Zahraa from Yemen, struggles with her adolescent son's behaviour. She is very worried that he has the wrong friends and is often angry with him. She grabs his phone, often swears at him and she even hits him to get through to him. 

Our follow-up worker asks Zahraa what her deepest fear is, and if there are other ways to communicate with her son. Adolescents have their own world which requires a loving and patient approach and certainly not violence. By doing so, she actually damages the relationship with her son. She advises her to try involve the father so that both parents show their son that they really care about him.

Zahraa applies this advice and notices the change in her own behaviour, but also in her son's behaviour. As a result, she finds out that her son is having problems at school and with some new tips, she has been able to address this with him. She writes some time later: 'Through my conversation with you, I manage to talk to my son calmly and let him know that I love him and want to encourage him. May I stay in touch with you?'