Teen Therapy

Are You The Parent Of A Teen Coping With Difficult Emotions?

Does it seem as though they’re constantly overthinking everything and worrying about the future? Are they struggling to balance everything on their plate while also trying to find their place in the world? Have they recently reported any of the following difficult feelings:

• Anxiety or panic?

• Depression or mood swings?

• Isolation or withdrawal?

Maybe they tend to compare themselves to their peers and have been experiencing low self-esteem or self-worth as a result. Or perhaps your teen has had a hard time navigating conflict with family or friends. They might feel shut down when they express themselves, as if no one is there to listen to them or validate their feelings. For the first time, you might be considering a therapist who works with teens.

Stressful Life Changes May Be Impacting Your Teen’s Mental Health

Maybe they’re struggling to navigate difficult life transitions such as going to college, moving out on their own, or beginning or ending a romantic relationship. These changes may have stressed them out and made it hard for them to function because of how anxious they are. Perhaps you’ve observed changes to their diet or sleep schedule from stress. Maybe they’ve experienced mood swings, racing thoughts, or panic attacks as well. Additionally, they may simply have too many responsibilities to effectively manage, between school, family, and friends. They may feel burnt out and exhausted, as if they have no room to slow down and take care of themselves.

At NY City Psychotherapy, our compassionate approach to therapy can help teens navigate many of the unique difficulties they are experiencing. By working with us, teens can learn how to process their thoughts and emotions while building the best versions of themselves for the future.

Most Teens Deal With Anxiety Or Depression At Some Point

Life can prove challenging for people of all ages, and teens face many of the same struggles that adults do in addition to a variety of other issues specific to adolescence. Oftentimes, however, the problems teens face can get overlooked, or trivialized. This only makes the mental health issues of teenagers worse, since many of them don’t have adequate support when they’re struggling.

In fact, according to the CDC, diagnoses of anxiety and depression for children “are more common with increased age.” In addition, over ten percent of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 are diagnosed with some form of an anxiety disorder and over six percent are diagnosed with some form of a depressive disorder (1).

Life Transitions Can Make Things Even Tougher For Teens

Being a teenager can be difficult enough in the best of circumstances, and when major life changes or transitions are involved, teens can easily get pushed past their ability to cope. On top of this, a host of other external factors—such as the pressures of social media and its unhealthy comparison culture—contribute to anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem in teens.

The good news, though, is that there are vital resources out there to help teens with whatever they are going through. At NYCP, we have used therapy to help so many teens navigate the issues that they are facing. We’re confident that we can do the same for your teen, enabling them to feel confident about their ability to cope and move through changes as they grow.

Therapy Can Help Teens Navigate All The Changes In Their Lives

Certain aspects of being a teenager are naturally tough, and anxiety or depression can make things that much tougher. But an experienced and empathetic therapist can help your teen learn important coping skills for regulating intense emotions while also feeling more connected with those around them.

Therapy gives teens a safe space to process all that they are feeling—a place to really feel seen, heard, and understood. And therapy can help teens better understand what they are feeling, why they are feeling it, and what to do about it—how to cope in the moment so that they can get through difficult emotions with less distress.

What You Can Expect From Teen Therapy Sessions

Before the start of therapy sessions, your teen will connect with their therapist so that they can share some information about their history and symptoms. From there, they will work together to determine the areas of focus as well as your teen’s larger goals for therapy.

During therapy sessions, we will give your teen the time and space to better understand why they are having certain feelings. Together, we will then explore tangible ways to move through these feelings and problem-solve stressful situations. We can even work through a plan for coping with upcoming life transitions so that they feel empowered to handle them.

An Approach To Teen Therapy That Will Get Results

Your teen therapist will incorporate multiple treatment approaches suited to your teen’s specific needs. The main approach that we use with teens is Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), which seeks to identify, understand, and address the intense emotions they experience. The goal of DBT is to help teens learn concrete skills to reduce their distress, allowing them to stay grounded during stressful times, regulate their emotions, and better navigate relationships. We also utilize a wide range of stress management techniques to help teens cope better. These strategies can help them increase self-awareness, set healthier boundaries, and navigate conflict more effectively.

We empathize with what teens go through and want you both to know that things can improve. And although life will always present its challenges, therapy can help your teen be more equipped to navigate them. With our help, they can regain a sense of control and move forward with optimism and confidence. Most importantly, they can learn to improve their self-compassion and love themselves on a deeper level.

You May Still Have Some Questions About Therapy For Teens…

Will therapy for teens sessions be private?

Therapy is confidential. The only exceptions are when there is a safety concern or when written consent has been given for your therapist to speak with someone else.

How long will therapy last?

The length of time spent in therapy is completely unique to each person and what they would like to work on. Some teens choose to do short-term coping skills work and some choose to stay in therapy long term, using the time each week as a form of self-care and exploration. Regardless of how long the healing process takes, we encourage teens to be patient with themselves and understand that healing can take time to reach fruition.

How will my teen know what to talk about in therapy?

There is no wrong starting point for what to talk about in therapy. Your teen therapist will guide the process, and together you will decide on a plan for structuring sessions—whether this means focusing on talking things through and exploring your issues in-depth or doing something more structured like coping skills worksheets.

Teens Can Be Themselves And Thrive

If you are the parent of a teen struggling with stress, anxiety, or depression, therapy with NY City Psychotherapy can help them be their best self and move toward the future they’ve always wanted.

Please call us at 917-274-7492 or utilize our contact page to set up a complimentary, 15-minute phone consultation session to get started. We look forward to working with you.

(1) https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html

Have any questions? Send us a message!

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