Therapy for Teens
In Person Therapy in Limerick and Virtually Across Pennsylvania
Individual | Family | Couples
Is Your Teen Struggling With Their Mental Health?
Are you the parent of a teen who is anxious, depressed, or distressed?
Has your teen exhibited behaviors that cause you to worry about their academic success, social life, or safety in general?
Yet, when you try to intervene, are you met with resistance?
Adolescence can be a tough period of life. As your teen figures out who they want to be, they may individuate from you in ways that you don’t always agree with. Whether they’ve become defiant or withdrawn, or they seem to have “checked out,” you may be worried they are slipping away from you.
What Are Your Teen’s Specific Challenges?
Aside from common growing pains, you may seriously wonder if your teen is struggling with a mental health condition and/or disability. Perhaps they demonstrate anxious, perfectionist tendencies, causing them to be unnecessarily hard on themselves. Or maybe they no longer find joy and motivation in the activities that once energized them.
If your teen has encountered ongoing struggles at school or with their peers, you may wonder if there is an underlying developmental explanation. You might find it nearly impossible to get them to do their chores or homework as they lack organization, initiative, and time management skills. And if they have trouble connecting with others, you may be concerned about their social abilities.
No matter your teen’s experience or challenges, a counselor can be a meaningful resource for them throughout their developmental journey. By working to explore their distress, identify their strengths, and enhance their life skills in therapy, your teen can become the healthiest, most confident version of themselves possible.
Teens Experience A Wide Range Of Emotional, Behavioral, And Developmental Setbacks
The World Health Organization (WHO) cites anxiety, depression, and behavioral disorders as being “among the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents.” Furthermore, WHO notes: “The consequences of failing to address mental health conditions extend to adulthood, impairing both physical and mental health and limiting opportunities to lead fulfilling lives as adults.” *
Beyond depression, anxiety, and behavioral disorders, other conditions tend to appear during adolescence, including:
Social anxiety
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Learning disabilities
The adolescent mental and behavioral health crisis in this country is an epidemic, and if left unaddressed, it will continue to impact each generation of teens as they grow into adults.
* https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health
Why Are So Many Teens Struggling?
On top of the tumultuous nature of growing up, today’s teens have to contend with challenges that previous generations simply didn’t encounter. The constant presence of technology has exposed today’s youth to elements of adulthood that previous generations were shielded from at their age.
With elements like online bullying and school-related gun violence on the rise, it’s no wonder that teens feel anxious, uncertain, and unsafe. Not to mention, the Covid-19 pandemic dramatically impacted how teens participate in academic, extracurricular, and social activities. For many adolescents these days, life probably feels like a constant stream of bad news and endless pressures.
As parents, we can inadvertently intensify these feelings as we monitor our children’s behavior and enforce a strict set of rules designed to keep them safe and “on track” in life. While we might view these measures as protective, our teens may end up feeling limited, restricted, and unseen on their unique developmental journey. Instead of looking to us for guidance, they may turn away or believe that they can handle obstacles on their own.
Working with a therapist can be your teen’s safe haven. As unbiased, nonjudgmental clinicians whose sole purpose is to provide emotional and mental support for your teen, our counselors are highly skilled in effective, evidence-based therapy interventions. With the help of our team, your teen—and you—can feel more prepared to overcome the many challenges that accompany this period of life.
Meeting The Needs Of Your Teen With Customized Therapeutic Solutions
In sessions, we are likely to incorporate a range of therapeutic techniques that will help your teen to understand, regulate, and process their emotions in a healthy way. Our therapists are skilled in applying whichever treatment approaches are deemed most fitting for the unique needs of your teenager.
Overall, we typically aim to
guide teens in slowing down their emotional responses and identifying unhelpful thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
help teens feel more in control of their stress and anxiety levels.
encourage teens to engage with their challenges and develop creative solutions and perspectives.
provide teens with the ability to restructure their story and self-perception.
Using a combination of treatment methods, our counselors have guided teens of all backgrounds and abilities in identifying their values, strengths, and goals. With this information, therapy has offered our teen clients new and affirming perspectives on how to meaningfully become the person they want to be. And we’ve noticed the connection between teens and their parents improve along the way.
We can help your teen find their way through.
Therapy Can Help Teens Build Essential Life Skills
Teens are often stuck at an impasse between wanting to do what is expected of them and wanting to chart their own path. A teen therapist can serve as a model for your child as they help to uncover core emotional experiences, deepen connections, and facilitate skills that will allow them to be successful in all areas of life.
We customize the counseling process to meet the needs of each teenage client. While you, the parent, will be involved to a degree, your teen’s therapist is likely to meet with them one-on-one and schedule check-ins with you between sessions. We view your teen as being in the driver’s seat in therapy but want to ensure that you and your family feel secure and confident with the process.
Arm Your Teen With The Skills And Perspectives They Need To Thrive
If your teen is struggling with mental, behavioral, or developmental setbacks, counseling can be a safe place for them to process their experiences and build essential life skills. For more information about how we can help, please feel free to contact us.
Reach Out
How does it work?
We offer free consults by phone or video to see if your therapist is a good fit. Jump right into a 50-minute intake session if you’re ready to go. Your therapist will email your teen a questionnaire to fill out.
The first few sessions are all about building trust through learning about the past, present, and where your teen’s future can go. Your therapist will take the time to understand your teen, your family, and their relationships.
Once there is a good understanding of what’s holding your teen back, your teen and their therapist will make a plan together. This includes the therapist’s role, how to navigate their challenges, and what they can do at home to make things better.
You Might Still Have Questions Or Concerns About Therapy For Teens…
How much will I know about what goes on in therapy sessions with my teen?
For the most part what is said during sessions is confidential between the teen and the therapist, with only a few exceptions (the safety of themselves and others). In Pennsylvania, fourteen is the age when someone is “in charge” of their own mental health treatment, meaning they can participate in therapy without parental participation. That being said, we know when it is important to encourage your involvement in the process. Since our therapists are trained to consider relational dynamics, they can help your teen talk to you and check in about aspects of their treatment that are important for you to be involved in along the way.
Why are all of the details of sessions not made available to parents?
Ultimately, your child decides what’s revealed to you because, during the teenage years, teens are wired to try to find independence from their family unit. So even if they want to talk to someone, opening up to their parents about their problems might not be their first choice. To gain their trust, build rapport, and progress in sessions, maintaining that independence in therapy helps them feel safe to share details of their life they might not have felt comfortable sharing before.
My teen isn’t thrilled about coming to counseling and they don’t want anyone to know they see a counselor.
Therapy is confidential and not something they need to share with anyone if they don’t want to. A lot of people worry about being judged or misunderstood, but the truth is that therapy is a normal and healthy way to take care of our mental health. It’s like going to the doctor for a physical or getting help with a school subject- except over time your teen might grow to really enjoy therapy! Your teen would be surprised by how many of their peers have a counselor and feel much better because of it.
