When they are making a free choice, they are not simply electing to take a medication, but indicating that their sense of self is ready to accommodate an awareness that they may have problems in some areas of functioning, and that they will accept help. In supporting the young person’s freedom of choice, parents express their faith in his own processes and do not convey a belief that there is something wrong with him. They also do not reinforce the child’s anxiety that he is not accepted by his parents just the way he is.
