Being a teen today is tough. Being a teen (or having a teen) who struggles, is even tougher. Adolescents naturally and normally want to separate themselves from their parents and become more independent. As parents, you know the challenges of middle school, high school, college; that are just around the corner. You want nothing more than for your teen to be successful and ‘launch.’ So do they. Many teens could benefit from extra support, yet your offers to talk hit a wall. Therapy at this point can give your teen an extra person on their team who helps them navigate their world, handle issues in a healthy manner, and develop lifelong coping skills.
As school and life get more demanding; the challenges that your teen deals with, academically and socially, become even more complicated, important and require higher levels of skills to manage. The stakes feel higher in so many ways and the pressure can feel crushing. To be successful, a teen will need to prioritize, organize, persist, ask for help, and so much more. Anxiety, depression, ADHD, and other issues, aren’t about will power and don’t have to be suffered through. Struggling teens may find that homework takes them longer, and that keeping their calendar of projects, assignments, and tests straight; feels overwhelming. Add to that, time needed for sports, activities, relaxing, friends, family, and sleep; poor executive functioning and other challenges, can make fitting it all in seem impossible and make your teen feel like they are drowning.
Having a professional therapist can make a tremendous difference. Helping your teen to view themselves with a sense of curiosity is empowering and resonates with their healthy desire for independence. Understanding anxiety, depression, ADHD, executive functions, their overall health and their goals/values; from a place of collaboration and problem solving rather than shame, frustration, and failure; allows them to make plans they own. We all know that you can’t really make anybody do something they don’t believe in, and trying is miserable for everybody. Working with a therapist can help take some of this stress out of your hands and let your family return to enjoy one another. Your teen can set healthy and attainable goals and make (and follow through) with plans to get there.