The teen years offer significant challenges for children and parents alike. Children are faced with increasing social and academic demands while facing tough choices and greater responsibilities. Raging hormones and strained relationships do not make it any easier! As a result, parents often feel frustrated and exhausted trying to help their child reach his or her full potential. Many times, the parent/child relationship becomes marked by fighting and power struggles. Therefore, parents and teens facing difficulty may find teen counseling effective and helpful. Finding a teen counselor specifically trained and experienced working with adolescents frequently provides the greatest benefit.
Counseling often helps teens work through unresolved issues, make better choices, and better cope with their environment. Frequently, children resist counseling or resent being told to attend. Therefore, this is why West Houston Counseling Center offers trained therapists and therapy rooms tailored to meet the specific interests and needs of teens while providing a wide variety of activities, materials, and interactive gadgets to engage teens in the counseling process. Your therapist will use the latest in therapeutic tools, research, and theory such as CBT, DBT, EMDR, attachment theory, Brain-based work, and play therapy to work with your child. Your therapist will provide a detailed treatment plan and updates throughout the process to keep you informed.
Parent Involvement in Teen Counseling
Teen counseling requires parental involvement to provide the greatest benefit. Your teen counselor will work with you to transfer her skill set into usable tools for you to implement at home. Additionally, parents can have the single greatest impact in their child’s life. As such, our teen therapists create a team environment working with parents and children to create positive and long-lasting solutions from counseling. Some of the skills parents can expect to learn from their teen counselor include stress reduction, relationship building, and ending power struggles. Often, parents find they want to continue with individual or family counseling which enriches the process for the child as well.
Resources for Parents with Teens:
How to Really Love Your Teen by: Ross Campbell
Yes, Your Teen is Crazy!: Loving Your Kid Without Losing Your Mind by Michael J. Bradley
Cleaning House: A Mom’s Twelve-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement by Wyma, Kay Wills and Gurian, Michael
The Entitlement Trap: How to Rescue Your Child with a New Family System of Choosing, Earning, and Ownership by Eyre, Richard and Eyre, Linda
Visit our counselors page for more information on therapists specializing in teen counseling