Table of Contents
What Is Teen Counseling?
Teen counseling is a therapy technique specifically for teens. In counseling, teenagers participate in therapy sessions in a comfortable setting with an expert in mental health in order to comprehend and communicate their emotions, discover and resolve issues and create healthy coping methods. Counseling can take the form of one-on-one sessions with a therapist and group counseling. Talking to your teenager with trained therapist for teenagers can help and guide them through this important phase of their lives
When Does a Teen Need Counseling?
Therapy can help your teenager through a myriad of issues including self-discovery stressful life events, or mental health concerns. Therapy is also a way to stop minor issues from developing into issues later. Sometimes, just one or two sessions of therapy could make a significant difference to the overall wellbeing of your child. The most frequent reasons and reasons that teens go to therapy are:
- Anxiety disorders
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)2
- Autism
- Behavioural issues
- Living with a chronic health issue
- Discrimination based on race or culture
- Depression3
- Finding out about sexual orientation, sexual preference, or gender identity
- Eating disorders
- Grief
- Loneliness
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Personality disorders
- Self-awareness issues, self-esteem or self-esteem
- Problems with relationships
- Social-related and school-related issues, such as bullying
- Suicidal thoughts, self-harm or risky behavior
- Management of stress
- Substance use
- Trauma
What Are the Types of Teen Counseling?
There are a variety of kinds of counseling available for teenagers. Based on the situation the therapist could suggest the use of a mixture. The most common types of therapy that teens receive are:
- CBT: Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) commonly employed for teenagers suffering from depression, anxiety or trauma. A therapist who specializes in CBT will assist your child identify negative thinking patterns as well as replace them with positive ones
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): DBT will aid your child to take responsibility for their behavior and develop better ways to handle emotional turmoil and conflict. DBT is typically used with teens who commit self-harm, are suicidal or have BPD, or borderline personality disorder (BPD).
- Family therapy: This type of therapy is a way to work with the participation of one or more members of the family, such as grandparents, parents and children. The aim of this kind of treatment is to increase the relationship and help between family members.
- Group therapy Group therapy: In group therapy, the patients are led by an therapy therapist. This can enhance your teenager’s social skills as well as aid them in learning how others cope with mental health problems.
- Therapy for interpersonal conflicts (IPT:. commonly used to treat depression sufferers, IPT focuses on a person’s relationships, and addresses issues with relationships and how social events impact emotions.
- MBT: is a form of mentalization-based therapy (MBT) MBT is a therapy that assists teenagers and children who struggle to identify and what they identify as.
What Results to Expect and How Long It Can Take
Your teen, you and the therapist collaborate to set treatment goals to ensure that your teen’s progress will be tracked and you can keep track of the effects of therapy. Perhaps your teenager attends therapy to master techniques for managing anger. Their progress could be judged by their behaviour. Did they use the techniques they were taught in therapy to help them relax instead of using physical or verbal violence? Psychotherapy sessions typically last between 12 and 20 sessions per week. The length of time your child is in therapy depends on their personal preferences. Some teens prefer to be in therapy to work on the issue and proceed, whereas others are more benefited by regular sessions over a longer amount of time.
Wrapping Up!
Ideally, your teenager should to be involved in the process even if you’re the one who is encouraging your teen to seek therapy. Most of the time it’s best for parents to take on the work of obtaining referrals and conducting first-time screening. Once you have this information, give it to your child and let them decide for themselves. If after a couple of sessions in which the relationship between the two isn’t getting the desired results, it might be time to choose an alternative. Therapists are often willing to suggest a different provider who might be more suitable for your teenager.
