FOR TEENS
The teenage years are incredibly important in shaping both your identity and your future. Adolescence is a turning point (a long one!), a crucial period of increased vulnerability and heightened potential. No longer children but not yet adults, teens often struggle to understand themselves in terms of their rapid physical growth, increased reasoning abilities and maturing sexuality. Relationships with family, peers and especially themselves can be very tumultuous. A crisis of identity, as it is called, naturally evokes feelings of crisis in many areas of your life. High and low moods, poor self-esteem, doubts, and intense frustrations are common in these years.
As a counselor who works with teenagers, I value the rebellious spirit, the need to challenge old ways that no longer meet your needs. Teens often wonder how they can fully grow into being a genuine person whose interests and talents find healthy expression if adult expectations are constantly imposed upon them. In fact, a defiant attitude can be a positive development in adolescence as it reveals a strong desire to stand up for your self even as others expect you to conform to their ideas of who you are and who you should become. One of our counseling goals will be to disentangle your vision of who you are from the definitions and demands of others so you can better express yourself without coming up against so much resistance.
Many teens feel outcast and fall into depressions during this period. Depression can be (but is not always) a stifling of powerful hopes, ambitions and talents that cannot find their way out into the world because others (and sometimes yourself) have rejected them as being unrealistic or unacceptable. But everything new starts small and undeveloped; the only way it grows is through careful (full of caring) attention and a willingness to experiment (take some risks). Sharing openly with people who are supportive and non-judgmental when facing your intense feelings and thoughts–both negative and positive ones–can help uncover many parts of yourself that will empower you in achieving your goals. Doing this work of self-reflection and self-expression is rewarding in many ways: grades tend to improve, relationships are less muddled, and long term obstacles seem more easily overcome. Improved mood and higher self-esteem naturally follow.
In our sessions, areas of focus may include one or more of the following:
As a counselor who works with teenagers, I value the rebellious spirit, the need to challenge old ways that no longer meet your needs. Teens often wonder how they can fully grow into being a genuine person whose interests and talents find healthy expression if adult expectations are constantly imposed upon them. In fact, a defiant attitude can be a positive development in adolescence as it reveals a strong desire to stand up for your self even as others expect you to conform to their ideas of who you are and who you should become. One of our counseling goals will be to disentangle your vision of who you are from the definitions and demands of others so you can better express yourself without coming up against so much resistance.
Many teens feel outcast and fall into depressions during this period. Depression can be (but is not always) a stifling of powerful hopes, ambitions and talents that cannot find their way out into the world because others (and sometimes yourself) have rejected them as being unrealistic or unacceptable. But everything new starts small and undeveloped; the only way it grows is through careful (full of caring) attention and a willingness to experiment (take some risks). Sharing openly with people who are supportive and non-judgmental when facing your intense feelings and thoughts–both negative and positive ones–can help uncover many parts of yourself that will empower you in achieving your goals. Doing this work of self-reflection and self-expression is rewarding in many ways: grades tend to improve, relationships are less muddled, and long term obstacles seem more easily overcome. Improved mood and higher self-esteem naturally follow.
In our sessions, areas of focus may include one or more of the following:
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