What is Teen Counselling:

Being a teen is not always easy with the pressure that so many have in their life. Puberty can make life feel different from before and it can happen at different ages. Teens with an eating disorder such as anorexia and diabulimia may have a delay in their puberty and the body needs adequate meals to help development. Life is anxious for many teens and they live with all sorts of extra pressures. It might be from stress at home while trying to step into doing more independent things. They may need support as school feels unmanageable due to all the work or bullies that are around either in school or online. It might be about dealing with stress, anxiety or depression that might show in eating habits, not leaving their rooms, and not sharing concerns with parents that do need extra help. It might be about new ways of dealing with stress that parents might not have thought of like writing, drama, art or sports clubs or classes. I have done PSHE events of health and wellbeing in South London secondary school and I always encouraged students to ask lots of questions. I also use to run creative writing clubs for young adults which also reduced stress. Social media is a great way to connect with school friends but sometimes it’s not so friendly.  It might be about getting one’s first job or changing if it feels unsafe. For some they maybe in a number of schools and missing the people they connected with at the old school. Some may find kinship in sports or other creative avenues like drama or singing.

In the area I live for example life can have a number of perspectives that rant always understood by parents. It maybe they have parents of similar or different cultures or nationalities, a school that has diversity but has a certain way of doing things which isn’t like home and then a teen who may have different friends or opinions that are not the same as years earlier.

Due to Gillick Competency this give the child the decision to have some privacy. When working online with teens I usually see them without a parent present. Parents can request help for their teen however I hope to have a private session. Some teens with high anxiety might want a parent near at the start just because counselling is not something they may have had except for pastoral care or counselling in school.

Who needs Teen Counselling:

Young people who are having a hard time or just feel something doesn’t feel right. It might be problems between friends or their relationships with a partner. It may be also for those in either secondary or primary school as each area has parts that can be harder for those in each school system. It may also be for those in public or boarding schools as there are different types of expectations that parents can’t immediately see in person like when they were under a different set of care.

A Teen or child might be showing signs or be diagnosed with dissociation or dissociative identity disorder and is also starting to remember some really scary things. It can also be for teen parents who are finding it harder than they feel it should be. Being a young mum or dad is hard but that can be hard to see in parenting books for adults or magazines in the shops or online. One may be also trying to juggle school work, care for a baby or toddler, and just be a normal teen.

It might also be for military kids who either move quite often due to a parent’s military duty overseas. It might also be for military kids in boarding schools that have normal school worries and worries about what’s happening to a parent.

How long does it take:

Some things may be resolved in 6 or more weeks and some find it more beneficial to have online counselling during term or holiday times. For a teen parent, it may be good to start with 12 weeks and more if the young person requires it.

Benefits:

Providing attendance is regularly kept then good progress can start to be seen. It matters how the teen feels in this process and the needs they have. Anxiety about a single event can be shorter that an issue where many things have happened in the past and present. It might be a teen who is finding their parent’s divorce hard to handle. It may be because the teen has been diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder and is also starting to remember some really scary things.

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