Hi there! I’m Arielle Saunders, licensed therapist at Teletherapy-Solutions.com. I specialize in the area of marriage and family therapy, and I particularly enjoy working with teens and young adults.
The adolescent years are crucial for physical, mental, and emotional development. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), half of all mental health conditions start by age 14, but most go undetected and untreated. Additionally, WHO reports suicide as the third leading cause of death between 15-19 year-olds. Thus, the consequences of not addressing mental health concerns with teens can lead to long term consequences that can limit the opportunity to lead fulfilling adult lives.
While not providing appropriate mental health care to teens can have significantly negative outcomes, taking a preventative approach can be highly effective. Teen counseling is a way for your teen to work with a trusted professional as they navigate the various stressors of adolescence.
Here are 3 reasons why teen counseling might be right for your teenager:
Help adjusting to changing circumstances.
Between exploration of sexual and gender identity, developing more intense social relationships, increased academic stress, a desire for more autonomy, and many other factors, teenagers are going through a phase of major life transition. Whether the changes your teen is undergoing are positive, negative, or a combination of the two, a counselor can help them process their experiences. It can be especially helpful to seek out teen counseling if many transitions are happening at once. For instance, if you see changes happening at school and at home, it could be a sign your teen is struggling to adjust on their own and could use professional help.
Major changes in family dynamics.
It’s a natural part of life for a family to undergo shifts in dynamics, such as divorce, re-marriage, death, trauma, or the addition of new family members. It can be hard for teens to process these complex issues, as their problem-solving and complex-reasoning skills are still being developed. Teen counseling can help teens identify and label their feelings, as well as provide them with a confidential space to share their feelings. Additionally, counselors can teach teens healthy coping skills to use in times of family transition to help them avoid engaging in risk-taking behaviors.
Bullying is a common occurrence in teen years.
Most teens experience some form of bullying in their life. As parents, you can’t be with your teen every second of every day to protect them from it. Having regular check-ins with your teen about their peer interactions can be helpful in keeping a channel of healthy communication open with your teen. However, due to cyberbullying, your teen might be being bullied from the comfort of your home with you sitting on the couch next to them and never realizing. Since there is no way for you to shield your child from bullying completely, it is important they learn the resilience and life skills to cope with it and other stressful experiences they will encounter. Hopefully, the bullying is low-level and, while difficult, will not have a lasting impact. Unfortunately, some bullying can be persistent and painful, possibly leading to feelings of worthlessness and low self-esteem, or thoughts of self-harm or suicide. These are situations in which a professional counselor can help your teen develop healthy ways to cope, increase safety, and enhance problem solving abilities.
If you are concerned about your teen or think your teen could benefit from teen counseling, I encourage you to seek support now. You can work with me directly, or other of our other licensed teen counselors at Teletherapy-Solutions.com. You can match with your ideal therapist in minutes by completing our specialized questionnaire. Click here to learn more and find out if teletherapy could be right for you and your family.
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