Teenager completely shuts down every time I try

[JordiBB]

My 17-year-old went from communicative to a wall overnight and the school counselor flagged some concerning behavior. Everything I say lands wrong regardless of how carefully I phrase it. A friend whose kid went through something similar mentioned a specific conversation style that finally opened things up. Anyone dealt with this and found an approach that actually gets through?

[Lebizoga]

My neighbor’s son hit that same shutdown phase at 16, and every serious talk became instant defensiveness no matter how gentle they tried to be. What helped wasn’t “better lectures” but changing how they approached conversations entirely. Their family therapist pointed them toward motivational interviewing, and reading motivational interviewing stages and core principles (www.citizenadvocates.net/blog/motivational-interviewing/) gave them practical ways to ask without cornering him. It wasn’t magic overnight, but it finally got him talking instead of emotionally disappearing.