Adolescent Psychotherapy

Adolescence is a particularly challenging time in a person’s life. During this time in their development, teens are navigating peer and family relationships, academic expectations and pressures, and their social environment along with significant changes in their bodies. Adolescents are in a tenuous space between childhood and adulthood. Teens often feel alone in their struggles but have difficulty talking about their emotional lives as this can lead to feelings of discomfort and threaten the integrity of their emerging sense of self. A trusting therapeutic relationship is crucial for working with adolescents. Therapy is beneficial in helping adolescents become aware of their internal world as well as relationships with friends and family. In a trusting and affirming therapeutic relationship, adolescents will recognize how their lives can improve when their relationship to themselves and others feel more positive. Additionally, when the negative voices and difficult emotions diminish and/or become more acceptable and manageable, adolescents realize that therapy can offer them a unique opportunity to feel more of a sense of their agency and capacities.