Our counselors offer counseling for teens in Cary, NC

When it comes to working with teenagers, the therapeutic relationship is the primary driver for progress. As such, building rapport and understanding of the teenage client's perspective is a pivotal step in the process. We seek to help teenage clients and their family members gain awareness and communication skills while teenagers work through what is known as the three I's: Independence, Identity, and Intimacy. These three areas of development for teenagers will help give them solid foundations as they move into adulthood.

We teach the following tools in teen counseling:

• Communication skills - How we get teens and their families to communicate in healthy and respectful patterns.
• Emotion regulation skills - There are big feelings during the teenage years, and research shows that it isn't just on the teenager's part!
• Dialectical behavior therapy skills - This includes the development of The Wise Mind, which is the intersection of both our “reasonable minds” and our “emotional minds.” This will help any individual make decisions that are more in line with their values while accepting and working through healthy decisions that can still sometimes be painful to make.

We see our teenage clients making progress when there is greater understanding occurring between teens and the significant people in their lives, whether it's significant others, parents, siblings, or just friends. Teenaged clients are able to develop and use healthy coping and communication strategies that will serve them well throughout their lives.

Outside of therapy sessions, it can be useful for parents and teenagers to examine what they each feel they can do to create an environment that will be more supportive of direct and honest communication with one another. Ask yourself what you can personally do, or even better, ask your teenager what you can do as a parent to create a healthier or more supportive environment.

To prepare for their first teen counseling session, a teen can consider their goals for counseling. How can counseling best serve their lives? We can be flexible and are excellent at finding strategies that help our more shy teens find their voice in the counseling process.