Advice for parents about what to do for your sexually active daughter

Wendy Walsh, PhD Parenting & Relationship Expert, shares advice for parents on the best steps to take when you find out that your teenage daughter is sexually active
What To Do When Your Teen Daughter Is Sexually Active
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Advice for parents about what to do for your sexually active daughter

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Even with our best-laid plans, sometimes what we have planned for our teenagers and their development and their sex life is different from what actually occurs. The important thing to happen, if you find out that your child has entered sexual activity when you deem it to be too early, is to find out if they have enough knowledge to keep themselves safe. So the most important thing is, without being judgmental, you want to make sure that they're armed with all the adult information they need. They need to know how to protect themselves from STD. They need to know how to protect themselves or their partner from unwanted pregnancy. That aside, if you're hoping to change them and change their romantic path, the only influence, sadly, that you're going to have on a teenager is to change their peer group. Most sexual attitudes develop from a peer group. So sometimes it can be really inconvenient for parents - it may mean you need to move, it may mean you need to at least move schools, but if you really think that your child is on a track, that this negative behavior, that the sex is not linked to love, that it's not linked to commitment, that she's doing it because she has low self-esteem, that she's trying to get false attention from guys, then it is proper to intervene and protect and save your child.

Wendy Walsh, PhD Parenting & Relationship Expert, shares advice for parents on the best steps to take when you find out that your teenage daughter is sexually active

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Wendy Walsh, PhD

Relationship & Parenting Expert

Dr. Wendy Walsh was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work as co-host on The Dr. Phil spinoff, The Doctors TV show. She also hosts Investigation Discovery Network’s “Happily NEVER After,” as well as being part of Dr. Drew’s Behavior Bureau on HLN Network. On CNN and 9 Network, Australia, she breaks down the psychology of sex, love, gender roles, divorce, parenting and other human behaviors. Dr. Wendy is an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at California State University, Channel Islands. She holds a B.A. in Journalism, a Masters degree in Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, and is the author of three books and numerous publications, including The 30-Day Love Detox. She appears regularly on The Today Show, CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, The Steve Harvey Show, The O’Reilly Factor, Inside Edition, The Katie Couric Show, Jane Velez-Mitchell, and The View.

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