Strengths-Based Therapy to Help Your Teen Thrive
Counseling for Adolescents in Durango, Colorado
Teen therapy—for young people ages 12-17—is a way of supporting your teen as they navigate the complexities of their adolescent years. By helping connect your young person with the right adolescent therapist, they’ll feel supported, seen, and heard (even though they probably won’t tell you so). I offer in-person adolescent counseling from my conveniently-located Durango office, just a short walk from Durango High School. To schedule a brief consultation: Contact Stephanie
As a parent, you’re worried, frustrated, and exasperated by your teen. You might find yourself saying:
“My kid won’t talk to me. She’s shut down, and when I ask her a question she mumbles one-word answers.”
“My son is smoking weed and skipping school. He is aggressive, yelling and slamming doors. His anger leaves him and the the rest of the family scared and upset.”
“Bullying is a real concern for my teen. I’m worried about their self-esteem. They seem really down and are often holed up in his room.”
You can see that your child is experiencing a lot. As a teen therapist, I focus on your teen’s strengths, and teach your teen valuable emotional regulation skills. This powerful combination of strengths and skills helps your teen navigate the complicated world of adolescence with more awareness and empowerment.
How I work with teens:
My approach to teen therapy is relational, creative, strengths-based, and values-oriented.
The Therapeutic Relationship: For teens, the relationship they have with their therapist is crucial. Adolescents need to feel heard and validated, and they need to know they’re in a place where they can speak freely and privately. In short, teens need a place to be themselves.
Teens are especially sensitive to any perceived break in trust. I make it clear to both families and teens from the start that unless there is a significant risk of harm to self or others, I do not share what your teen and I talk about in therapy. This is important for you to know as a parent, as I might not be the best fit as your child’s therapist if you are expecting something different.
Strengths-Based and Values-Oriented: I take a strengths-based approach to working with teens. I focus on the behaviors teens and parents WANT to see, rather than what’s going wrong. Too often adolescents, especially those who are in conflict with family or school, are just told how “bad” they are being. When times are challenging, it can be difficult to bring focus to what is going well. The strengths-based approach does allow for processing their challenges as well as building their skills.
By focusing on teens’ strengths, I help them with the all-important task of exploring their developing identity. Strengths-based therapy builds teens who are more self-confident and self-aware, and sometimes even more communicative.
Creativity: As an artist, I understand the value of creativity in self-exploration. In my work with teens, I try to bring creativity into sessions as much as possible. Teens are still developing advanced language and concepts, so using creativity helps them explore who they are without the pressure of finding the right words. Adolescents tend to relax and be more open and comfortable when engaged in other activities as the pressure to “perform” certain societal standards lessens.
By incorporating creativity and focusing on values and strengths, I provide a therapeutic space where teens can feel comfortable and supported, and continue to grow as young people.
More about my approach here: Treatment Approach
Anxiety: Anxiety is common in adolescence as teens navigate school, extracurriculars, family dynamics, identity exploration, and the challenges of in-person and online relationships. Teens often worry on different levels; they're worried about school and friends, while also ruminating on the state of the world and their future.
This level of anxiety can be overwhelming for a young brain and nervous system. Therapy can teach them to work with their anxious thoughts in a different way so they can focus on the important task of growing up and discovering who they are in the world.
Depression: In many ways, teens are canaries in the coal mine. They are directly exposed via social media to some of the most intense and surreal aspects of modern life. Because their brains are developing, they are vulnerable to all sorts of input. Teens haven’t developed the resources to manage everything they’re mentally consuming so they begin to feel overwhelmed, and can easily sink into hopelessness and despair.
Teens with depression may begin to self-harm or become suicidal, which is understandably terrifying for you as a parent to witness. Adolescent therapy is a way to support your teen through their despair, ensure their safety, and give them the tools to cope with the heaviness of day-to-day living.
Low Self-Esteem: Social pressures for teens are intense. Teens may struggle to find their “people” and feel ostracized and left out. A young person may experience direct bullying, and they might not tell you about it. Instead, parents notice their teen shutting down and feeling sad, or more angry and reactive.
Teens’ self confidence can also indirectly take a hit because they are consuming an enormous amount of media and comparing themselves to unrealistic standards they see online. By focusing on values and strengths, therapy for adolescents helps them rebuild their self-esteem and understand what’s important to them, not to society or their peers.
Communication: Many parents find communication with their adolescent difficult. Teens may communicate aggressively, or become withdrawn, shut down, and not communicate at all. They may have angry or emotional outbursts. They might yell, curse, slam doors, and disappear from the house, leaving you as a parent worried and angry.
Instead of focusing on what’s not working, therapy for teens focuses on the type of communication parents and teens want to have. As teens learn about themselves and develop new skills, families can move forward out of old and unhelpful patterns of communication.
Skipping School: Teens may demonstrate lack of motivation or interest in areas parents deem important, like school. As a parent, you value education and see it as a necessary path forward. Your teen on the other hand might not place much value in school or classroom learning, or they feel incredibly misunderstood by and disconnected from structured education.
This values conflict leads to disruption within the family and a power struggle over school attendance. Therapy for teens can help families and teens alike explore what is important, and find compromise and a path forward.
Substances: We live in Durango, Colorado. It’s not hard for teens to find marijuana. Parents understandably worry about their kid’s substance use, or suspect that a teen is using substances due to a change in behavior. Teen therapy helps your young person understand why he/she/they are choosing to use substances. Teens usually use substances to cope, so we also explore other skills they might be open to trying, and talk about harm-reduction with substances.