PSYCHOTHERAPY FOR ADOLESCENTS

An Asheville Psychotherapy and Counseling Resource

With teenagers it is not always clear if professional help is needed. Adolescents typically test limits and break rules in their struggle for autonomy and separation from their parents. It is not uncommon that teens withdraw from parents, become more sullen, arrogant, tempermental and generally more difficult to live with. Keeping this adolescent phase of life in mind, how do you decide whether professional help is needed?

We recommend getting professional help when you notice troubling behavior or emotional distress that persists over a long period of time.

Examples:

• Alcohol & drug abuse (use exceeds occasional experimentation and is interfering with the teenagers life)
  
  
• Chronic and unremitting decline in academics or truancy at school
  
  
• Repeated defiance and disregard for parental limits
  
  
• Marked decline in self-esteem with an increase in severe negative statements about oneself
  
  
• Increase in high risk behaviors such as speeding, fighting at school, promiscuity
  
  
• Prolonged isolation from peers
  
  
• Verbal references to harm oneself, others, or any gesture to harm oneself or others

We recommend that parents consult with us initially before involving the teenager. When it is decided to involve the adolescent, we work to create a climate of trust, spontaneity and openness with the teen. Teenagers respond best when they feel listened to and respected in their own right. Learning to talk candidly is the key ingredient for the teen to find his or her way toward autonomy and self-respect. Psychotherapy provides a confidential and reliable place where teens can experiment with self expression, understand their feelings and discover what they want in this life.

An Asheville Psychotherapy and Counseling Resource