There aren’t many things more difficult than seeing our teens face emotional or behavioral challenges. Maybe you, as the caregiver, feel like you don’t have the right tools to help or that you are caught in the cycle of a particular pattern. Maybe you feel like you have tried everything you can, but can’t seem to help alleviate the issue being faced or feel kept out of what is really going on.

Therapy can be an invaluable resource for teens to meet themselves in a safe environment. While structure is important, I find that making sure they feel seen and understood is equally important. This allows them to feel the openness to face issues that may otherwise be overwhelming them, explore their sense of growing autonomy, and build towards a strong sense of self-efficacy. To learn that there are ways to understand, regulate, and move through their experience can be a powerful process for teens. They can start to understand the different parts of themselves and create a more whole picture of who they are which gives them more confidence to be secure in the world. This also helps them develop capacities for curiosity, reflection, and vulnerability to use as pathways to greater understanding of themselves and others which will be useful as they develop into adulthood.

Working with teens is a collaborative process and caregivers needs support too which is why I hold collateral sessions with caregivers at a regular cadence. This helps them understand how therapy is going, helps me understand the concerns of the caregivers, and allows us to explore what adjustments might be made to support the whole family. Therapy can be a great resource, but for change to stick we all have to work together. That’s what makes it crucial that caregivers are involved in the process.