Therapy for Teens
Are You Worried About Your Teen’s Emotional Well-Being?
As a parent, are you concerned that your teen seems anxious, depressed, or upset?
Is your teen struggling with school, their social life, or behavioral issues?
Has your teen pushed back against your attempts to help?
The teenage years aren’t easy. Your teen is trying to discover their own identity, and you may not always agree with their choices.
Maybe you’ve been arguing a lot lately or growing distant from each other. Or it may seem like your teen doesn’t care about much of anything anymore. Either way, you’re not sure how to help them.
Every Teen Faces Unique Problems
Maybe your teen is becoming a perfectionist, and trying to reach their impossibly high standards is making them anxious. On the other hand, they might be wiggling their way out of doing chores or completing homework more often lately, and you’ve noticed that they have difficulty managing their time, starting tasks on their own, and staying organized.
Or perhaps they’ve stopped participating in activities they used to love and have lost all interest in their old hobbies. And if your teen has had trouble in school or they have few friends or even acquaintances, you may be worried about their social skills, too.
Of course, it’s normal for teens to deal with growing pains. But you might seriously wonder if your teen is struggling with more—like a mental health condition, a developmental issue, or even a disability.
No matter what your teen is going through, a counselor can give them the support they need on this journey. In therapy, your teen can learn to uncover the roots of their problems, explore their unique strengths, and learn valuable life skills to become a healthier, happier, and more confident person.
Teens Deal With All Kinds Of Emotional, Behavioral, And Formative Challenges
Today, millions of teens live with anxiety, depression, and behavioral disorders. If teenagers don’t get the treatment they need to overcome these conditions while they’re young, they can continue to struggle well into adulthood. This can hold them back from building fulfilling, independent lives.
In addition to depression, anxiety, and behavioral disorders, other issues can crop up during the teenage years, including:
Social anxiety
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Learning disabilities
The current mental and behavioral health crisis amongst teens in this country has become an epidemic. Without help, each generation of teens will have trouble with these same issues as they reach adulthood.
Growing Up In The Modern Era Can Be A Turbulent Experience
With the world changing rapidly, teenagers today have to face a lot of challenges their parents never had to. For example, spending a lot of time online means that teens are aware of adult problems that their parents and grandparents never thought about when they were young.
The 24/7 news cycle also adds a constant, negative stream of information. And because issues like online bullying and gun violence in schools are increasing, many teens are feeling anxious and unsafe. Plus, the COVID-19 pandemic also disrupted the lives of teenagers across the country, making it temporarily impossible to participate in school, hobbies, and social activities as usual.
Unfortunately, parents can accidentally worsen these issues. Many closely enforce strict rules to protect their teens and keep them “on track.” But these protective measures can easily backfire. Teens might feel like their feelings are ignored, and they don’t have a chance to develop as an individual separately from their parents. And so, instead of asking their parents for help, they may try to solve their problems on their own.
A therapist can provide a safe space for your teen. With support from our counselors, both you and your teen can feel ready to overcome the challenges of adolescence together.
Therapy Can Help Your Teen Learn Key Life Skills
Teens often feel torn between doing what’s expected of them or charting their own course in life. A therapist can guide your teen through processing intense emotional experiences, strengthening their relationships, and picking up skills that will help them succeed in life.
As their parent, you’ll have some involvement in your teen’s therapeutic process. Their therapist will typically meet with your teen individually and check in with you in between sessions. At our practice, your teen will be in the “driver’s seat,” but we want to make sure that you and your family are comfortable every step of the way.
What You Can Expect In Teen Counseling Sessions
In sessions, your teen’s therapist will help them explore their feelings so that they can learn to regulate and process their emotions in healthy ways. We’re not here to judge your teen—instead, their therapist will provide open-minded support for their emotional and mental well-being.
We aim to
help teens think before they act and identify harmful thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
support teens in managing their stress and anxiety levels.
encourage teens to find creative solutions to their problems and think outside the box.
enable teens to rewrite their stories and develop a healthy self-image.
Personalized Treatment Solutions For Your Teen’s Needs
Our therapists can use a wide variety of evidence-based therapeutic methods to help your teen. We will customize their treatment plan with the therapy techniques that best suit their specific needs.
By integrating the right treatment methods, our counselors can guide teens from diverse backgrounds and with different abilities. We help them identify their core values, uncover their personal strengths, and set goals for the future.
Therapy can give your teen a brand new perspective on life and give them the chance to become the best version of themselves. Plus, it can improve the relationship between you and them.
But You May Still Have Questions About Therapy For Teens…
I don’t think my teen will go to therapy.
It’s normal for teens to feel hesitant or nervous about trying therapy. If they’re resistant to counseling, we’ll gladly answer all of their questions and give them time to get more comfortable with our therapists and the overall therapeutic process. We’ve found that if we can encourage a teen to participate in just one session, they’ll usually see the upsides of therapy and want to continue.
Will you tell me what my teen is talking about in therapy?
We protect every client’s privacy—including teens. However, there are some limits to confidentiality in teen therapy which we’ll go over with you ahead of time. Overall, we believe that establishing trust with our teen clients is key for therapy to be effective.
We’ll involve you in therapy sessions as necessary, based on your teen’s personal comfort level and needs. And we’ll also keep you informed throughout the course of therapy to ensure that everyone is on the same page.
How long will my teen be in therapy?
When it comes to therapy, there is no timeline set in stone. The length of therapy will depend on your teen’s needs. Once we learn more about their main challenges, we’ll be able to estimate how long they might need to stay in counseling.
Help Your Teen Build The Skills They Need To Thrive
If your teen is struggling with mental, behavioral, or developmental setbacks, they can safely process their experiences and gain helpful life skills through counseling. For more information about how our specialists can help your teen to thrive, we invite you to contact us.
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