Therapy for Teens
Working with an entire family while an adolescent receives therapy is the focus of my work. As a therapist, my focus will be to set the stage for understanding your child and their circumstances while trying to help you understand and connect with them as we move through certain tasks together. Many teens who receive this therapeutic approach report it being life changing and helpful. Many parents report seeing things improve.
hope is that you give therapy with me a consideration by scheduling an appointment or a free consultation. I am hopeful we can work together and do great things.
A Message To Parents of Teenagers Considering Therapy
Good therapy can be the pathway to the outcomes you are looking for.
Perhaps you have been contacted by a school about your teen’s behavior, grades, low self esteem, or lack of motivation. Maybe you are concerned with how withdrawn and lethargic your child has become. Some will read this because their teen has already received mental health treatment, but there is a lack of progress or things seem to be getting worse.
To you and any other parent visiting this page, my hat is off to you for your continued search. Positive changes and connection with your adolescent child are possible with the right evidence based approach.
Therapy with teens has to acknowledge the experience of adolescence; it is a time of extremes.
For teens, thoughts are deeply stimulating and constant. Rejection, even if it is just imagined, can be devastating. Intense bullying and attraction can suddenly appear. Meanwhile, recreation moves from leisure to competitive and high stakes. No one exactly knows who they are or where they fit in.
In my experience, it has been commonplace for teens to continue to be deeply affected by life under COVID. It goes without saying that 2020 and subsequent years have been a time of uncertainty and upheaval coupled with being cut off from our supportive social networks and additional avenues for self care. As we collectively regain our health and claim our space in our communities, teenagers and their families have the daunting task of transitioning back to themselves and find meaning in work and school. This complicates the underlying feelings of fear about life decisions- Who am I? What is my role? Where am I going in life?
Difficult times are far from over. To turn on the TV is to be bombarded with tragedies around school shootings, inflation, immigration, over doses, climate change, etc… Teens know these concerns and are looking to be protected and led to a safe and prosperous place.
If there is any comfort to be taken from this new normal, it’s that we are all in it together. Resourcefulness has led us to creatively get our needs meet, connect, participate in school, and develop new hobbies. Even though this experience is collective on a large scale, people largely still feel alone. I am lucky to have this vantage point; to be able to see people all want the same thing, but not ask for it from each other. It’s as if we have to shake off the feelings of safety isolation seemed to promise.
Here in lies the beauty of family based therapy for teens. It focuses on connection, boundaries, and communication through applying educational materials in real time during therapy sessions. It moves families away from isolation and fighting to intimacy and understanding. As one parent stated “we all got hurt together, we needed to get better together.” This work is rewarding for all involved. I am happy to share it with the community I live in and care for.