Adolescents and Psychotherapy

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Addiction-proof your teenager

All too often there is so much energy put into ensuring that kids don't use drugs without recognizing the other demons of life. There is no opposition to this mission as I think it's one that society for the most part collectively agrees. However, there seems to be too little energy helping our kids think about the addictive temptations that our society constantly puts before us on a regular basis. Some of these may seem harmless like television and coffee, yet its the idea of American addiction that spans from food, to retail, to media saturation, gambling, drug use, pornography and on and on that is equally dangerous. Helping kids take stock of their addictive tendencies can help them begin to see where they have experienced success. This opens the door to conversations that are typically experienced as "lectures" to young people. To be sure, there are times when a strong, no-nonsense approach is useful and necessary. However, it is important to not only share the opposition of undesireable behavior but to also create the possibilty for conversations about society's desire to get people addicted at our expense.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Sibling rivalry

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201006/oh-brother

Interesting article on sibling rivalry

Remocounseling.com

Establishing goals with adolescents

It's really important to establish some goals with adolescents' input so that it does not feel that the perspective of the parents is the only one considered.

Download now or watch on posterous

Establishing_goals_with_adolescents_001.AVI (29857 KB)

For more information go to: RemoCounseling.com

Teen Friendly and Family Counseling

Southbury, CT

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Teenagers who participate in counseling often do so because they are dragged through the door. When working with teens I find it important to know how they want the process of therapy to look and feel like. Many have previously had poor therapy experiences and therefore it is useful to ensure that you do not duplicate the same tired act that may lead to a one and done session.