The Parent-Teen Project: Meeting at the Crossroads: Exchanging Wisdom and Gifts

Purpose of this project: The culture does not make space for teens and parents to explore the different stages of life they inhabit in a way that allows them to talk across differences and explore more fluid ways of being in relationship. Our hope is that by making discourses regarding western conceptualizations of teens and parents visible and by bringing forward more richly described stories of teen and parent experiences, alternative discourses and ways of moving forward together may unfold. We hope to explore the effects of consumerism, individualism, fear-mongering and negative stereotypes on parent teen relationships.

We are curious about the following: How can teens and parents talk across differences in fluid ways? How can they listen and hear each other differently? How can the circulation of wisdom and gifts be given a more central role in a family’s communal practice? How do we create space to honor community given the power relations between teens and parents? How does responsibility and creativity get enacted in ways that invite excitement and movement?

Our intention is to bring together a group of middle class parents and teens from the greater Los Angeles area to participate in a Feminist Action Research Project for one year. We hope to co-construct new discourses, language, and practices that honor parent and teen experiences, circulate their wisdom and gifts and generate new ways of being in relationship.

In addition to their dissertation, Lynne and Eve will be making a documentary film.

Lynne V. Rosen is the co-founder of Narrative Solutions, an organization that brings the tenets of Social Constructionism, Narrative Therapy, Appreciative Inquiry and the Public Conversation Project into the therapeutic consulting room with individuals, couples, families and organizations. Previously, she was Core Faculty and Director of the Postmodern Therapy Training Program at Phillips Graduate Institute in Encino, CA. She is the co-founder of Women’s Project Los Angeles (WPLA), a community-based project that focuses on using innovative forms of dialogue in order to bring forward new perspectives and change. Website: NarrativeSolutions.com