Teen counseling helps young individuals better understand and manage the challenges that affect their mental health. Common challenges amongst teens include anxiety, depression, ADHD, and problematic relationships with food.
Teen counseling works by using multiple techniques, tailored to fit the teen’s unique needs — based on their age group, their challenges, and the severity of their challenges. It might involve cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, art therapy, and others for varying ages. In any case, Thriveworks teen therapists in The Woodlands have the expertise and experience to help young individuals at their level.
Signs that teens might need Teen counseling can be very subjective, as they are experiencing many changes and can have intense reactions to them. As parents, you know your child best and are best equipped to judge whether certain reactions are standard behaviors for your teen or whether they might be hinting at a larger problem. Even so, there are a few common signs and events that often point to a need for therapy, such as experiencing divorce or loss, grief, consistent low moods, teens distancing themselves and becoming isolated, losing interest in hobbies, excessive anger or irritability, substance use issues, and suicidal ideation, among others.
Teen Counseling: What Is It?
Teen counseling is treatment specifically designed for therapists 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. A Thriveworks therapist can work with your child to address these conditions and help them achieve their potential—call us at (281) 984-6849.
What Kind of Problems Can We 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.
Parenting or family sessions can even be done during your teen’s treatment depending on what brings your teen to therapy. A Thriveworks therapist 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.
Call us at (281) 984-6849 to connect with one of our awesome schedulers who can connect you and your teen to some solace and support. You’ll be relieved you did.
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