Teen Therapy
Teens fly towards adulthood but aren’t quite ready to leave the nest. Regardless, they certainly try to spread their wings, and often make a crash landing. Teen’s brains, hearts, and minds are developing at such a rapid pace! Keeping up as the parent is such a wild ride.
In the book cleverly titled Untangled, Lisa Damour cites the mind-boggling process of “parting with childhood”. This concept illustrates teens craving independence, wanting to know it all, be it all, and do it all, when suddenly, they fly back to the nest and can’t possibly pick out their clothes or make dinner! The ever-evolving dance between the teenage life and adulthood is a one-step forward and two-steps back process.
At Little Dove Counseling, we believe relationships paved the way to a healthy adulthood. We focus our work with teens on relationships with themselves, others, and the world. We believe that a healthy teen is a genuinely connected teen. Our teen therapists specialize in relational trauma, disconnection, anxiety, and depression. We understand the complex nature of navigating the world as a teen, and we believe that working closely with the teen and parent to foster connectedness will pave the way to a healthy adulthood.
You may wonder if therapy is right for your teen. Here are some examples of support in Teen Counseling:
Self Esteem & Confidence Building
Emotional Regulation
Communication Skills
Emotion Identification & Expression
Anxiety, Panic, and Avoidance
School Issues
Depression
Anger
Grief
Divorce
Traumatic Life Events
Self-Discovery
ADHD & Learning Difficulties
Self-Harm
Suicidal Ideation
Identity Formation
Okay, so what would we do to
actually help your teen?
We’d first meet with you! We believe parents are co-therapists and hold vital insight and influence into support their kids’ mental health and development. We would take time to sit down and gather a thorough history and hear your concerns. From there, we’d meet with your teen and build a relationship with them.
We are considering three main relational areas for your teen.
Relationship to Self
Relationship to You
Relationship to Friends
These are three major pillars of helping your teen move into a happy and healthy adulthood.
What does this look like?
It looks like meeting your teen exactly as they are…
Wow, Play Therapy for teens?
Play therapy is proven to be helpful all through the life span! Examples of play therapy with teens could be…
Feelings Uno:
Learning to Identify Feelings
Family Vacation Project:
Facilitates Communication
Development
Sandtray:
Storytelling & Self Exploration
Ok, well what about Expressive Arts Therapy?
Expressive Arts Therapy engages teens in the process versus the product. It involves any creative expression with a focus on being in the moment, exploring meaning making, and experiencing restoration of self. When we allow ourselves to take what’s inside us and process it, we feel better! Examples include…
Writing Poetry or Music
Drawing or Painting
Dancing
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That’s okay! We are trained in talk therapy techniques. We find that a lot of teens enjoy having a safe adult to talk to, so we make lots of space for that. We take time to develop trust with your teen, learn their therapeutic preference, and honor their process.
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We believe in close collaboration with families at Little Dove Counseling. We will work to facilitate sessions to include you periodically, even if your teen is seeing us for individual therapy and not family therapy. We will work with you and your teen to create a healthy collaboration between all three of us!
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Sessions will look different for each child, teen, or adult. At Little Dove Counseling, we prioritize our relationship with the caregivers/parents to ensure your child or teen is holistically thought about. Your therapist will walk your family through a 4-6 assessment session process. At the end of this period, your therapist will provide information on what was found during the assessment and treatment plan written specifically for your child. The treatment plan will include measurable goals and a plan for meeting them. You and your family’s therapist will have regular check-ins to ensure we are on track.
Reach out via your preferred form of contact here. Our intake coordinator will be in touch within one business day to match you with a therapist and schedule your first session.