Teen Counseling
Improved confidence. Improved relationships. Improved behavior.
Making the transition to adulthood is trying, even for the most confident and prepared teens. While your child may no longer let you guide them, my counseling experiences have proven to me that support and active interventions can make great strides when it comes to raising teens’ confidence and improving behaviors.
Because I am a licensed and educated family therapist, I believe that the miscommunication is not only the teenager’s responsibility to overcome, but it is the parent’s as well. As a teen psychologist, I work from both ends, guiding you towards the confidence you need to parent while guiding your teen toward the confidence they need to grow as a person.
Standing by and watching as your teenager struggles with school, their peers, their behavior, or in any other areas of their life is difficult at best. I understand, and I’m here to help. By providing you with the support you need and the confidence your teen needs, through teen therapy, you two can knock down communication barriers and get back that close relationship you once had.
My goal is to help and my mission is to serve. I love being able to help my clients gain a true understanding of their issues, of themselves, and of their feelings. In this way, we can analyze the roots of their problems, healing the wounds at the source and watching as the butterfly effect helps the healing grow into more positive behaviors, relationships, and a more positive life.
Call me now for your free 10-minute consultation. It’s time to find the change you’ve been searching for. Teen counseling may be your answer.
Are you distressed because your teen is struggling?
Teen counseling can help your child become more confident in themselves get their lives back on track.
You can see your teen achieve these results with therapy
- You will develop a closer relationship with your teen while being able to express what you need from them.
- Have them learn to communicate their thoughts and feelings respectfully. They can feel heard and understand where you are coming from.
- See your teen make better decisions and feel good about themselves.
- Have your teen feel good about the choices they make in school, with friends, and how they relate with you.
- See them open up to others more easily and find friendships that they feel good about.
Parenting or family counseling can help your teen and help your family become closer and enjoy your time together more.
Is your teen showing signs of any of these problems?
- Withdrawing and not talking to you and others.
- Being antagonistic towards you and others by talking back, being rude, not following through with responsibilities or frequently lashing out in anger
- Socially isolated: They have very few friends and are having trouble fitting in
- Missing school or struggling with grades.
- Having difficulty with family issues (divorce, power struggles, sibling rivalry, bereavement, etc.).
- Body image concerns (have they changed their eating patterns? Are they eating very little or over-eating?)
- Using drugs and/or alcohol.
- Being irrational and not following rules.
It can be overwhelming if your adolescent is having difficulties. Not only do you have to deal with the stress it is causing now, but you also worry about what his or her future will be like. You wonder if your teen be well-adjusted, happy and successful. Many parents struggle with these concerns when they are having trouble with their teens. Often times, they fumble along on their own hoping things will get better.
And sometimes they do get better…
But what happens when things don’t get better?
Like many parents you may feel like you are getting nowhere with your teen and the pain and frustration may be starting to feel unbearable.
You want your teen to stop struggling and you don’t know how to achieve this.
Parenting a Teen is a Difficult Job and Can Be Hard on The Whole Family
As the parent of a teen, you may be feeling:
- Frustrated and unsure where to turn.
- Alone and hurt by your teen’s behavior.
- Responsible and like you have failed.
- Embarrassed to ask for help.
- Worried that you have lost your relationship with your teen and don’t know how to get it back.
- Terrified of making the wrong move or saying the wrong thing and creating more distance with your teen.
- Lacking confidence as a parent. Perhaps feeling guilty that your teen’s problems are your fault.
It can be so difficult trying to find the answers to help your teen as your relationship with them gets more distant. You may be wiped out from trying to connect with them and have them follow your rules, they seem to fight back and reject your efforts. The relationship with your teen has become fraught with anger, disappointment, and pain and you are at your wits end of knowing what to do.
Even though you may feel what is the use in trying, things can change for the better
It’s never too late to change things for you, your teen and your family. You can have a more respectful and loving relationship with them. You can start to enjoy each other’s company without fighting. You can see them start to take responsibility for themselves and their behavior.
You can have a closer relationship with them where you can communicate to them what you need to freely and with confidence. It is possible to build trust between you where your teen can rely on you for support. You can build a relationship where your teen comes to you.
It is possible to enjoy your relationship with your teen again!
You can experience:
- The ability to communicate what you need to freely and with confidence
- Develop a closer relationship while being able to express what you need from your teen
- Build trust with your teen and become one they turn to for guidance
- Feel re-energized in your role as a parent
- Have confidence in setting boundaries and building a relationship of respect and care for one another
- The ability to stay calm and empathic when your teen comes to you
In counseling with me your teen will learn to:
- Communicate more clearly
- Use good judgement
- Make positive choices in their peers
- Understand why they feel certain ways and how to decide between a good choice and a bad choice.
- Make decisions that are healthy
- Use positive coping skills.
- Manage their anxiety in positive ways
- Identify and change self-defeating behaviors
- Change negative thinking
- Manage their responsibilities and identifying priorities (school, family, time for friends and activities)
As a counselor of teens and parents, I can help you overcome these challenges.
You may be feeling overwhelmed with your struggling teen and with parent counseling, I can help you and your teen get to a place you are proud of. I will work with your teen in counseling, or you and your teen in family counseling to find solutions to the struggles you are dealing with.
Why I am passionate about helping teenagers?
When I was counseling in a high school setting I saw teenagers were acting out or having trouble dealing with the pressures they were facing. I knew that behind these issues these kids had a story and reasons they got to where they were. There may have been complex family dynamics that the teen was reacting to and didn’t know how to handle them. There ability to regulate their emotions and not react was something they did not know how to do. I was able to provide support for the teen and help them learn new ways of coping with their anger, frustration, and sadness.
As a counselor for teens I am comfortable with their unique way of relating. I realized these teens need stability and acceptance for who they are. My ability to stay calm and unfettered by their experiences and testing boundaries allowed me to build a trust with them. I learned to meet them “where they were at” which means connecting to them through humor, music, and other interests so they new I wanted to understand them and their experience.
The teens I have worked with come from diverse ethnicities, cultural and economic backgrounds. The teens I see deal with anxiety, depression, low self-confidence, difficulties managing emotions and behavior, difficulties with friendships or having few or no friends, loss and grief, and drugs and alcohol.
I believe in including the whole family in the treatment of teenagers. In supporting the whole family, I help parents and teenagers make changes that are beneficial for the whole family. A Family System’s approach focuses on the areas of stress the family is facing and their reactions to the stress that may be counterproductive. By acquiring new communication methods and ways to deal with stress and conflict, families can get along more smoothly and can start to enjoy each other more.
I am passionate about helping teenagers. I have worked with countless teenagers and families helping them overcoming difficulties. I have seen them make some amazing changes and have improved their relationships with their parents. Their capacity for insight and overcoming obstacles has been inspiring. I continue to learn from these families about the great capacity for change and how support can go a long way.
I instill a message of hope and focus on the teen’s skills and positive qualities that are exceptions for change. Often times, the focus is on what is wrong with the teen and changing this mindset is crucial for positive change to occur. By believing the teen has something to offer, they start to believe in themselves one step at a time.
