Teen Counseling

**“Everyone says the teen years are tough, but this feels impossible.”**
**“It’s like we don’t understand or even know each other anymore.”**
**“Something is wrong, I just don’t how to fix it.”**
**“No matter what I do, I can’t win with them.”**

**The teen years can be confusing, scary, and intense- for teens and parents.**

You might feel like you’ve lost the connection you used to have, or that things have continued to feel more and more difficult over the years. Now that adolescence has walked through the door, everything is changing. These brain changes that accompany growing up and figuring out who we are also mean changes to routines, expectations, and relationships. For parents, it can be difficult to navigate these years without feeling the confusion, frustration, and a sense of loss that comes with this time. Chances are, teens are feeling all of this too, and don’t know how to talk about it.

These days, the academic pressures, social media influences, political climate, and the significant impact of the pandemic, make adolescence even more stressful and overwhelming.

Teens are drinking from a firehose of news, comments, opinions, expectations… It is sensory overload to the say the least. And all of it converges to greatly impact self-esteem and self-worth. My teen clients tell me it’s just too much, some days, and now they’re missing their social outlets too. They need their space to say what they want and process their stress or pain in their own way. Counseling for teens provides exactly that.

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Teen therapy can give space and freedom for expression and be a healing place to work on anxiety, loss, or social challenges.

In teen counseling sessions, your teen and I will work together to establish goals and strategies that will be most beneficial for their needs. Many times, sessions can simply be a way to reduce some of the pressure they’re feeling inside, so they can return to their schoolwork or family feeling more calm and confident (key factors in being productive successful, and communicative).

Frequently, we discuss setting and maintaining boundaries, problem-solving, and communicating clearly for things they need from you (or others) in a conflict-free way that helps you work together. Arguments and power struggles aren’t fun for anybody, and even your teenager wants to avoid a blow up about a plate in the sink or putting their laundry away. My teen clients also enjoy using music, art, and creative games in their therapy sessions, which can be a great way to help work through the challenges or past experiences that get in the way of peaceful days, clearer minds, and closer relationships.

“Sounds good, but I’m not sure I can get my teen to agree to counseling.”

Sometimes counseling for teens can be viewed as parents wanting the counselor to “fix my kid.” It can be reassuring to let your teen know that therapy is just a place for them to speak to someone outside of their personal circles, who won’t judge or nag or try to fix anything, because they are not broken. Teen therapy is all about helping clients grow into the people they want to be, and feel comfortable where they are. It is not about siding with the parents against them, and teen counselors do not report back to parents about what goes on in session.

“Our schedule is already so busy, I don’t know how we can get to sessions every week.”

Since all sessions are online, it is easy to log in from wherever they are (just not while driving, please!) using a computer, tablet, or cell phone. If you don’t think they can make the same time and day work each week, we can look at moving their weekly sessions around to fit their schedule. I’m happy to discuss this directly with them during our sessions.

“I don’t know how long I can get my teen to commit to therapy.”

I don’t believe in forcing anything. If we meet a few times and your teen decides it’s not for them, we can always stop. It can be very empowering for a teen to have a parent listen to what they want, and help them achieve it. Counseling for teens does not have to feel like an obligation. When they are ready to resume therapy, I will be happy to help make that happen.