Adolescent Counseling

Dealing with peer pressure, family changes, school problems, and learning to form and maintain meaningful relationships can be particularly stressful for adolescents. Adolescents cannot draw on positive solution strategies from their past like adults can so they are particularly sensitive to what they feel is pressure to conform to what others want or demand of them. 

What is important when working with adolescents is to be able to engage well with them and form a trusting relationship, as well as a working alliance with the child's parents or caregivers. The child's home environment is just as important as the work that is done in therapy when it comes to maintaining positive changes and encouraging new behaviors. In order to create a strong foundation for therapy success, parents and family members should work on trying to understand the problem also, as well as work on opening lines of communication, incorporating new "language" and ideas, and positively reinforcing successes in the home.

My therapies for adolescents focus on the following areas:

• Mood disorders
• Self-Injury
• Trauma
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• Divorce or separation
• Relationships
• Eating disorders
• Loss
• Social Anxiety
• School performance
• Identity