Our counselors offer counseling for teens in Chesapeake, VA

My go-to approach for helping people in teen counseling is cognitive behavioral therapy or dialectical behavioral therapy. I find the best benefit of cognitive behavioral therapy is that it helps the client identify negative thinking patterns that may trigger their issues and teaches them how to replace negative thinking with positive thoughts to improve self-esteem.

My go-to approach for helping those in teen counseling is that of empowerment and utilizing skills to support self-confidence and pride. I find the most benefit in this because it creates a space for clients to improve their self-esteem and deepen their understanding of self in relation to others. This also allows them to feel more confident with decision-making and areas of independence.

I teach the following tools in teen counseling:

• Education on emotions, symptoms, triggers
• How to identify emotions
• Triggers to emotions
• Emotional regulation
• Coping techniques
• How and when to apply coping skills
• Mindfulness
• Identifying social supports

I find the tools most useful for teens are those that are rooted in CBT and DBT, as well as creative therapies. Tools that provide skills to regulate and understand emotions, learn relaxation exercises, enhance independence, explore positive coping skills, reframe thoughts, shift perspectives, improve their sense of perception, and provide opportunities to gain techniques in mindfulness.

I know a client is making meaningful progress in teen counseling when the client presents or reports consistent positive moods, decreases sessions, increases their social engagement with others, and returns to a normal level of life activities.

I know a client is making progress when they are able to feel more confident, improve their sense of worth, demonstrate improved relations with others, practice coping skills, regulate their emotions, and access techniques that provide opportunities for them to better navigate daily situations they encounter in the home with parents and family, as well as in school with peers, and in community.

Clients can supplement their time in teen counseling by communicating with social supports, participating in support groups, journaling, or exercising.

Clients can supplement their time in teen counseling with strength-building exercises and activities that promote improved self-confidence, independence, self-reflection, and discovery, as well as utilize skills that create empowerment, highlight talents, and support positive thinking.

To prepare for their first teen counseling session, a teen can identify goals they desire to achieve through therapy.

To prepare for their teen counseling session, a teen can begin to establish that which they feel is of most importance to them. They can identify and prioritize that which they feel is of concern. This will create spaces for them to feel more engaged in sessions. They will benefit from actively participating in the goal-making process. It’s important to establish creative and empowering methods to engage them so that treatment is more meaningful.