Teen Counseling

Teen years are noted for being a period of cataclysmic change in the whole person. Biologically, teens undergo hormonal fluctuations and chemical processes in their physical stature. These impacts are not limited to the visible developments, however. Psychologically, puberty and the transition associated with evolving from child into young adult affect the mental and emotional wellness of youths. Consequently, teens counseling in Frisco considers the nuances of this unique developmental period.

Adolescence is a bridge that we all must cross in order to come into adulthood. That may present a sense of nostalgia or relief, but if you are raising teens, you may feel as if you are replaying another version of your own teen years. More than likely, you are acutely aware of how sensitive and pivotal this part of development is. Between the memory of one’s teen years and living the experience in real time as a caretaker, adolescence presents unique transitions for your teenager and for you.

Adolescent moods, changes in appetite and sleep, personal hygiene and care, daily functions, and behaviors reside within the scope of typical teenage development. Compounded with other issues that many teens confront, for example, peer pressure, bullying, sexual exposure and involvement, and questions about identity, can signal needs for support and intervention. Sometimes teenagers are trying to navigate the shifting rhythms of daily life, both external and internal. The cacophony of input and opinion from social circles, media, society, church, or family, can easily overwhelm them in a cyclone of change and expectation.

Teens need the support and engagement of their families and other caring, invested adults such as counselors to support them through multiple areas of transition. At Frisco Christian Counseling, therapy can help to bring some balance to surfing the wild and turbulent waves of this special season. Specialized approaches are adapted to engage adolescents, paying attention to the intersections where brain and body development overlap and collide. Consider the following in order to learn more about teen counseling in Frisco, what to expect in the process, note potential topics, and clarify next steps in the process.

Let’s Talk Treatment

At Frisco Christian Counseling, your therapist may offer an initial assessment early in the therapeutic process, perhaps as part of a verbal exchange or a written response to a questionnaire. A combination of the teen’s descriptions about their experiences and emotional responses can offer key insights for setting therapeutic goals. Another dimension of assessment may pair the parent/guardian’s observations and responses.

Depending on the situation, additional requests for more information about the youth’s history from previous therapists, current service providers, or perhaps teachers, if relevant. The objective is not to alarm or overwhelm you, as the caring adult, with permission to access information; but rather to provide comprehensive counseling that seamlessly serves the entire family.

In therapy, professionals work together with teens (and parents, at times) to:

• Acknowledge a problem or issue that brought them into therapy
• Set a specific, measurable goal for a change in a behavior or symptom
• Note methods the therapist will utilize in supporting the teen’s action steps
• Establish a time to review and revise the plan, updating it with new or related goals
• Identify how progress will be measured or indicated

These elements are part of a treatment plan, which is nothing for parents or guardians to fear, especially if they haven’t been exposed to teen counseling. Such a plan guides all involved and invested. It summons agreement and clarifies focus. It ensures that each party has an opportunity to contribute to the counseling experience in a meaningful way.

Goal-setting is spearheaded by your teen’s needs, supported by the therapist, and supplemented by the parenting or care taking adults. This is a starting point to partner in identifying what outcomes you’d like to see in the course of the journey, and what to commit and work on not only within, but also beyond sessions.

Depending on the teen’s expressed or perceived need, therapists may connect with the youth, employing the adolescent’s interests in art, sport, music, games, or tactile projects. Teens require buy-in to build trust. Their therapist may likely engage them via non-traditional means in order to foster an environment conducive to healing. During sessions, therapists may also weave psychoeducation and talk therapy into focused activities.

This supports teens with:

• Understanding the connected nature of their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and habits
• Learning the language essential to communicate their experiences
• Adopting coping strategies

At Frisco Christian Counseling, therapists realize that teens are part of families. Although they are in the transition between childhood and adulthood, they are still being raised by parents. Many times, the parents’ practices can trigger some of the behaviors that the adults want to avoid. For that reason, parental and family engagement can serve not only the teen, but also the parent/guardian and the entire family unit. Many times, the teen’s issue can reflect underlying issues in the family. When counseling is embraced as a positive learning experience for the teen and the family, it endeavors to resolve family issues, promote communication, and foster the kind of understanding that prepares hearts for forgiveness, reconciliation, and deep inner and relational healing.

Parents and Teens

Sometimes, teen counselors in Frisco request guardians and parents to incorporate their own individual and/or family counseling. The family factor may provide supplemental support for the teen’s treatment goals. While practitioners offer psycho-education as a teaching instrument for the teen client, they also connect with parents to share coping strategies, parenting insights, and skills for engagement beyond the session.

Allow Authenticity

Be transparent with the counselor about any reservations, yet curiously receptive. Your teenage children will follow your cues, acknowledging the value of counseling or discrediting its merits altogether.

Allow Growth

Avoid viewing this experience as an indictment against your best efforts as a parent. Instead, recognize that the benefits of counseling are multiplied and maximized when parents pair their willingness to grow with demonstrated investment in worthwhile change.

Allow Bonding Without Pressure

As a parent, avoid the tendency to prompt your adolescent excessively about the fine details of the session and progress. You set the tone for your household and the interactions therein. Connect with your teen around his or her interests to build an enduring bond, apart from the presenting problem and treatment. Encourage them to initiate sharing without heaping pressure for them to provide evidence of a “breakthrough.” Your demonstration of genuine interest without duress may draw them deeper into a bond with you, opening channels for communication, understanding, and necessary change all around.

Teen counseling can be corrective in nature, in that it serves to groom and grow a youth. It coaches them in healthy holistic habits that make for a thriving life experience in adulthood. While talk therapy is usually individual in nature, some teen counseling may incorporate group therapy when appropriate. Counselors may also facilitate teen support groups around a particular topic. Groups foster connection and socialization, allowing teens to practice and model coping and interactions in an environment with peers experiencing similar challenges.

Potential individual or group topics may include some of the following:

• Identity and Esteem
• Relationships
• Grief and Loss
• Addiction
• Social skills
• Bullying
• Peer pressure
• Abstinence and Sexual Activity
• Abuse
• Self-mutilation
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Eating disorders
• Body dysmorphia
• Family issues

Teen counseling at Frisco Christian Counseling benefits teenagers with tailored approaches that are appropriate and relevant to their developmental stage and individual nature. It shifts undesirable behaviors and addresses unhealthy thought patterns at a critical juncture in development.

It supports adolescents with:

• Managing mindsets
• Regulating emotions
• Initiating appropriate behaviors
• Maintaining life-giving habits

With guardians and counselors, they begin the process of proactively working through difficult issues that shape their lives with resilience versus marring it with the impacts of unresolved trauma.

Reach out to us at Frisco Christian Counseling to schedule your first appointment. Your counselor’s empathy and innovation will encourage and coach your teen with shifting his or her personal trajectory. Adolescence is one of the most dynamic seasons of human development. You are the champion for your teen; and your response to support them through their challenges seeds rich rewards for your family’s future and legacy.