and continuous learning; from the family and the student.
The emotional toll during this transition is significant. “What influences young people most when it comes to feeling evaluated are their own and other people’s expectations regarding the performance they must obtain: they have to do well, they cannot fail, there cannot be failures,” he explains.
Following the specialist’s investigations Claudia Messing In Vocational Guidance from the bond-family perspective, it is understood that current young people usually approach this university period from an internal place of “knowledge and power”; product of an imaginary and symmetrical internal position, which places them on a level of equality with the adult and, above all, of emotional self-supply.
Today’s young people are inhabited by the culture of immediacy and the project of a career is not something immediate. In many cases it is difficult to assimilate that reality.”
Sonia Amaro, psychology professor. Advisor on relationship and family issues.
The first months at university will be decisive: “they require patience on the part of parents, tact to ask and accompany, from a discreet and non-invasive place; since it is important in these instances that the young “can trust in their potential and allow themselves to deploy their own ways of resolving situations and conflicts.”adds Amaro in dialogue with BLACK RIVER.
Longer times and processes also appear as a source of concern: “Today’s young people They are inhabited by the culture of immediacy and the project of a career is not something immediatethen incorporating the idea that a period of time is needed is not assimilated by them and that also generates frustration and anxiety.”
“Students are usually relieved when you can explain to them that this doesn’t have to be this way. At 18 or 20 years old, they cannot pretend to know everything. Precisely heWhat enables you to start a career is the recognition of not knowing. What happens is that, faced with failure, they withdraw into themselves, they do not know how to ask for help, they feel devalued, ashamed and afraid,” he explains.
Without invading:
At a time where pressure and expectations can be overwhelming, understanding support and open communication are the keys for families to help students navigate this transition period successfully. Keeping the lines of communication open between family and children is essential. Establishing agreements and being attentive to behavioral changes are essential steps in providing effective support.
“One always talks about preventive work,” says Amaro. “Everything doesn’t have to be extremely idealized. You have to tell the truth about things. It is a different format and moment in life where demand reigns and it is necessary to assimilate it when facing this challenge”.
If behaviors change drastically once in college, it’s a red flag. Amaro emphasizes. “It is necessary to never lose communication and ask – non-invasive – questions of interest… Can I help you with something? Can you organize yourself? To see from what point they can anticipate.”
There are no recipes. “We cannot generalize, each story and family is particular; Each adolescent is a world in itself crossed by her story, and what we can suggest is; always try to be attentive to what is manifested, accompanying from a discreet distance; Give them space to make mistakes and recover from them, and present ourselves as adults who also make mistakes and can fail,” concluded the specialist.
2024-04-06 09:30:00