Teen Counseling
i can help your teen feel more resilient and confident
You have concerns that your teen might be struggling with too much stress, anxiety or depression.
You deeply care for your teen but you are unsure how to support and be there for them.
You fear that your child’s self-esteem might be low and you don’t know how to help them.
Your teen is not doing well in school and is worried they might fail.
Your teen is struggling with perfectionism with the stress of competing with everyone else.
Your teen does not have the best group of friends and are easily influenced by them. Or,
Your teen is struggling making friends and you have done all you can to help.
You teen might have started to experiment with drugs and alcohol and you don’t know how to intervene.
You feel like you’re losing your child and wonder if there is something more you could do to support your child.
Teen counseling can
be beneficial for ALL teens that are struggling with daily stress of being a
teen, not just those suffering with mental illness
teenage anxiety
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health challenges teens face. Rates of anxiety in teens are raising every year. Currently 1 in 3 teens with experience an anxiety disorder in America. And that number is unfortunately growing. Also, the rate of hospital admissions for suicidal teenagers doubled over the past decade, which shows us that teens are under a lot of stress that is going unnoticed. Seeking out counseling and treatment early for your teen can help them for the rest of their lives. Often times your child might be experiencing anxiety and exhibiting unwanted behaviors and it is an unknown anxiety disorder.
Anxiety can look different for every teen but here are some common symptoms of teenage anxiety:
- Decreased self-esteem, loss of motivation, low self-worth
- Being a perfectionist and becomes easily irritable when things aren’t perfect
- Difficulty concentrating
- Irritability or being agitated often
- Sleeping problems: too much or too little
- A lot of stress or worry
- Hyperfocus on relationships or isolating themselves
- Extreme behaviors
- Substance use or other risky behaviors
- Increased screen time and increased agitation around limiting it
teenage depression
Like anxiety, teenage depression is very sadly common as well. Research shows that depression affects 20% of teens. Even more saddening, young people that commit suicide is increasing every year. Unfortunately only 30% of teens who have depression are ever treated for it.
Depression looks different for each teen, but some common teen depression symptoms include:
- Sadness or depressed mood
- Feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness
- Irritability or being agitated often
- Loss of interest in things they used to like
- Fatigue and sleeping problems: sleeping too much or too little
- Changes in eating patterns: eating too much or too little
- Excessive guilt
- Having a hard time concentrating
- Physical symptoms: stomachaches, nausea, body aches, headaches
- Thoughts of self-harm or self-harming behaviors
- Suicidal thinking or attempts
- Substance or alcohol abuse
- Females teens develop depression twice as often than males
Risks of suicide
All threats of suicide should be taken seriously, being over cautious could save a teens life. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger because of thoughts of suicide, please call 911 immediately. If you or your loved one is not in immediate danger but still thinking of suicide please call the National Hopeline Network for Suicide Prevention: 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433)
Why is teen anxiety, depression and suicide attempts rates rising over the years?
Unpredictable world and everyone finding out about news within seconds. With an increase in school shootings, causing fear, worry, stress and anxiety in teens at school. COVID-19 causing concerns and fears for students for their health and worry for financial stability for their families.
High expectations and pressure to succeed. Our society has moved away from collaborative to high standards of achievement. Students are expected to compete against each other for school rankings, standardized testing and overall school competitions. A survey done every year by Higher Education Research asks incoming college freshmen if they feel overwhelmed by all they have to do. In 2016, 41% of students said “yes” compared with 28% in 2000 and 18% in 1985.
Social media. Unlike the days that you only compared yourself to your school mates in class, now teens are comparing themselves to EVERY teen across the world because of social media. Also social media prevents adolescents from socializing with other adolescents.
how can i (as the parent) help my teen?
Be aware of the signs listed above. If you have a gut feeling that something might be going on with your child but you are not exactly sure what it is better to seek out support than do nothing. Counseling can benefit anyone, even if your teen is not experiencing severe anxiety or depression.
Find a balance between asking your teen counseling questions and giving them space. Often times you have to back away a little to give your child space to come talk to you. I know you care deeply for you child and want to help them the best you can but sometimes letting them know you care and want to help them and then respecting their request for space is the best thing you can do. Always have an open door and a listening ear.
Remember when you were a teen. And not in the way of “Why are you so upset? You have it a lot better than when I was a teen”. Remember the stress you felt going into school and being fearful of other students. Feeling like you weren’t tall, skinny, pretty, buff enough compared to everyone else. Remember what was difficult for you so you can connect with your teen.
Be aware of the expectations you set for your teen. Standards and achievable goals are beneficial for teens. On the flip side, unrealistic goals and expectations can be detrimental for your teen. Remember there should be a balance between school and time to relax and have fun in school and with friends!
Find an activity your teen is interested in and ask if you can join them. Branch out! You might find your teen to be a lot more interesting than you thought. Just because you and your teen might have different interests doesn’t mean you guys can’t still bond on something and bonding is what brings a connection.
Read this article for more support.
there is no shame in getting help
Just because your teen might benefit from counseling does not mean you are a bad parent. In fact, reaching out for help and looking for teen therapy actually shows you deeply care and are the best parent for your teen!
how can teen counseling help?
Gives them a safe person to talk to who can offer insight on how to deal with issues in their life that they might be embarrassed to talk about with other people.
Someone a teen can really trust and build a relationship with.
A professional in working with teens can understand the mind and behaviors of your teen and give parents insight on how to connect and deal with their behaviors.
Gives teens an outlet to talk about problems that might go unaddressed, rather than holding it in
The counselor will always work to re-connect the parent and teen, I will give you insight on the mind of your teen but also, once I have the relationship with your child built I will help them understand you as the parent more as well.
Helps improve communication, boundary setting and skills to make better decisions.
Increase healthy coping skills to help with daily stress of being a teen.
Helps to understand confusing emotions and learning how to address, deal and cope with the effectively.
Will learn to tolerate states of discomfort.
Learn skills to calm yourself down and feel more settled.
Learn skills to be more present in the moment.
Bring clarity to your situation.
can i (as the parent) be able to meet with you before my teen does?
Yes! I want you to be just as much part of therapy as your teen is. I will first meet with both parents for an individual session (without teen) to hear your concerns. Then we will conduct a family session so I can sense the family dynamic. Then I will start individual sessions with your teen. You can schedule monthly consultations (25 minutes or 50 minutes) so we can evaluate how everything is going.
to the teen...
You feel like no one understands you, even at your best efforts to explain yourself, you just don’t feel heard. You feel like you have to be perfect just to keep up with everyone else. Or you feel like you are not worth it to even try, because it feels useless anyways. Let me help support you to find calm and joy in your life. I personally understand the demands teenagers face, I have helped walk through teens going through anxiety and depression and they didn’t even realize they were feeling so low, until they felt a sense of peace. Let me help you find that peace and healing that you desperately want.
does this sound like something you might be interest in?
1. Go to my contact page and send in a request for me to contact you.
2. I will call you for a free 15 minute consultation to share more about what I do and answer any questions you might have.
3. Set up our first session either in person or on TeleHealth (video chat)
This sounds like something you might be interested in for your teen but still not sure? Please call/text me at 817-618-1989 or katie@mindwelltherapy.org for a free 15 minute consultation. Or you want to book a 50 minute session to talk about your concerns please contact me and I will set you up! I look forward to working with you and your teen soon.
Have your teen follow me on Instagram if they are weary to see a random person to talk about their “problems”. It often helps teens feel more comfortable to see that I’m a normal person. @mindwell.therapy