If your
family is considering initiating counseling for your teen, it might be that the level of distress or conflict in the
home is high. As a parent, you do your best to provide everything you can for
your children and still, they may struggle, or your relationship with one
another feels challenging or distant.
It takes
incredible courage to reach out for support when, in spite of your best
intentions, you are seeing your teen struggle. It can be helpful to know what
to expect from counseling
and ease any worries or fears about the experience.
First, you
can begin by looking through our ‘About Us’ page and seeing if there is a
therapist whose profile page you resonate with. If you aren’t sure who might be
a good fit, our Intake staff can thoughtfully match you with one of our trained
and experienced therapists. The initial session will be between the therapist
and parents. This is an important conversation to gather historical information
around development, behavior, life stressors or transitions, and relational dynamics.
It also gives you the opportunity to create a connection with your teen’s
therapist, and collaborate on how therapy will be structured and how you share
important information with one another.
The next few
sessions will be with your teen and the therapist. This gives your teen and the
therapist time to create mutual trust get to know one another. It also allows
time for your therapist to understand your teen’s struggle and how these might
be playing out in their behavior or in their relationships.
As counseling
continues, sessions are structured to best meet the needs of you and your teen.
Sessions may be with parents/caregivers individually, individual sessions with
teens, the entire family, or with one parent and the teen. Structuring services
to be responsive to the needs of each unique family allows us to focus on the
multiple relationships between parents, siblings, and the family. It offers the
opportunity to explore challenges, heal and strengthen connection, and create
change together. At CCHC our goal is for each family member to feel seen, heard
and understood.
Our
evidence-based approach supports mutual understanding and growth, refraining
from any finger-pointing at what parents “should be doing” or condemning a teen
for their current behaviors.
Below is a
list of the benefits of investing in teen and family therapy with CCHC.
- New and improved map for communicating
Our therapists can support you and your teen in identifying what is not working in your current communication pattern. This allows for the co-creation of new and more effective ways of communicating with one another.
- Mutual understanding
Parents and teens can often feel as though they are living on different planets. Your priorities, needs, roles, and responsibilities are different. We will support you and your teen in understanding one another from a place of kindness, structure, and empathy…even if you do not agree.
- New problem-solving skills
With improved communication and a better understanding of one another’s perspective, moving through struggles together often starts to occur organically. However, if it does not, our therapists can support you and your teen in finding ways to address specific challenges and proactively problem-solve.
- Healthy balance of structure and nurture
As your teen’s distress or symptoms have decreased and the family is feeling more connected, many families experience a better balance of quality time and enjoyment of each other alongside clearer expectations and adherence to boundaries or limits.
- Difficult conversations & deeper bonds
At times, hearing a teen’s pain can ignite many feelings about who we are as parents. Our therapists are skilled in supporting your family in hearing one another in a manner that does not create more pain or disconnection. We also offer support to process what is shared with each other. This creates an opportunity for healing old wounds and for your family resilience to flourish. The therapeutic work you and your teen invest in can create sustainable change in your relationship lasting a lifetime.