Helping Families and Teens Navigate Adolescence

Every Child Wants to Feel Safe, Understood, Empowered, and Loved

As parents, you understand the importance of providing your children with the tools, coping strategies, and positive mindset needed to experience a happy, confident, and meaningful life. In particular, adolescence ushers in an exciting and emotional period of development.

However, if your teen has experienced a sudden drop in grades, a decreased ability to concentrate, or increased moodiness (etc.), these may be signs of a deeper issue. While it could be typical for this stage of adolescence, it could also be a sign of an underlying problem. Problems with peer relationships, executive functioning (such as decision making, impulse control, organization, focus, and attention), drug and alcohol abuse, depression, anxiety, and chronic worrying, when left unmanaged, all of these challenges can get in the way of your child’s success and happiness.

As parents, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. We often get caught up in things that aren’t working and minimize or forget what is working well. But when we look more closely, we can find solutions. Therapy helps you and your child look at all of the pieces of the puzzle to determine the best path forward. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, or exhausted (or all of the above) trying to help your teen navigate their challenges or mental illness—you’re not alone. We’re here to help.

What is Psychotherapy for Teens?

If you’re like most parents, you may feel like your teen is MIA – missing in adolescence. Your once smiley, lovely child is now moody, easily angered, sullen, and withdrawn, maybe spending most of their time in their room and generally disengaged from their family. Throw in peer pressure, social media, rigorous academics, and the college admissions process, and today’s world has unique sets of challenges and pressures for teens. For teens and young adults struggling with a learning or mental disorder, these years can be even more challenging. Teen therapy is designed to provide teens, adolescents, and their parents with the support and guidance they need to thrive.

If you’re feeling frustrated, overwhelmed, or helpless trying to resolve your teen’s struggles, you’re not alone. At The Juniper Center, we provide a non-judgemental, safe, and compassionate space where teens can speak freely about the various trials and tribulations taking place in their lives. Whether your teen is dealing with serious threats of self-harm, low self-esteem, bullying, emotional outbursts, depression, sexuality, or gender identity, or if you simply need help navigating with the rollercoaster of emotional firestorms that often accompany the adolescent years, we can help.

Therapy can help teens navigate the following challenges of adolescence:

• Anxiety about school or academic achievement
• Social challenges, such as making or keeping friends
• Eating disorders and trauma
• Sexuality and gender identity
• Processing feelings of loneliness or frustration
• Divorce, separation, or other life changes
• Depression and suicidal thoughts or actions
• Managing tantrums and explosive outbursts 
• Substance abuse
• And much more

Does Teen Therapy Involve the Family?

Engaging family members (in particular, parents) is a crucial part of addressing the common challenges associated with adolescence. Teen therapy is designed to provide teens, adolescents, and their caregivers with the support, tools, and solutions they need to help reduce frustration and conflict while simultaneously restoring positive interactions at home. As your teen’s counselor works to build trust with your child, they will also keep you as the parent informed about specific goals, progress, and any challenges or that may arise along the way. Additionally, family therapy may be included as a part of your child’s therapy plan. Family therapy brings parents into sessions and helps parents and their teens through problems as one big team.

Counseling and Support for Parents

In addition to providing therapy for teens, we help parents manage the emotional rollercoaster that accompanies adolescence. Raising teenagers can be hard. As parents, we love our teens but living with them can cause us to feel like we’re weathering a series of firestorms. One minute, everything is fine, and the next, bam! A word, a look, an impulse to hug your sweet child, or setting a boundary/limit can cause an eruption of anger, tears, or storming out of the room. As the parent, we are left standing back, confused, and wondering, “What on earth just happened?” Therapy can provide the support, tools, and solutions to help you navigate this period of development in your teen’s life.

Compassionate Counseling Services for Children of All Ages

At The Juniper Center, we believe with the right support and tools, every child has the potential to live a happy and meaningful life. Whether your teen is struggling with a newly blended family, communication issues, emotional outbursts, trauma, substance abuse, sexuality, gender identity, depression, or mental illness, therapy can help. Through our clinical expertise and holistic approach, we empower teens and restore balance to the family.

Our team of mental health professionals provides a safe environment grounded in the unconditional support and love that teens and their families need to heal and grow. Together with their therapist, your teen will work to develop the skills they need to express themselves in a way that they can be heard and understood.

What matters to you, matters to us. Contact a member of our team to schedule your no-obligation consultation today. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you on your journey.