Supporting teenagers

Being a teenager is really hard. You’re trying to fit in, while simultaneously figuring out who you are and what it means to be authentic. Your body has changed and is changing. Hormones are coursing through your system. You’re supposed to figure out sex, relationships, drugs, school, and the future. Your parents may or may not still be together. And, often, you really don’t want to talk to your parents about any of that.

I work with teens in my practice who are struggling with some combination of issues from the preceding paragraph. And I’ve learned from years of working with teens that if you want a teen to consider opening up to you, that it’s not easy, it takes time, and you’ve gotta be real. Most teens have a pretty accurate b.s. detector.

So when I meet with teens, I am a warm, authentic, open therapist. I ask inviting questions, but take care not to pry, especially too soon in the relationship. I figure out what teens care about and we talk about that, which might be video games — or sports. And if therapy is working, we are hopefully not being too serious all the time. Humor is one of the main entrances with teens.

And somewhere along the way, after building the groundwork of our relationship, we get real. It’s like opening a window to let in some air. You don’t know when the breeze will come through, but you’ve opened the window, and are ready to receive it when it does.

If you’d like to have a 30 minute conversation to see if I could help, click here.