Teen Counseling: What Is It?

Teen Counseling: What Is It? 

Teen counseling is treatment specifically designed for a therapist to assist your adolescent with their emotional difficulties, while taking into account their developmental level. Many times, consequences, interventions, or plans to assist teens at home or school may not stick because they are not meeting a teen’s developmental level.

Some mental disorders may begin to appear in adolescence including learning disorders such as ADHD/ADD, dyslexia, and processing disorders meaning teens experience deficits in learning, reading, and/or writing, thus potentially understanding.

What Kind of Problems Can I Help With?

Teen counseling can assist adolescents who are experiencing the following:

• Peer pressures/negative social media influences

• Defiant/oppositional/delinquent behavior

• Shoplifting/stealing from family and friends

• Drug use

• Low self esteem/self worth

• Poor performance in school

• Trauma such as emotional/physical/sexual abuse, death

• Self-harm (cutting, burning, scratching, hair pulling)

• Poor sleep

• Life changes such as moving, remarriages of parents

• Difficulty with communication/shutting down emotionally

Does Teen Counseling Mean I’m Not Doing a Good Job as a Parent?

Attempting to be your child’s counselor can actually interfere with your relationship and even damage it as it’s hard for teens to take your consequences (though probably well deserved) AND open up about their deepest feelings to you. Teen counseling can actually increase the teen-parent relationship as it gives parents permission to not have to know everything, and it gives the teen their own person to process life with, without feeling judged.

Ok I’m in, what’s the process?

Teen counseling can last anywhere from 3-6 months, and sometimes longer when needed or desired. Teen counseling can begin as weekly sessions and over time sessions can decrease to twice a month or less depending on progress.

I will meet with parents alone first to gather all the information needed such as frequency, intensity, duration of behaviors, prior treatment, medical history, social needs, familial relationships, and treatment goals. I then meet with your teen and take some time to build a strong, solid relationship. This also shows teens how to build trusting relationships. I also conduct parenting or family sessions to help your family learn and understand your teen better, and to assist your teen in building better relationships within the family unit. Contact me for a free 20 minute consultation to discuss your teen.