Psychotherapy & Teens

Psychotherapy can be an effective means to helping teens with anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, risky behavior, attention deficit disorders, and behavioral problems.  Psychotherapy is a process focused on healing, managing difficult emotions, coping with life stressors, and learning positive and constructive ways to deal with problems as they arise.

New Therapy Alliance can provide your teen with a safe and private place to sort out plans and goals, overcome difficulties and hardships, and develop positive and effective coping strategies. Psychotherapy may help your teen discover more about their true self and the world in which they live.

 

Therapy helps teens:

• Learn to experience and express emotion.
• Become more responsible for their behaviors
• Learn to take responsibility for their actions.
• Develop effective ways to cope with stressful situations.
• Develop new and creative solutions to problems.
• Develop respect and acceptance of self and others.
• Cultivate empathy and respect for thoughts and feelings of others.
• Learn new social skills and relational skills with family and peers.
• Develop self-efficacy and self-esteem.

Teens and Confidentiality

There are special considerations about how information is shared with parents when a teen is in treatment. If your adolescent child is in treatment with New Therapy Alliance you can anticipate the following: As a parent, you will participate in the evaluation stage of treatment, by providing information about developmental, social and academic history, discussing your concerns, and sharing your goals for your child. Much of this information will be discussed with your child present. Some information may be reviewed in a separate session with you alone.

When a teen engages in individual psychotherapy, it is important to know, as a parent, that an adolescent child has the right to private, confidential communication with the therapist. Some of the issues discussed in treatment will stay between the child and the therapist. The therapist will not disclose that information to anyone, including the parent, unless given permission to do so by the adolescent client. This will help your teen be open and honest with me so that I can understand and treat the full range of issues he or she is dealing with. It is likely that we will check in periodically as treatment progresses. These conversations will include your son or daughter.

We recognize it is very important for you to know what your child is going through in order to do your best as a loving parent, which is why I will always encourage, prepare and support him or her to be open and honest with you. I assure you that if a problem is revealed in treatment that presents a risk to your teen’s safety I will inform you right away so that we can, together, plan for his or her care.