John Green Says It Better 
John Green has had success on many platforms, most notably by authoring A Fault In Our Stars. He has built his career around appreciating the stories of teens. In this 60 Minutes interview (2018) he’s asked why he writes about teenagers. His answer is as follows:
[Teenagers] are doing so many things for the first time and there’s an intensity to that. You know, there’s an intensity to falling in love the first time and also there’s an intensity in asking the big questions about life and meaning that just isn’t matched anywhere else.
I think he’s brilliant and concise. The entire interview (about 15 minutes) is great. Check out it out here. I’m saying this and I’m not even a fan of his YA fiction.
Why I Like Working With Teens
I first came across the expression “Ja me Vu” from Oliver Sachs’ Hallucinations. It describes the experience a person has when they encounter something familiar that feels oddly new. It’s the opposite of “De ja Vu.” To get a sense of this experience, try saying the word “night” 150 times in a row. At some point you’ll feel confused and unsure what the word even is. Night? N-height. NaIaht..wait, what? Night. Night. Night etc…
In adolescents, the brain prepares for adulthood. New connections get made both neurologically and socially. Words have new meaning. It’s a long lasting Ja me Vu. Thoughts- and it doesn’t matter which ones- become stimulating in their own right. As a counselor, there is always something to work with when sitting across from a teen. There are always profound conclusions to draw about life in general. Reality is not to be accepted, but tested over and over again.
People either successfully navigate this time or they don’t. Think of the adults you know. I’d wager that several of them handle things in a “middle school” kind of way. Of those people that come to mind, they probably have stories from middle school of intense hurt and confusion that never got sorted out. One caring adult can help with that navigation and can set people on a course to live life fully, openly, compassionately, and genuinely.
The intensity of adolescents offers a maleability. This is why in 15 years of work with teens and their families, I think I’ve only used the word “drama” 3 times (and it was accidental). If it’s important to a teen- and almost everything is intensely important- it’s important to me. The work of validating a teen may be difficult and take some time, but that’s the work I set out to do. I want to help ferry young adults across the liminal space of their adolescence and eventually teach them to row on their own through adult hood. The pathway for this includes helping them find meaning in familiar circumstances that feel brand new. Their story matters. I feel honored to hear it.
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