Is Your Teen Struggling In Life And You Don’t Know How To Help?
Parents, have you noticed you have less interaction with your teen lately? Do you think that they could be struggling with making friends, bullying from peers, or trying to understand their sexual identity? You might not be comfortable asking your teen about what’s going on, but you have watched your teen’s grades drop for long enough to know that they’re not themselves lately.
Teens, are you more and more exhausted with each passing day? Do you lack the excitement you once had for life and have started to pull away from friends and family? Maybe you worry about the weight you feel and the sense of sadness that you carry. Or perhaps you’re so distraught you have begun engaging in risky behavior, or even self-harming practices. You know you need help with your struggles, but you don’t know who to turn to.
Teen anxiety and depression are serious challenges and can develop for any number of reasons. For example, teens may start to feel the pressure to succeed in school and do well in life. And perhaps they’ve experienced firsthand the unfairness of the world—school shootings, abuse, bullying—and it angers them. Or maybe they’re addicted to social media and live for the “likes,” tying their self-esteem to the validation of online peers.
The impact of these stressors can be overwhelming. But therapy can provide teens with a non-judgemental friend that can help them cope with the effects of anxiety and/or depression. It can provide the tools teens need to feel less troubled and like themselves again.
Many Teens Struggle With Their Emotions
Nearly one in three teenagers aged 13 to 18 has experienced anxiety.1 Whether we’re a teen or not, we can all empathize with the indelible impact of experiences—good and bad—during this vulnerable time in life. We fumble through the awkward embarrassment of puberty, trying to gain a healthy understanding of our evolving bodies. At the same time, we transition from elementary school to middle and high school, growing into new expectations.
And teens in today’s world have a uniquely difficult experience when depression and/or anxiety can be amplified by technology. They may try to look exactly like their favorite Instagram influencer but fail. Or they might use the Internet as a space to share their deepest fears, unaware that it might not always be the best space for support.
Admitting when they feel hurt or angry can be difficult for a teen, and they may think that they’re weak for succumbing to their pain. So they may try to address the issues on their own because they believe that friends, parents, or even counselors may judge them for their vulnerability.
Parents, on the other hand, may fear that their children feel unsafe sharing their struggles with them because they worry that they will be seen as “faulty” if they struggle with emotional challenges. So they stay silent as well.
Teen therapy can be a bridge over troubled water for both teens and parents. A therapist can provide the help a teen needs to deal with anxiety and/or depression, understand the source of their pain, and overcome it.
Therapy Can Help Your Teen Face Their Fears And Build Self-Esteem
Many people think that the challenges teens face can be explained by angst or rebelliousness. The reality is that teens experience challenges just like anyone else. As a therapist, I’ve seen the benefits of therapy in helping teens to identify how their experiences have impacted them and work through the effects.
Therapy gives teens a safe space to air their thoughts and feelings to a neutral person without judgment. We foster a compassionate environment where your teen has the chance to build coping skills and self-esteem and feel seen, understood, and heard. Some of the challenges we’ve helped teens address successfully are anxiety and depression, drug and/or alcohol use, and sexuality confusion, to name a few.
For our intake session, both the parent and teen will be asked to be present so that you will each have a chance to speak. You will both get the opportunity to share your perspective with your counselor one-on-one—the parents in the first half and teen in the second half of the session. From there, we can build a treatment plan.
In ongoing sessions, we ask that only the teen be present. Teen, this will offer you a space where your voice can exist fully to realize your therapy goals. We will begin by identifying the emotions you’re feeling, your current support base, and your thought patterns. We’ll also look at what coping skills you use to address your challenges, and we will help you learn more effective ones.
Our approach to teen counseling pulls from modalities such as Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, solution-focused therapy, and person-centered therapy. In solution-focused therapy, you will learn to set goals despite challenges. Person-centered therapy can be a powerful tool for self-discovery, where we take a back seat as facilitators and lend a non-judgmental ear to the expression of your experience. And CBT allows you to examine your thoughts and feelings to see how they influence your behavior. The goal is to learn to change your thought patterns so that you develop more constructive behaviors to solve problems.
As teen therapists with more than 10 years of experience, we’ve helped many teens lay a foundation to experience an overall improvement in their mental health. Teens, therapy can help you develop lifelong skills to manage stress, improve mood, and decrease anxiety. Parents, by bringing them to counseling, you’re helping your teen to become more independent, value themselves, and constructively solve problems.
But you may still have questions about teen therapy…
My teen is already busy—they don’t have time for therapy.
Your teen might be a student-athlete or do extracurricular activities, and maybe they even work. We understand how busy teens can be. Yet, if your teen could make the time to address their struggles, imagine how this small act of self-care could make them more productive in other areas. Additionally, during the pandemic we also offer teletherapy, which can help you cut down on time used for travel so you can possibly use it for a therapy session.
My friends will judge me.
As a teen, you’re just beginning to spread your wings and own your independence, so it’s normal to think that you should have more control over your thoughts and emotions. Yet you can’t solve every problem—especially those that are best addressed with help from a trained professional. Teen therapy can help you to accept your challenges as human and work with someone who can help improve your situation. Chances are your friends will be supportive of something that holds value to you.
Why does my teen need therapy? Nothing is wrong with them.
Therapy does have a stigma attached to it—taking care of your emotional health isn’t yet as widely accepted in society as regular physical health and hygiene upkeep. A teen doesn’t have to be angry, out of control, or defiant to benefit from therapy. They can simply be overwhelmed with the stress of life. And if a problem is showing itself, then being brave enough to start to address it as a parent is a powerful step in the right direction.
Are You Ready To Help Your Teen Find A Sense Of Inner Peace?
Parents, you can give your teen the help they need to work through their challenges in life. And teens, be assured there is someone out there willing to hear you and help you work through your problems in a healthy way. If you’re ready to get started, I invite you to contact us at 508-297-1491 to schedule a free, 15-minute consultation.
NOTE: In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Elevate Counseling only offers teletherapy.
1 https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder.shtml