I'm sorry you're struggling with one of your kids! I hope they start making better choices soon!
I don't use scrapping as therapy. If there's something on my mind that I need to get out, I'm more likely to write it all down on paper than to scrap it. The things I scrap are meant to be printed in our family album and seen by all, so I take that into account when deciding what to scrap.
My answer for scrapping the tough stuff is "sometimes." Helpful, right? There are some tough times that are major life moments and would feel conspicuously absent if I didn't scrap them. Things like deaths, special needs diagnoses, and divorces I'd scrap in some fashion.
One of the criteria I use when deciding whether to scrap something is whether I'd be okay with the person I'm writing about or our extended family reading that page. If no, then I don't scrap it. For example, one of my kids has a genetic disorder than includes autism, ADHD, and other physical and behavioral challenges. When he was younger I did mention his delays when I scrapped developmental milestones that he achieved, like walking. It was easy to do with those pages because I could put a positive spin on it. It was also easy to scrap tantrums when he was little and they were still kind of cute. He's 13 now and still has tantrums and meltdowns, but I'd never scrap them now. We don't know how independent he'll be as an adult, and DH and I worry a lot about that. I wouldn't scrap those worries because I wouldn't want Ben to read them. If he's having a tough week I might mention that in a Project Life layout, but I wouldn't go into detail. It doesn't feel like a violation of his privacy to say something like, "Ben has had a tough week" or "Dan and I are frustrated by Ben's refusal to do homework lately," and it wouldn't bother me to have him or other relatives read something like that. On the other hand, it would feel wrong to go into detail about exactly how he melted down, how those difficult weeks made us worry about his future, etc.
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