Do You Want a Better Relationship with Your Teen? ?
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Are you saddened by the struggles your teen is having and you would like to help them, but don’t know how?
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Does your teen have difficulty handling their emotions?
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Are you looking for a therapist who can help your teen because you’re worried about them and wondering if they are being safe?
Teen Therapy
Entering the Teenage Years Is a Major Step in Your Child’s Life
The transition this causes in your family system is a big shift for all family members and presents challenges you likely have not had to face before.
For example, teens may engage in risk-taking behavior and tend to have more attitude, be more argumentative, or even find themselves in a circle of lies. Arguments may become the normal way of communicating, which can result in tension within the family. And on top of just the normal growing pains, many teens also struggle with mental health issues.
It can be scary to think that your teen may be hurting and that there is a possibility that things will not get better. As a result, you might feel stuck or isolated, not knowing what to do to help them.
Maybe you think: If I could just have someone come in and fix everything in my family. If I could just have my happy child back again. If I could just have a break from dealing with this. If I could just find some peace.
Therapy can not only help your teen with their challenges but also help you to know how to best provide the support they need.
The fact is, teenage years are hard. And the parent-child relationship is changing as an adolescent begins pushing boundaries and is learning to manage their emotions and behavior while facing pressures from society and peers.
As a parent, perhaps you’re often struggling to find a balance between how much to let go to foster independence and how much to provide support to make sure things don’t fall through the cracks.
Find Your Village – You Are Not Alone
Facing challenges during the teenage years is not a new phenomenon. Some of these issues are developmentally appropriate as adolescents grow up and find out who they are and how they fit into the world.
Having our children separate from us and become individuals with good self-esteem who make good decisions for themselves is what we want for them. We just want them to do it in a way where we can maintain a connection with them, even as our relationship changes.
That being said, though, statistics show that 1 in 5 teens struggle with a mental health disorder. In 2021, more than 4 in 10 (42%) teens felt persistently sad or hopeless and nearly one-third (29%) experienced poor mental health (CDC)*. Few of these youths get the treatment they need to overcome these issues.
Isolation Fuels Teenage Issues in Today’s World
A newer phenomenon teens were confronted with more recently was the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. No matter their age, the lives of youths worldwide were affected during the pandemic in ways we might not even know about yet.
The lack of social interaction with peers and other people created gaps in social skills and emotional learning that normally takes place when teens have regular contact with others. During the pandemic, many teens missed attending classes in person for either the upper elementary or junior high school years, which are imperative experiences in gaining these social-emotional skills. And there were no encompassing plans to reduce the impact of this isolation.
Thankfully, it’s not too late to resolve this problem. With the help of a skilled and supportive therapist, your teen can learn to face their challenges successfully.
Therapy Can Help Empower Your Teen
While teenagers and their parents can be faced with a lot of difficult issues, the experienced therapists at Psychological Services for Success have dealt with many of these challenges personally and professionally.
Building a relationship is one of the key foundations of our work with teens. Additionally, we use a non-judgemental, problem-solving approach to work through difficult situations.
What to Expect in Counseling Sessions for Teens
Therapy can be very effective in helping your teen learn how to manage their emotions and develop practical coping strategies. These strategies provide them with a “toolbox” of skills that can continue to help them for their entire life.
Initially, your teen’s counselor will focus on building a strong therapeutic relationship with them, which increases the effectiveness of therapy. Once a solid client-therapist relationship is established, we will help your teen to start exploring some of the challenges they face, what is not working for them, and what they wish to improve.
Throughout sessions, we aim to provide an open, honest, and non-judgmental atmosphere. Our main goal is to empower your teen to make informed decisions and increase their self-concept. And we always focus on separating the individual from the behavior and creating a safe environment where everyone is welcome and accepted.
Dynamic Approaches to Therapy for Teens
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective types of therapy to address a wide range of issues facing teens. CBT helps teens understand their emotions, thoughts, and behavior, as well as develop concrete skills and strategies that empower them and allow them to feel more in control.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) also incorporates these ideas, but it can help teens better with more challenging behaviors and severe emotions. DBT has a framework based on acceptance, safety, and building skills in mindfulness. Depending on what your teen is struggling with, a variety of personalized techniques can be utilized using these frameworks.
While your teen may be struggling now, with our support, they can gain the necessary skills they need to navigate their current challenges. This includes:
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Grasping the complexity of their emotions and how these influence their behavior
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Understanding their feelings and how they can manage them
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Discovering strategies for communicating with others who are part of their life and expressing their emotions appropriately
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Learning coping skills and routines they can implement in their daily life to regulate feelings and behaviors
Our therapeutic approach is collaborative and focused on problem-solving. The skills and strategies your teen will learn during therapy are individualized because not everything works for everyone.
But You May Still Have Questions About Therapy for Your Teen…
I would like to get therapy for my teen, but I’m concerned about the expense.
We know therapy is an investment. But waiting may make things worse if there is a bigger issue. We do not want your teen to miss out on the help they require because of finances. Therefore, to make our services available to all who need them, we offer sliding-scale pricing for qualifying families. Please reach out to us to discuss your situation.
I believe it’s important for my teen to participate in therapy, but we have a full schedule. How would we squeeze in the time?
Prioritizing therapy can be difficult at times, but getting support for your teen is just as important as other activities! We understand that scheduling can present an obstacle for families. That is why all our therapists make themselves available on weekday afternoons/evenings and weekends.
What if my teen doesn’t want to see a counselor?
We have worked with many teens who do not want to come to therapy for different reasons. Sometimes, they're embarrassed about their behavior or don’t want to talk about what they’re going through. Sometimes, they don’t think they need this kind of support or they don’t know what to expect. And other times, they’re resistant because it is something that you want them to do, and they may feel like you and the therapist are in cahoots against them!
Whatever the reason, we will work with you to prepare your teen for what to expect in counseling and help them feel comfortable coming to their first session. Our therapists are experienced in working with this age group and have been very successful in making a connection in the first session.
Let Us Help Your Teen to Thrive
If you’re ready to get your teen the support they need to develop practical and empowering skills that will help them face life’s challenges, counseling at Psychological Services for Success can be the answer. Our therapists are available for a free, 20-minute consultation call to help answer any questions you may have and find out more specific details about working with us. You can schedule this free consultation by clicking the button below or call or email us at 805-723-0637; info@psych4success.com.