Teens
My guess is you are reading this because you are either 1) angry with your teenager or 2) scared for your teenager. Either way, I can help.
Let me be perfectly honest. Very few teenagers come into my office 100% excited about being there, which is why I did not write this to them. My guess is you would get an eye roll about it anyway. If you have a teenager that is wanting to come in, you are way ahead of the game!
For teenagers, the struggle between childhood and asserting independence is a seemingly constant battle. I want to help them find words to their feelings instead of the outbursts or grunts you may hear from them now. It’s such a difficult time. They are trying desperately to forge an identity separate from their parents. That is so unbelievably scary, even though they don’t acknowledge it at the time. They certainly don’t trust themselves yet but nonetheless are too cool to admit to still needing their parents.
I want to provide a safe place for them to explore themselves away from the pressure of what their peers want for them and what society wants for them. I want to help them remember who they already are instead of trying to pretend to be someone everyone else wants them to be. Yes, they grunt at me too. But in the midst of the grunts I have found a generation of deep thinkers and big planners, that are facing decisions and realities that previous generations have not had to deal with. How do you go to school each day knowing that a shooting could happen? How do you avoid your greatest embarrassment being posted on social media? I used to do psychological testing for this age group. There was a question that stated, “Everyone else is more sure of who they are and what they want in life than I am.” In the over 1,200 evaluations I administered EVERY SINGLE TEENAGER marked True to that statement. I want to help them realize everyone else is trying to figure it out too.