The teenage years are like being on a football field, with a team where every day a player is changed. Parents are often complaining about their teens for being too inert, static or too chaotic, while so much movement is happening inside, from the intense prefrontal brain area activity to the struggle of integrating increasingly complex emotions. Managing this ongoing changing Self while being constantly demanded to perform academically and socially is no easy task even for a good manager! And still, teenagers have unlimited resources to approach their reality in a creative way.
“Not everything that happens to you is because you are a teenager.” Some are part of their development and growth, others are misconnected events that might get intensified during this period, both of which are influencing your well-being.
Going to therapy is not “seeking help”. It is having a space where you can slow down the game, zoom out, reorganize the players and start again.
What we aim through the sessions:
Bring more clarity in all the opposing forces within you
Reconnect with your resources to better overcome the current challenges
Better navigate your significant relationships during these changing times
Find your place and your direction
How the counseling process will go:
The session will take place without the parents. It would also be useful that both parents’ consent to the teen’s attendance in therapy. From my experience, a session held without the consent of one parent diminishes the teen`s capacity to fully engage in the process.
However, a separate session with the parents can be scheduled afterward if needed.
When working with teenagers, I regularly have 3 sessions with the teen and one meeting with the parents in order to integrate my work into the teenager’s main system – his/her/their family.
No matter their age, minors have the right to confidentiality, which also builds trust in the therapy process. During any discussion with the parents, no content discussed with the teen will be presented, except for those situations that might lead to self-harm. What can be brought up in the discussions with the parents is mostly their role in supporting their teen`s wellbeing.
What you will gain after:
More confidence in expressing yourself
The ability to “move with the storm” instead of “waiting for it to pass”
More courage in reaching out whenever you need guidance/support
50 min • €100 • Online meeting
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