Therapy for Adolescents
Adolescents (ages 13-17)
Common signs: Click here to review common signs that indicate your adolescent may benefit from therapy services.
Stage of Development: Also visit here to learn more about the stage of development your adolescent is currently experiencing.
Impact of Covid-19: To understand more about the impact of Covid-19 on youth mental health and how to support your child reference the 2021 Youth Mental Health Advisory found on the U.S. Surgeon General Website.
Potential Outcomes:
Improved emotion regulation skills
Ability to manage negative thoughts
Increased use of adaptive coping mechanisms
Improved self-esteem
Ability to clearly communicate needs
Improved peer and family relationships
Healthy identity development
Increased resiliency
Self-advocacy skills
Ability to set specific, measurable, and attainable goals
Organizational Skills
Long term mental health benefits
Anxiety
Anxiety may present as a specific fear or more generalized, including the presentation of physical symptoms of stress. Anxiety is a function of the brain that keeps us safe, but it can begin to show up when we do not need it to. In treatment your adolescent will identify triggers, receive psycho-education about anxiety and the brain, learn breathing & grounding techniques, and learn to identify and decrease worry thoughts. Interventions will integrate a Cognitive Behavioral, Narrative, and Acceptance and Commitment based approach.
Excessive worry about future planning is a common source of anxiety for adolescents. There is a lot of pressure to know the path you plan to take. Treatment focused on this will incorporate elements already outlined in categories of anxiety, adjustment, identity related stress, and academic stress.
Scroll to find specific need(s) and explore the treatment outline: these are representations, services are highly individualized
Low Mood/Depression
Treatment for your adolescent will include outlining the specific symptoms and discovering potential stressors. Sessions may include psycho-education about emotions, processing emotions, developmentally appropriate therapeutic activities, and practice of adaptive coping mechanisms. This also may include discussion about daily routine, social media use, and basic needs such as sleep. Interventions will integrate a Cognitive Behavioral, Narrative, and Acceptance and Commitment based approach to help decrease negative thinking patterns and increase emotion regulation.
Academic Induced Stress
Academic stressors can lead to increased depression and anxiety. When academic challenges are a focus, treatment might include identifying specific challenges, sharpening organizational skills, introducing coping mechanisms for increasing focus, and processing negative thoughts related to school performance. If determined appropriate I may also obtain a release of information to collaborate with a school counselor or another relevant on campus support.
Grief and Loss
Teens can experience grief due to the loss of a loved one or another big change, like divorce. In treatment they will be encouraged to express their emotions and share their narrative at their own pace. I will provide psycho-education regarding grief, normalize their grief reactions, incorporate therapeutic art activities, and introduce grief related coping mechanisms. I will also thread in elements of Narrative Therapy to facilitate a healthy integration of the event into their life, that is meant to help decrease the risk of complicated grief.
Adjustment
Major life transitions, (i.e. new school, moving, changes in the family) can impact youth mental health. In treatment the adolescent will be provided with a safe and comfortable environment to process the recent changes in their life and identify how the transition is impacting them. They will then learn adaptive skills through use of interventions based in Cognitive Behavioral and Narrative Therapy. Both of these modalities can help reduce negative thinking patterns and increase resiliency.
Adjustment into high school can be hard due to the shift in academics, more social pressures, and biological changes that are occurring. Treatment focused on this will incorporate elements already outlined in categories of adjustment, academic stress, anxiety, and depression.
Interpersonal Relationships
At this stage of development peer relationships help adolescents refine their identity and values. Sessions will be a space for them to process thoughts and feelings and sharpen interpersonal skills. They may need to process patterns in their friendships so far and identify the values and characteristics they look for in a friendship. Interventions for strengthening interpersonal skills might include effective communication skills, social skills activities, and practice utilizing Cognitive Behavioral tools to manage thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in response to others.
Suicidal Ideation/Self Harm
Hearing that your teen is experiencing suicidal ideation or thoughts of self harm can be scary. These do not always occur at the same time, but these two reactions are ways the brain is attempting to cope with emotional distress. Risk can be reduced by increasing supports and introducing more adaptive coping mechanisms. Treatment will include assessment and safety planning using the SafeSide Approach to prevention and elements of treatment outlined above for anxiety and depression.
**NOTICE:
**I do provide support to adolescents experiencing suicidal ideation and thoughts of self harm, however, I may refer to in-person services or a higher level of care if assessment determines that Telehealth is not the best fit for your child’s needs**
Trauma Processing
A trauma response can result from a single incident or multiple traumatic events. I will work with your adolescent to process their trauma narrative using elements of Trauma-Focused CBT and other specific interventions aimed at presenting symptoms. TF-CBT incorporates eliciting parental support, increasing emotion vocabulary, practicing mindfulness skills, and creating a trauma narrative. Processing and creating the trauma narrative helps to eliminate any negative thinking patterns (“It’s my fault”) and integrates the experience into their timeline to decrease the long term impact of the adverse experience.
Identity Related Stressors
Therapy focused in this area is for those who would like support in the areas of increasing self-esteem, developing a more positive body-image, or processing LGBTQ+ identity. Adolescents will be provided a space to process thoughts and emotions in relation to identity development. Possible interventions include using Narrative therapy to outline elements of their life events so far that have contributed to their characteristics, values, and overall identity as well as identifying internalized messages and deconstructing any negative thinking patterns developed in response. This may also include elements of treatment outlined in categories above depending on individual needs.