Teen Counseling | DBT Therapy
Are you the parent of a teenager who is struggling at school or at home? Does your teenager have trouble regulating their emotions? Do you have a sense that they are not reaching their full potential?
Is Your Teenager Having A Difficult Time Emotionally?
As a result of the physical and emotional symptoms that are causing disruptions in your teenagerâs life, they may be avoiding or underperforming in school, which presents an additional set of challenges for you and your family. Perhaps your teen is struggling with a mental health condition, such as
If your teen is not functioning at their best or achieving their highest potential, counseling with Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) can be the answer to helping them find both community and sustained happiness.
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Perhaps you are considering counseling for your teen, but you have some concernsâŠ
In recognizing ongoing, disruptive symptoms, you may have sought out therapy in the past for your teenager, but the treatment plan did not prove effective. Instead of responding positively, your teenager may continue to feel misunderstood by the adults in their lives, including parents, teachers, and mental health professionals. It is painful to watch your child struggle and resort to self-destructive behavior or, in some cases, suicidal ideation, and you may feel as though you are helpless in providing them with relief.
Teens Face Unprecedented Pressures In Todayâs World
Every teenager grapples with the changes that take place during adolescence, regardless of if those changes have physical, mental, or emotional manifestations. Because teenagersâ brains are still developing, the frontal cortexâwhere good judgment skills are establishedâis not fully formed yet. As a result, teens can often be impulsive or destructive with an inability to make good choices or well-informed decisions.
All teens and adolescents struggle with this physiological shift, but if your child is particularly sensitive, these challenges can be amplified. If, from a young age, your child has been acutely affected by their surroundings, they may face certain setbacks that other kids donât experience. It is possible that your teenâs sensitivities isolate them and cause them to feel generally misunderstood, especially in the context of counseling, if treatment has failed in the past.
Our modern era of technology has complicated the lives of teenagers. Social media and cyberbullying present a new dynamic of teenage relationships, fostering an environment where hurtful things can be said without consequence and where there exists play-by-play evidence of potentially harmful or humiliating interactions. A teenager with issues in controlling their impulses may be more likely to post something offensive without fully understanding the consequences. With the advent of social media, teens have a public persona before they can fully comprehend the kind of damage that can be done to themselves and others.
The way we see it at Suffolk DBT, the function of every teenage behavior is a means to find relief from the emotion and confusion experienced during adolescence. With the insight of counseling, we can provide your teen with the toolbox they need to fully understand their emotions and impulses without acting on them.
Counseling Offers The Opportunity For Your Teen To Process And Respond To Their Emotions
Our therapists understand that your child is struggling; life is painful, even from a young age. And if your child is particularly sensitive or empathetic, life as a teenager can feel even more difficult and burdensome than it already is at that age. Our counseling experts at Suffolk DBT aim to create a warm, compassionate, and welcoming environment where your teen will be validated and treated as the capable, emotionally intelligent developing person that they are.
As a team, we evaluate the emotional symptoms of each new client and match them with a skilled therapist who will best suit the individual needs of your child. In the first counseling session, your teenâs therapist will perform an intake that addresses the history of your child, as well as the commitment necessary for effective DBT treatment. In the six months to a year that is recommended for counseling, your teen will undergo individual and group therapy, as well as skills coaching. As a parent, you will also be expected to participate in a multi-family group session where you too will learn the dialectical behavioral skills to help ensure your teenagerâs success through treatment.
Using a diary card model in between sessions, your child will learn to keep track of events that impacted them during the week, and we will help them to identify what was happening in their mind and body during moments of distress. Over time, they will gain clarity on the triggers that cause dysregulation and have more of an idea as to how they can reduce the disruptive symptoms that occur as a result.
Capitalizing on mindfulness, emotional regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and distress tolerance, we will use the four pillars of DBT to help your child to grow a skill set which allows them to be less reactive and more productive. If and when a crisis occurs, they will be able to handle their emotions in a healthy way that does not create harm or disruption in their life or the lives of those around them.
Since 2008, Suffolk DBT has identified, supported, and provided counseling for sensitive teens and adults alike, helping individuals to nurture a healthier and happier relationship with themselves and their surroundings. And we have found that it is possible for teens to be both emotional and functional. The gift of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is that it can allow your teenage child to become not only more aware of themselves but of others, fostering an empowered perspective on life.
