Combat Coaches Are The Best Teen Empowerers — Here's Why...

Teenagers go through a period of rapid transformation and identification as they transition into adulthood – and with that comes many emotional challenges.

They're flooded with new emotions they haven't felt before and don't know how to manage, and they're consistently trying to balance between the identity of being a dependent child versus an independent young adult.

The CounterPunch™ method teaches teenagers practical tools to both understand and effectively master the life skills needed to recognise, manage and express emotions such as stress, anxiety, anger and depression in a healthy manner – skills that if teenagers don't learn, can affect the quality of their lives later in adulthood.

The Problem With Traditional Forms Of Therapy And Counselling For Teens

The first thought that might come to mind is that this is the role of psychologists and counsellors, as they are specialists in this field.

The problem with this is 3-fold:

1) It's often only when teenagers have gone through severe experiences for a prolonged period of time that they end up seeing a psychologist:

• Many of these severe experiences can be managed and prevented beforehand with the right self-management tools.

• Not all teenagers seek and/or receive therapy and are therefore left helpless.

2) There is stigma associated with "having to see a therapist"

• Teenagers are very self-conscious about how they appear, especially to their peers.

• The last thing they want to associate with their newly forming identity as they grow up is someone who "needs help."

3) Traditional forms of counselling and therapy are boring and do not work with teenagers:

• Adults are content to sit face-to-face and use talk therapy.

• Young people on the other hand, don't like this method. Talk therapy can often take the form of intermittent grunts and rushing out the door at the first opportunity.

That's where the CounterPunch™ method comes in to fill the gap.

Rather than only addressing the mental health side of things, or just the physical health side of things, CounterPunch looks at addressing the skill and knowledge gap in a truly wholistic manner in order to help teenagers develop into fully functioning adults that can reach their true potential in life (see images below).

In my many years working with young people, I have found that the need to feel empowered, significant and competent is the biggest factor driving teenagers' behaviour.

And the easiest way for teenagers to feel this sense of empowerment is on a physical level — something that combat coaches already help them with.

So if you love empowering teens and would like to expand your combat gym to the next level by integrating mental fitness into your programs, apply to become a CounterPunch facilitator.