Counseling for Teens

"I just want my sweet, happy kid back."

We love working with teenagers.   We know they can be difficult to live with, but there's something we love about getting into their world of intense, ever-changing emotions.  We love helping teens gain the tools to cope with overwhelming emotions in healthy ways so that they are empowered to live lives congruent with their goals and values.

The foundation of counseling with teens especially is building a strong relationship between the client and therapist.  Teens do not naturally share their deepest thoughts and feelings with a stranger.  Developmentally teens are prone not to trust until they feel a deep sense of connection.  Much time is spent developing rapport with teens – meeting them where they are at so that they feel safe in the therapy room.     
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Teenagers often feel misunderstood.  Developmentally they feel like little adults who rate respect and authority that their parents refuse to give them.  Parents see teens as the hormonally-driven and peer-influenced adolescents that they are and wonder how much freedom is too much.  Counseling can help both parents and teens understand one another during this characteristically turbulent time.