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Welcome to our blog on the benefits of therapy and counseling for teens. Did you know that nearly 1 in 5 teens experience a mental health disorder each year, but only half of them receive treatment? According to the CDC, about 53% of teens sought out the treatment they needed.
There are several barriers to treatment for teens. This includes stigmas around mental health, a lack of awareness, and difficulty accessing services. When we’re able to recognize early symptoms of mental health disorders, we can implement crucial, preventative care.
Adolescence is a crucial period for both emotional and psychological development. Providing support and being involved impacts them positively in many ways.
In this blog, we’ll touch on a few different topics. This includes the reasons why therapy and counseling for teens is essential. You’ll read about some common mental health issues teens are experiencing. We’ll discuss the benefits of counseling and therapy for teens. Finally, we’ll touch on how parents and guardians can support teens.
Teen therapy near Thousand Oaks is held in-person at our office in Simi Valley. Make sure to read our resource on 5 Crucial Steps Parents Can Take to Prevent Teen Suicide.
Why Therapy and Counseling for Teens is Essential
You may be wondering, just how beneficial is teen therapy? Can it really support my teen, or am I just pairing them up with someone to chat with? We’ll review 2 key points into why teen counseling is essential for supporting teens throughout their daily lives.
For Navigating Developmental Changes
Teenagers are experiencing some major developmental changes during puberty. They can experience significant changes in their mood, emotions, or behaviors. For example, girls may experience fluctuating levels of estrogen in their body. Research by Turnbridge highlights how higher estrogen = lower serotonin levels, which is linked to the onset of depression.
In boys, they may experience a surge in testosterone levels. According to the Child Mind Institute, this can lead to more intense emotions. Fluctuating hormonal levels can cause significant mood swings as well, making self-regulation difficult.
In sum, hormonal imbalances can lead to various symptoms and health issues in teens. This includes menstrual irregularities, acne, weight changes, and mood changes. By considering teen therapy in Simi Valley, you can provide them with extra support while navigating these changes.
Your teen therapist can provide all family members with support. The sudden onset of these changes can be overwhelming or stressful for families as well. Therefore, they’ll be able to provide developmental education, assess for medication needs, and more.
For Dealing with External Stressors
Alongside these developmental changes, teens are beginning to face unique pressures and stressors. They are entering a stage in their lives where they are going to be met with new situations to navigate. As they’re aging, dynamics and expectations are likely to shift. This includes stressors outside of their own interpersonal struggles.
Your teen may be facing some new, unique challenges. There may be increased pressure around school or sport performance. Making new friends, losing old friends, or starting relationships may be on their radar. It could be that your family introduced a younger sibling, and there are expectations for them to help care for them.
Teen therapy offers them a safe space to process these stressors. Teen therapists understand how family dynamics can tie into a teen’s mental wellbeing. Alongside that, they’re familiar with what your teen may be going through, and can provide crucial support.
Therapy can help teens navigate conflicts with friends or family members and build healthy communication skills.
Common Mental Health Issues Teens are Experiencing
Anxiety and Depression
Teens may be experiencing increased symptoms of anxiety or depression. There could be excessive worry or uncertainty around their future. They may struggle socially, and struggle with making new friends. Your teen may be struggling with panic attacks or overthinking. Alongside that, your teen may struggle with difficulty concentrating or restlessness.
Depression in teens can often look like feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and loneliness. Self-harming behaviors, such as cutting or burning themselves, may also be an indicator of depression. You may notice your teen isolating themselves from family or friends. They may have lost interest in activities, hobbies, or things they once enjoyed.
Make sure to read our blogs on the 7 Signs of Depression in Teens to read more in depth about depression symptoms in teenagers. By starting teen therapy near Simi Valley, your teen can learn more about their symptoms. They’ll work towards treatment goals and assess their symptoms weekly with an experienced therapist.
Self-Esteem and Body Image
Do you feel like your teen is glued to their cellphone? In their spare time, all they do is doom-scroll social media, like Instagram or TikTok? You may be wondering how that’s affecting their self-esteem. According to Yale Medicine, the use of social media can be linked to unhealthy outcomes. This includes poor sleep quality, disordered eating, and more.
Social media can be a great tool for expressing oneself or finding others with similar interests. It’s possible that your teen finds community online, which can be a really healing and hopeful experience. Therefore, it’s important to understand how social media usage affects them.
Another potential outcome of social media usage could be low self-worth. By working with a teen therapist in Simi Valley, they can explore what social media means to them, or how it is or is not helpful. They’ll be able to recognize negative self-talk and avoid self-comparisons. Teen therapy near Thousand Oaks helps your teen strengthen their self-image.
Peer and Family Relationships
Therapy and counseling can help teens navigate difficult situations with friends or family members. Due to the benefits discussed below, teens can build and utilize healthy communication skills. There can be increased self-advocacy, boundary setting, and more. Your teen can heal through traumatic situations in the room with their teen therapist.
Substance Abuse or Risky Behavior
It can be common behavior for teens to experiment with substances. They may hit a friend’s vape or share a beer in secret at a family gathering. However, substance abuse can unfold quickly. Your teen may engage in risky behaviors to obtain or use substances. This includes stealing, underage smoking or drinking, or experimenting with hard drugs. Therapy can help teens make better decisions and seek out healthier coping mechanisms.
Click here to read a blog about Talking to Your Teen About Drugs and Alcohol.
Benefits of Therapy and Counseling for Teens
There are several benefits of therapy and counseling for teens. Even if your teen is coming into therapy and does not have a set goal, they will benefit unconsciously. When your teen is involved in the process, more goals and progress naturally unfold. Just a few examples of these benefits include:
Building Emotional Intelligence
Teens often don’t have the language or awareness to describe their emotions. They may know they are feeling frustrated, but cannot label or identify emotions. They can obtain education around what they’re feeling or what’s going on in their bodies. Your teen can better understand and manage their emotions. This leads to healthier emotional response and stronger emotional regulation.
Developing Coping Skills
Your teen may be struggling with fluctuating emotions or feelings throughout the day. There may be different stressors in their lives, such as juggling a busy schedule. Outside of therapy, they’ll need to be doing independent coping. Coping skills are tools to manage stress, anxiety,or other difficult situations. Examples include cognitive restructuring, breathing exercises, and grounding techniques. With tools in their toolbox, they can continue to develop resiliency by supporting themselves independently.
Click here to read a blog on what teens can do to cope if they feel unsupported by parents.
Improving Communication Skills
Therapy provides teens with great opportunities to improve and practice communication skills. An example of this would be advocating for themself in a school or social setting. Your teen may struggle with anxiety around asking for their needs to be met. When your teen is able to express themselves effectively, this can improve their relationships. They can see improvements in communication with friends, family, peers, or teachers/coaches.
A blog we’ve written regarding communication skills for teens is How to Tell My Parents I Need Therapy.
Increased Self-Awareness and Confidence
Your teen is building emotional intelligence, coping effectively, and improving communication. With that, they can only gain more self-awareness and confidence in themselves. They have a better understanding of themselves, which can promote self-acceptance or self-love. Your teen can feel more confidence in their decisions and actions as well.
Having a Supportive Environment
Therapy offers teens a non-judgmental, confidential space for them to express themselves freely. Your teen therapist wants to know about their interests, strengths, or activities alongside their struggles. There is no need for your teen to hide who they are, or who they want to be. This can promote self-exploration, self-acceptance, and more. Your teen can feel relief knowing they have a space dedicated to supporting them.
We’ve summed up just 3 Benefits of Teen Therapy for you to read.
How Parents or Guardians Can Support Teens in Therapy and Counseling
The role that parents or guardians play outside of teen therapy has a huge impact on teens. Your teen is only in therapy once a week for an hour. Outside of that, they’ll need ongoing, consistent support. Progress and change can happen when everyone works together as a team.
You can support your teens in therapy by:
- Being open-minded. Approaching therapy with an open-mind includes being receptive to feedback, willing to learn and educate oneself, and more. Therapy is a valuable resource for your teen’s well-being!
- Respecting privacy. What your teen and their therapist discuss in therapy is kept confidential. To read more about confidentiality, read our blog on How Parents Are Involved in Teen Therapy.
- Staying involved in the therapeutic process. Your teen’s therapist is going to connect with you regularly for several reasons. This includes scheduling family therapy sessions and updating you with progress.
It’s likely that your teen’s therapist will meet with you to understand various dynamics in the family. This includes relationships, communication styles, and more. At New Leaf, our marriage and family therapists are dedicated to their practice. Contact us today to learn more about how you are involved in supporting your teen in therapy!
Therapy is a positive tool to use for personal growth. Going to therapy doesn’t have to be a last resort for coping with mental health issues. Taking preventative action to understand and work through mental struggles can bring resiliency, clarity, and healing.
In-person therapy in Simi Valley is ideal for those seeking a separate, safe space from their home. Check out our blog on Online Therapy or In Office Therapy to understand what format is best for you. Another great blog to read is ours on if you need Therapy or Medication to address your issues.
By seeking out support, you can begin your journey to feeling relief. You don’t have to go through finding the right level of support alone, either. By clicking here, you’ll read our blog on Information About Simi Valley Therapists.
Consider calling our therapy group at (805) 774-1506 for a free consultation on how you or a loved one can get started today!
Seek out a validating, safe environment with us today. We will help you get to where you want to be. Our therapists provide trauma therapy, teen therapy, individual adult therapy, LGBTQIA+ therapy, anxiety therapy, depression therapy, family therapy, and more in-office in Simi Valley, CA.