Adolescent Therapy
If you’re here, you know it can be tough raising an adolescent. They’re striving for autonomy and freedom but not taking responsibility. You may have tried reading books or going to webinars, or even trying therapy in the past, and still are dealing with the same behaviors. Family Spring is here to help get your teen back on track.
What We Help With
We help teens and their families with:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- ADHD
- Substance Use Disorders
- Impulsivity
- School Issues
- Negative moods
- Defiance towards parents and other caregivers
- Delinquency
- Trauma
- Low self-esteem
- Peer pressure
- And much more!
How It Works
Therapy for struggling teenagers includes three overlapping phases: 1) comprehensive assessment, 2) tailored treatment, and 3) follow-up treatment
1) Assessment Phase: The first step in helping your teen is for us to get an accurate picture of their life and worldview. We start with an initial session with only parents/caregivers and get a detailed history of the problem. This is also a time for us to coach parents/caregivers in how to get their adolescent to come to therapy if they are highly resistant. As part of the assessment phase (usually 4-6 sessions), we meet with parents/caregivers so that you can share your concerns, observations, and insights. You might feel like you’re at a breaking point with your teen but you still know them better than anyone else does. There’s also no one who has as big of an influence on your teen than you. That’s why parent/caregiver involvement in the assessment and treatment phases are extremely important.
When appropriate, we will begin meeting with your teen with the initial goal of building an authentic relationship and seeing life through their eyes to gather as much information as possible.
2) Treatment Phase: From the assessment phase comes recommendations that will most help your teen and family. These may include but are not limited to:
- Parent coaching to develop and maintain developmentally appropriate boundaries
- Family counseling to strengthen trust and relationships
- Individual/group counseling to learn stress management/emotional regulation/anger management skills
- Individual/group counseling to learn the role drugs, anger, stress, etc. plays in their lives and learn how to effectively deal with friends/peers who may be engaging in the same behaviors, motivate them to take differing perspectives, etc.
Recommendations are individualized and are catered to your teen and family’s unique needs.
3) Follow-Up Phase: As your teen develops emotional awareness and regulation skills, becomes motivated to live without drugs, and as you implement and maintain parent coaching strategies from our work, we will inevitably discuss winding down treatment. The goal isn’t for your family to be in therapy indefinitely. It’s to get the tools you need to leave therapy. In this phase our meetings will decrease with an intention to maintain the work we’ve done.
Mindfulness-Based Substance Use Disorder Treatment
Family Spring’s co-founder and CEO, Dr. Sam Himelstein, has spent the majority of his career helping youth who struggle with drugs, anger management, and related behavioral issues. Mindfulness-based, substance use disorder treatment for teens and young adults is one of Family Spring’s specialities. One of the major “skills” we help your teen develop is the ability to be self-aware and mindful. Self-awareness leads to better self-regulation and emotional/stress management, which is a core aspect of drug treatment that works for adolescents.
Dr. Himelstein developed a nationally recognized 12-session evidenced-based curriculum to help substance abusing (and other issues) youth develop mindfulness and emotional regulation skills (pictured to the left). Our programs are based on an adapted version of this curriculum.
Check back soon for more information on our forthcoming Intensive Outpatient (IOP) Substance Use Disorder Program.
When you’re in the trenches and weathering the daily battles with your struggling teenager, it can be hard to imagine a way forward. Hope might feel out of reach. But therapy can help, as long as you are able to commit to growing alongside your teen.
If you need help, fill out the inquiry below or call and one of our clinicians will be back in touch with you within one business day.