Therapy for Teens & Adolescence
ADOLESCENT AND TEEN COUNSELING
We can help you raise a resilient teen.
You are concerned that your teen may be anxious or depressed.
You’re worried about your teen’s self-esteem and you wonder if they respond well to peer pressure.
Your child isn’t performing well in school and this worries you.
You don’t care for your teen’s friends, or you worry about them not having any friends.
You feel like you’re losing your child and wonder if there is something more you could do to support your child.
Teenage Anxiety:
Young adults who participate in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) groups often report several positive outcomes. While individual experiences may vary, here are some common positive outcomes that young adults have reported after engaging in DBT group therapy:
Symptoms of teen anxiety:
- Decreased self-esteem, loss of motivation
- Difficulty concentrating
- Irritability or being agitated often
- Sleeping problems: too much or too little
- A lot of stress or worry
- Hyperfocus on relationships or isolating themselves
- Extreme behaviors
- Increased screen time and increased agitation around limiting it
Teenage Depression:
Like anxiety, teenage depression is very common. Research shows that depression affects 1-5 teens. Depression looks different from teen to teen, but common teen depression symptoms include:
- Sadness or depressed mood
- Feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness
- Irritability or being agitated often
- Loss of interest in things they used to like
- Fatigue and sleeping problems: sleeping too much or too little
- Changes in eating patterns: eating too much or too little
- Excessive guilt
- Having a hard time concentrating
- Physical symptoms: stomachaches, nausea, body aches, headaches
- Thoughts of self-harm or self-harming behaviors
- Suicidal thinking or attempts
Does my child need teen counseling?
“Normal” teen behavior versus concerning behaviors
Normal Teen behavior or signs your teen is growing and changing
- Increased independence and being able to ask for help when needed
- Sleeping a lot, but they are able to get out of bed
- Decreased interest in family time but still communicating with their parents and siblings
- Moodiness
- Changing friend groups that bring them more connection and satisfaction
- Thinking about what happens when we die, but having no interest in dying
Concerning Teen behavior or signs your teen may be struggling
- Increased isolation: pushing parents, friends, and loved ones away
- High-risk behaviors without correlating responsibility
- Sleeping most of the day and not leaving their bedroom
- Mood changes that often include disturbing or out of control feelings and emotions
- Associating with risky friend groups
- Hopelessness, giving up, or loss of interest in meaningful things
- Unable to stop worrying about friends, school, etc.
Depression and Anxiety Commonly Show Up Together in Teens
Should parents be included in teen counseling?
The short answer is yes, but not with your child in sessions. Parents and caregivers are vital to a holistic perspective and 360 support for a child. But, it is also essential that teens have privacy. For therapy to be successful, teens have to be able to feel like they can trust their therapist and that their therapist won’t disclose everything they say.
Good teen therapy balances privacy for the teen and quality parent collaboration. The ultimate goal is to help teens and parents work together. We understand that you are concerned about your child and you want them to be successful in therapy, but we won’t disclose what your child tells their therapist unless there is a risk to their safety or others. We will give you general updates about their progress. The exact details will vary for each family. But, regardless of the details, know that we want you involved in your child’s life. You will always be their biggest resource.
Begin Working With A Therapist in Boulder, CO
Our team of caring therapists is happy to provide support across the state. We offer a variety of therapy services to support you from our Boulder, CO-based practice. To start your therapy journey, please follow these simple steps:
- Contact our therapy center
- Request an appointment to learn more about our team
- Begin experiencing the benefits of online therapy
Other Services Offered at North Boulder Counseling
We offer a variety of services from our Boulder, CO-based counseling practice. Our team offers anxiety treatment, an anxiety treatment intensive program, postpartum anxiety treatment, postpartum depression counseling, perinatal support, counseling for women, and parenting coaching. Our team also offers grief counseling, trauma treatment and EMDR, depression treatment, teen therapy, LGTBQ counseling, and play therapy. We also support clinicians via professional supervision and consulting and business coaching for therapists. To learn more about online therapy in Colorado, contact us today! Feel free to learn more by visiting our blog or FAQs page.