Individual Therapy for Teens

Your teenager is not the child you once knew.

She was once your vibrant, confident, playful child, but lately – it’s like she’s a different girl. She’s still a great kid – but she’s been acting moody and irrational these days.

Everyone says the teen years are hard, but you didn’t expect this!

Her life’s a roller coaster, and you did not buy a ticket for this ride!

She’s become distant. You know something is going on, but when you ask her about it, you get no information – occasionally, you get hit with a curt “I’m Fine!” through her bedroom door. (If you’re lucky).

She used to come to you with everything. She trusted you to fix every skinned knee and hurt feeling, but now, she no longer asks for your help. When you do offer to help, she reacts like you’ve murdered her cat. How COULD you?!

You’re confused and frustrated.

How have you suddenly become enemies with this person you once held in your arms? You used to be an inseparable team – Where did you go wrong?

Your frustration is mounting. You – her Mother – don’t deserve to be treated like this.

Doesn’t she realize that you birthed her?

After sacrificing so much for her, it feels like a slap in the face. And she doesn’t even care! It’s insulting.

Along with your frustration, though, there’s also worry and fear.

What’ll happen if she continues to feel this way – if she continues to refuse support? How will she navigate the challenges that life throws her way? (And you know they’re coming.)

You’ve heard of the worst (eating disorders, self-harm, suicide) happening among other teens, but that could never happen to her. Could it?

I hear you, Mama!

Don’t wait for things to get worse. Seek help now!

Individual therapy for your teen will get her confidence up and bring joy back to your family.

In addition, she’ll learn healthy ways to manage her emotions (and there’re plenty of them) so that she can communicate to you how she feels again. (Not through a closed bedroom door).

The teen years are hard – for everyone!

But you don’t have to wait for things to get serious before seeking help. Get support for you and your teen now!

So, what’s therapy like with Cristy?

Therapy with me is relationship-based.

Picture this. You meet someone for the first time, they immediately sit down with you, look into your eyes, and ask you to tell your deepest darkest fears and regrets. How likely are you to open up?

– I’d say that’s a hard pass!

Now picture your meeting someone for the first time at a new fitness class when the instructor partners you together. You cheer on each other and struggle through the workout: you partner again the next time, and the next, and the next.

One day, you come to class feeling fragile because of everything going on at home, and your new friend senses something’s up and asks you, Hey, is everything ok?

You share because you feel safe in their presence, and you can tell that they care.

Compare these two scenarios – what makes the difference in your willingness to open up?

Tada! It’s trust.

Trust is primary for helping your child.

As a therapist, I use a specially curated atmosphere explicitly needed to build trust and a sense of safety for your child. We’re not meeting your child’s school, sports practice, or anywhere they would generally be in their schedules or daily lives.

By designating a space that’s just for them to unpack their emotions, they can begin to cultivate a level of freedom and confidence that will spill over into every other area of their lives. So why should they trust me?

There’s initially a natural barrier there, so it’s critically important for me to create an environment where your child feels safe.

A trusting relationship is the primary healing factor for teens who are experiencing challenges.

It’s not enough for you as the parent to read about my training and experience, and it’s not even enough for you to trust me. (Of course, I hope we develop that trust as well).

To truly help your child in a meaningful way, I need to gain their trust.

We accomplish this by creating various experiences for your child to engage in throughout our sessions. These include art activities, games, building, music, and exploring all the diverse ways your child naturally expresses.

Through these activities and our sessions, your child will learn that I am a friend, and I’ll be able to help and genuinely support them.

Sessions are non-directive.

My job as a therapist is to create the space for your teen to express their feelings and thoughts related to any experience they are ready to process. I don’t direct or guide sessions with goals or outlines.

Instead, I facilitate your teen’s expression by creating the environment. They then have the freedom to work through whatever they need to in each session.

I’ll work with your teen to create goals based on their desires for their life.

Sometimes, it takes time for teens to establish their goals, but once we establish trust, your child will come up with precisely what they want to work on in therapy.

I’ll guide your child in accomplishing their goals while simultaneously creating an environment that gives them lots of freedom to choose how they spend their time in the session.

This freedom to choose ensures that your teen is engaged and takes responsibility for their work.

Your child must be active in this process. Therefore, I strongly discourage parents from forcing their teens to attend counseling or tricking them into following. However, if you are worried that your teen might resist trying counseling, I’m happy to provide support via parent support sessions until they willingly agree to come.

My work with your teen is confidential.

Your teen is my client, so my number one responsibility is to act in their best interest.

Telling you anything that happens in our sessions would not be in their best interest because it would damage the trusting relationship between your teen and myself, severely limiting my ability to be effective in helping them.

Your teen deserves confidentiality as much as any adult client. However, though I may not tell you the specifics of our session activities, I will work closely with you throughout their treatment and help provide insight into their experience and decode their behaviors. (It’s a team effort).

Of course, if at any time there are safety concerns that arise in session, I’ll notify you immediately. Again, this is all part of the confidentiality agreement that I review with clients and families before treatment begins.

The rest is up to you and your teen. Give your child the support they deserve.

Don’t wait for things to get worse – the path to your family’s health and happiness starts today!

I look forward to getting your teen back to their confident and exuberant self!