Adolescent Counseling

Adolescent counseling generally refers to working with children ages 12- 18. Traditionally, adolescence is divided into early, middle, and late stages. Individuals move through these stages at their own pace but they all experience an enormous amount physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual growth. Raising a teenager can be a roller coaster ride, exciting and a little scary. Therapy with adolescents is geared towards where they are in the stages of development. Counseling usually involves a mixture of individual and family involvement. Sometimes teens need an adult they can trust outside of their parents and sometimes they need help learning how to talk and problem solve with their parents in a constructive manner. In all cases, parents are encouraged to stay involved in the process. Unfortunately, adolescent counseling sometimes involves some very weighty issues like self-destructive behavior. Adolescent and parent need to find a good fit between themselves and the counselor with whom they work.