Adolescents/Young Adults

 

Adolescence is a time of great change and turmoil but also great opportunity.   The transition form childhood to adulthood is a challenging one and is more complicated in today’s world.   Supporting adolescents and their families while they negotiate the many challenges and choices that are available to them about how to live their lives, who they are and who they will become is quite daunting.   Adolescents today live in a world that bombards them with information, choices, alternative life styles, and new ways to communicate that are challenging for the growing child but also for parents who are required to deal with issues never encountered by parents before them.   For instance, at what age and under what circumstances do I want my child to have access to a cell phone?  How much time is it ok for my child to spend involved with screens?  The challenges go on and on, in addition to the more traditional challenges faced by parents in the past.    Working with adolescents often involves a delicate balance between protecting the child’s privacy in order for their therapist to know and understand how to help an adolescent manage a specific set of challenges, while also supporting the child’s parents in their efforts to provide a safe and secure environment that allows their son or daughter the opportunity to explore the world around them and move towards the goal of becoming an responsible, independently functioning adult.   We have many years of experience managing this dance between work with the adolescent and their parents, as well as other adults who might be involved in their care.  We attempt to use the best research on therapy as the basis from which we work with both adolescents and their parents.   Continuing to support the ability to develop a “growth mind set” and make decisions based in the “wise mind” are important aspects of the work necessary for adolescents to move in a healthy manner towards adulthood.