The friends you have in your adolescence play a pivotal role in developing your own identity. Building healthy relationships is an important component of maintaining your mental health and setting yourself up for success in the future.
Project Eden has specialized outpatient and prevention services for teens. See the programs available at Project Eden at Horizon.
Why Positive Friendships for Teens Matter
Your teenage years are key to developing strong social skills, making lifelong friends, and learning how to maintain strong friendships. Positive relationships can create a foundation of social support to help you through stressful times, help you develop a strong sense of emotional intelligence, and boost your self-esteem and confidence.
But the quality of your friendships matters a great deal. Good friends can be a source of inspiration and encouragement, whereas toxic friendships can pressure you into risky behaviors or lead to hurt feelings.
Learning to differentiate the two can help you get the most out of both your social and personal life.
How to Build Healthy Adolescent Friendships
Building healthy relationships is a skill. But like other important life skills, you can learn to become more effective at creating these relationships, making new friendships, and improving the quality of the friendships you have.
Find Friends Who Share Your Values
Healthy relationships are almost always guided by a sense of shared values. If you’re a person who highly values empathy and patience, for instance, looking for these qualities in potential friends is a great place to start.
By centering your friendships on values, you choose friends who help you to become the best version of yourself. If your friends don’t share your values, you may feel pressured to change or break your beliefs in order to maintain the friendship.
Engage in Healthy Hobbies
Many teenage friendships happen by circumstance: who you sit next to in class, your teammates in sports, or through meeting friends of friends. But you can play a role in shaping these circumstances to your benefit by engaging in healthy hobbies and activities with people who share your interests.
Some great places where you can interact with a new peer group include:
- Team sports
- School clubs
- Volunteering
- Special interest groups
If you’re looking to make new friendships, a place where you can engage with other people your age in a collaborative activity is a great place to start.
Prioritize Healthy Communication
Every healthy relationship depends on strong communication. Speaking openly and honestly with your peer group helps others to understand who you are as a person, and whether a friendship is a good match.
Share your emotions with your peers. Be honest about your thoughts and feelings and encourage your friends to do the same. Making the effort to prioritize communication ensures that you are showing your authentic self, which will allow others who share your interests and values to gravitate closer.
Setting Boundaries When It Counts
Part of healthy communication is setting firm boundaries when it counts. If your friends are pressuring or encouraging you to participate in something that makes you feel uncomfortable, setting a firm and direct boundary is critical.
Setting boundaries isn’t just about saying no. It’s about standing up for what you believe in, making sure that your friends respect you enough to accept your boundaries, and living a life free from peer pressure.
Tackling Friendship Problems
Even the best friendships can run into problems. Learning to tackle these challenges is an important part of keeping the positive friendships you have, and not letting misunderstandings or arguments ruin a good thing.
If you did something that hurt a friend, take accountability and make amends. If they hurt you, tell them how their actions affected your feelings. Being able to have these conversations, even if they’re uncomfortable, is a critical component of any good friendship.
The Transformative Power of Building Healthy Relationships
Having strong and healthy relationships can do wonders for your mental health during adolescence. By choosing your friends wisely, learning healthy communication skills, and overcoming the challenges that any friendship can go through, you’ll build a group of friends who can enrich your life and help you become the best version of yourself.
Embrace these friendships now, and you’ll see their transformative power in the years to come.
Project Eden helps teens at risk for substance use disorders. Learn more about Project Eden at Horizon.
