// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
'You're triggering me': How to understand your therapy-speak teen
With claims of gaslighting, triggering and disrespecting boundaries, some parents are struggling to understand their teenagers' so-called therapy speak.
When Carla Hoskins asks her 15 and 18-year-old sons to revise or do chores at their Hertfordshire home, she says she is sometimes met with: "You're triggering me!"
Over in the US, Shannon Salvatoriello says her 14 and 17-year-old sons use similar words, which she says leaves her "feeling very confused".
Mental health experts in the UK and US tell the BBC why young people are using terms often heard during therapy sessions in everyday conversation - and give parents tips on how to better understand their teenagers.
Carla says she had never heard of terms like "triggering" or "gaslighting" before her teenage sons started using them
Mum-of-six Carla says she is sometimes accused of gaslighting by her eldest teen sons - particularly when she asks about friends or school work.
"I feel like any time you challenge them or request something is when you come up against this new language," says the 39-year-old.
"Rather than just saying, 'Mum, I'm stressed about my exams' or 'I've got a lot on my plate', it's I'm triggering them." She adds: "You can't really ever get to the bottom of anything."
Carla says she had never heard the words triggering or gaslighting before her sons started using them and assumes they learned them on social media.
New York psychiatrist Dr Suzanne Garfinkle-Crowell agrees this is one of the ways therapy speak has spread to everyday language. Social media is one of the places teenagers look to as they try to make sense of themselves and the world, she says.