Is Your Teenager’s Behavior Spiraling Out Of Control?

Does your teenager engage in destructive behaviors that affect them negatively and impact your family dynamic? Are you struggling to communicate and feel like nothing you say is getting through to them? Do you wish you knew how to relieve their pain and help them feel better about themselves?

When your teenager is in crisis, it impacts the entire family. Perhaps your child is withdrawn and non-communicative. They may worry excessively, suffer from low self-esteem, or stop taking care of themselves. They might seem sad and unmotivated, but when you ask them what’s wrong, they are unwilling to confide in you. They may have shut down and disengaged from life, and may even be struggling with suicidal or self-harming thoughts.

Maybe your teen acts out in self-destructive ways, such as disordered eating behaviors, or in defiant ways, such as substance abuse, promiscuity, skipping—or failing—, school. The consequences of these behaviors could be long-term and, in some instances, cause them physical and emotional harm.

Your teen’s out-of-control behavior could be a sign that they don’t feel heard, understood, or in control of what’s happening to them. To function with the psychological pain they experience, they may have found maladaptive ways of coping. As difficult as it is for them to cope with their pain, it’s equally hard for you to witness the child you love in such distress.

Fortunately, teen counseling can provide your child with effective treatment for a variety of issues that arise in adolescence. We can pinpoint the underlying causes of their distress and teach them healthier ways of coping.

The Teen Years Are A Vulnerable Time For Mental Health

Adolescence has always been a challenging phase of life, but the additional stress put on teens in today’s society has increased their struggles with anxiety, depression, eating disorders, and other mental health issues.[1] Parents anticipate the usual hormonal shifts associated with the teenage years, but teens today face much more than physiological changes. The increased academic, athletic, and extracurricular demands we put on our kids are simply too intense for them. These expectations, coupled with the complexities of navigating social media, can overwhelm teens and contribute to their stress.

What’s more, modern culture has perpetuated a false belief that every teen will achieve certain goals and experience specific rites of passage. This belief implies that those who don’t are somehow “abnormal”. Whether it’s attending prom or achieving good grades and going off to college, teens are expected to conform to these norms. Some kids put undue pressure on themselves to follow this blueprint, which puts even more strain on their mental health.

For adolescents suffering from eating disorders, they often feel like once it takes hold they are trapped and no one can help them. Their parents may try everything they can to get them to eat without realizing that this approach can inadvertently reinforce their eating disorder. By commanding them to eat, their teen may associate eating with being told what to do, which will makes them want to eat less, not more.

Regardless of the problems your child is experiencing, the therapists at Saible Neuropsychology are experts in teen counseling. They can help your child gain the skills they need to regulate painful emotions and help them feel better about themselves.

[1] https://mhanational.org/issues/state-mental-health-america

Counseling Can Provide Teens With The Tools They Need To Manage Life’s Stressors

The source of your teen’s emotional distress could be any number of things. Perhaps it stems from negative self-beliefs or body image, living in a dysfunctional family system, or belonging to a toxic friend group. Regardless of its origin, therapy gives your child a safe space to discover what underlies their distress. They will be allowed to share their innermost thoughts and feelings, explore what prevents them from feeling better, and learn how to break through these barriers to happiness.

Our usual approach to teen counseling is to have your child attend most sessions alone, including the first one. At the initial session, we will gather your child’s background history, find out how they think therapy will benefit them, and identify what goals they’d like to achieve. The therapist will explain the modalities they think will be most beneficial and, based upon your child’s feedback, develop a treatment plan for them. From there, we will invite you to join 1-2 early sessions to ask any questions you have and learn about our privacy policies.

By offering psychoeducation in our ongoing sessions, your child will learn how to identify deeply held core beliefs that negatively impact their mood and behaviors. Additionally, we will help them recognize how anxiety affects important areas of their life, such as their schooling, home life, and relationships. We aim to teach them skill-building strategies to help them regulate their emotions and defuse negative behaviors. Your teen will learn how to communicate with others assertively and take into consideration the thoughts and feelings of others while building self-respect.

We draw from a variety of modalities to help your teen with the challenges they face. Dialectic Behavioral Therapy focuses on finding a balance between acceptance and change. Your child will gain skills in mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy will help them make connections between their trauma and their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Exposure and Response Prevention is a method that will help your teen systematically face their fears.

If your teen struggles with an eating disorder, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorders (CBT-E) will explore their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors surrounding food, shape, and weight. We identify what mechanisms maintain the eating disorder and work to eliminate them one by one. We may also utilize Family-Based Treatment (FBT), which requires active participation with parents. We will take an agnostic approach to the eating disorder and focus on empowering the parents to take a unified front against the eating disorder.

We recognize the importance of your teen being heard and understood. We want to work together with them to reach their goals while giving them (and you) the power to decide the best form of treatment. With proper guidance and commitment to the process, we are confident that your teen will blossom into a happier and healthier person.

But you may still be wondering whether teen counseling is right for your teen…

I don’t think that therapy will help my teen.

Right now, it may feel like your teen has put up walls that will never come down and that nothing will ever change. What your child needs is an unbiased listener who can validate what they’re feeling without unwittingly causing their negative behaviors to intensify. As experts in teenage therapy, we can help your teen feel heard and understood and, in the process, help your family regain its equilibrium.

We’ve taken our teen to a therapist before and it didn’t work.

At our initial group session, you can share the reasons why your teen’s previous therapy experience wasn’t successful. By remaining flexible and actively listening to your needs, your teen counselor can tailor therapy to meet your teen’s needs as effectively as possible. We have helped many troubled teens find better ways of communicating, regulate their emotions, and, if suffering from an eating disorder, redefining their relationship with food.

I don’t have the time or money to invest in getting my teen help.

Given the pain your child is in and the discord it probably causes within your family, it is worth investing time and money in your teen’s care. Acknowledging and treating their mental health issues in adolescence can ensure a smoother transition into adulthood. And although we are a private pay practice, we accept most insurance plans and have streamlined our reimbursement process with the Reimbursify and Better apps. For more information regarding this, please click here.

Your Teen Deserves To Feel Better In Every Area Of Their Life

We want to help restore hope and happiness to your teen’s life. Therapy can give them the tools they need for a brighter future. For a free, 15-minute consultation, please call us at (727) 565-2424 or contact us .