Therapy for Adolescents

It’s never been harder to be a teen.

When you’re a kid, your job is to have fun and explore. Still, you can’t wait to be older to do what you want without asking an adult first. But as you get older, everything starts to change.

What it takes to make and keep friends gets much more complicated. And let’s not even talk about dating. Teachers expect you to know how to do everything already, and it’s basically “sink or swim.” Plus, it’s hard to see the point of what they’re teaching most of the time – not a good combo.

Suddenly, it feels weird to talk to your parents about what’s happening, but the less you talk, the more they press you for details – also not a good combo.

Not to mention, your entire body is changing super–fast – and you feel like an alien half the time! And you must deal with everything while the world goes crazy dealing with COVID.

Life today is more complicated for you as a teen.

There are many things teens today need to deal with that their parents never had to face. Almost everything necessary happens online, yet everyone tries to take their phone away or limit screen time.

And how many people do you know who are struggling but still feel like they have to keep it all inside? And how sometimes – if you’re being honest – that person is you. It’s like the pressure keeps building, and you’re not sure how long you can keep on going like this.

What seems unfair is that no matter how hard you try, most efforts go unnoticed.

And even if you can make someone happy, it seems like that makes someone else unhappy. Then, everyone seems shocked that you are so upset, and being upset gets you in trouble!

It’s enough to make anyone want to keep to themselves, distract themselves, or escape their responsibilities for a while. That works for a little bit, but the issues remain afterward. And now, they’re getting more significant and sometimes a little out of control. And that makes you want to get away from it much more, but obviously, that is a terrible idea. But when you think of what else you can do, your mind is just blank.

Learn what it takes to build a life worth living on your terms.

This transition is not what you thought getting older would be like! Therapy can make becoming older less stressful. Working with a therapist isn’t about dealing with everything that’s “wrong with you”– or other people. It’s about learning to work with what you’ve got to build a life you love to live every day. And, yes, that is totally possible – but not necessarily easy to achieve!

Most of the time, my clients have a lot to learn about themselves and how their minds work. This process makes sense because it’s not like your body came with an owner’s manual, and there isn’t a “life worth living” class between math and social studies! Learning more about how your mind works can help unlock a lot of your potential that has been hiding in plain sight the whole time.

The other part that makes building a life worth living challenging is that it’s a lot to consider! It’s one thing to want people to back off and let you live your life; it’s another to decide what you would do if everything were up to you.

Be curious – be bold.

Spoiler alert: the reality is it’s never only up to you – even when you’re an adult. But learning about what matters to you and what you want more of in your life is a great place to start. From there, it’s often easier to see how learning to build fantastic relationships that can handle any conflict is a big part of what makes life worth living.

Let’s work together to make your life worth living. There’s no reason to keep suffering in silence. Contact me today!