Adolescent (Teen) Counseling

“Life is on fire when we hit our teens. And these changes are not something to avoid or just get through, but to encourage.”

– Dr. Dan Siegel (“Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain”)

family counseling

Common Issues Treated in Teen Counseling

  • School adjustment
  • Anger management
  • ADHD
  • Behavioral concerns
  • Learning disabilities
  • Nervousness and Anxiety
  • Trauma
  • Sleeping difficulties
  • Decision-making skills
  • Family going through a divorce
  • Self-acceptance
  • Self-image
  • Social skills
  • Grief and loss
  • Depression
child counselor

Benefits of Teen Counseling & Coaching

Your teen doesn’t need to have a mental illness to see a counselor. Simply having another trusting adult to confide in can be extremely helpful.

Teens often do not want to see a counselor because they feel something is “wrong with them” – the stigma of seeing a counselor can be really hard to overcome. This is why we suggest your teen seek “Teen Coaching.” But counseling and counseling have some benefits:

  • One-on-one attention with an adult they can confidently confide in (their sessions are private, just as adults are)
  • Feel embarrassed about something going on in their world – harming themselves, feeling low self-esteem, struggles with food and/or weight, experiencing thoughts of suicide, or having a sexually transmitted disease (to name a few)
  • Wants to build self-confidence and make more or different friends
  • Wants to talk to their parents about an important issue, but don’t know how (the counselor will help build this bridge)
  • Feels overall sad, depressed, or lonely, and needs someone to confide in
  • Parents are going through a divorce, or there is a new blended family which is difficult for the teen
  • Or, wants to learn to better manage his/her stress

Seeing a counselor provides a safe, secure place for your teen to express and work through some very challenging issues. Although it may be hard to send a teen to see a counselor or coach because you as a parent want to be their source confidante, the reality is, that just does not happen much of the time. We want to build that bridge.

Parent Involvement

We want parents to be involved, and we will make all efforts to build this bridge with your child as they attend therapy. Their sessions are confidential, but we’re parents too, so we understand how much you want to know and understand what is happening with your child. We make sure to keep you informed in a way that still feels safe for your teen.

The Teen Years

teen counseling

Teens are in the ever-changing process of building their social skills, developing better emotional intelligence, and figuring out how to be in the driver’s seat of their own life, while still finding balance as a growing teen.

This is a time in a teen’s life in which friends are the most important people, and rightly so. They are building their own social groups – people they can lean on, confide in, and be close to. These are important life skills.

Teens often do not want to attend therapy on their own, which is why we offer the alternative, teen coaching. All of our teen life coaches are counselors – this is simply a way to let teens know we are on their side. The sessions are confidential, and the teens get to explore, on their own terms, specific goals they have for their own life.

Teens want more control of their life, and we show them how to exercise their power. 

The teen years see biological, social, and psychological changes – all at once! 

I Choose Change Counselors are non-judgmental taking into account the teen culture of mobile phones, iPods, popular music, movies, television programs, websites, sports, video games, and clothing. Teen therapy can help.

Adolescence is a time in which peers often become more important than parents. Teens are working hard at developing their own sense of style and identity, and that means experimenting with new behaviors, friends, and activities. All of these are normal, but they can feel quite concerning as a parent! Teen therapy helps make sense of these rocky times. Especially when it feels like your teen has morphed into another being that is other-worldly. The behavior changes can happen as early as 10 or 11 years old and continue through High School.

Teen Counseling Expectations:

  • Explore the ability to solve problems and communicate thoughts and emotions
  • Consider how the social group your child is connecting to may contribute to conflict while finding ways to work through those issues
  • Identify their strengths and weaknesses, and figure out to play on the strengths
  • Feel more in control of their own life and create balanced expectations

Our licensed, expert team of therapists is able to coach your teen in a way that he/she feels empowered and in charge of their own change.

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