COUNSELING TEENAGERS

Many parents look back fondly on their highschool years as the happiest of their lives. Any teen alive today can tell them they are indulging in selective memory.

The teen years can be the hardest period of anyone's life.

I've been fortunate to work and bond with extraordinary teenagers: intelligent, sensitive — and, sometimes, troubled. I've come to recognize their unique strengths as well as the struggles teens face — especially in 21^st Century America.

Bottom line: I love working with teens. These are some of the most exciting times in any client's life.

The teen years span life from puberty to the full commitment to being an adult, whether as a self-supporting worker, university student, parent, soldier, or any other role society recognizes as "grown-up." These 6 to 10 years contain some of the most important decisions and discoveries one ever makes about oneself. Decisions about individuality and dependence, expressing anger, romance, sexuality, drugs, education, violence, and more.

Teens form their personal and social identity and discover their moral — even spiritual — purpose. A teen enters into full intellectual maturity, learning logic, symbols, abstract concepts, and formal reasoning — the cognitive bases of success in adult life.

The teen asks "Who am I? Who do I want to be?" Whether we as adults like it or not, it's the successful teen's job to explore, test limits, become autonomous, and commit to an identity, or sense of self. If they fail at these important tasks, the result can be role confusion, an inability to choose vocation, and similar confusions.

If a teen in your life is struggling, please consider contacting me. I've found that an easy open relationship with a therapist who genuinely enjoys working with teens can make all the difference in a teen's life. Attentive listening and mutual respect are the cornerstones of my practice with teens. Together we can guide your teen through these exciting times and opportunities and ease them into their destined adult role.