Is your teenage child having difficulty at school, home or with friends?
Have you tried talking to him or her and it just doesn’t seem to help?
Adolescence is a critical time in which young men and women begin to shift their self-conception from one based in a world of childhood to one based in adulthood. At this stage, adolescents begin to form their identity that will define them for a lifetime. For parents, this time can often be a stage that includes many arguments and consistent boundary testing. Yet it can also be a time of awesome wonder as your teenage son or daughter crosses over the sacred bridge from childhood to adulthood.
Sometimes, adolescents are affected by emotional strains that need to be resolved through psychotherapy. Low self- esteem, depression, eating disorders, poor school performance, social isolation and shyness, chronic health issues, sexual maltreatment, substance abuse — these are just some of the issues that young people struggle with today. When not attended to, these issues can have a disruptive impact on your adolescent’s well-being and ability to get along in daily life. At Grand Junction Counseling, your adolescent will be helped to work through and resolve these difficulties so that he or she can get back on track.
Some adolescents teenagers have minor issues and just need a little assistance to get back on their feet and back on track. Whereas some adolescents / teenagers have very serious issues such as teenage depression, eating disorders, teenage violence, substance abuse, and many more serious issues that need more significant interventions. Some teens go to counseling to prevent problems from occurring in the future and some come to solve current problems or heal from past wounds. In order to successfully intervene with a teenager it is highly recommended that you choose a therapist that specializes in adolescent therapy. Although most teenagers feel they should be treated like an adult, they have many needs that are unique to a teenager and need a therapist that understands these needs and specializes in helping adolescents overcome their difficulties, get their needs met, and help them on their way to developing into highly functional adults someday. There are two main types of adolescent therapy offered at the Grand Junction Counseling:
- Preventative Therapy (to help teens prevent problems from occurring in the future)
- Teenage Counseling / Adolescent Therapy (to fix problems, resolve issues, or repair relationships)
Common areas that Adolescent Therapy can help fix:
- Behavior problems
- School problems
- Teenage discipline problems
- Teenage depression
- Anxiety
- Anger, Fighting, Defiance
- Lack of respect
- Power struggles
- Eating disorder issues
- Sleeping problems
- Substance use/abuse issues
- Sexual issues
- Social skills issues
- Relationship issues
- Family issues
- Sibling issues
- Coping with parent’s divorce
- Coping with a move or a loss
- Coping with a death
- Stepparent issues
- Multiple home issues
- Blending family issues
- Coping with childhood or adolescence trauma
- Coping with abuse issues (physical, sexual, emotional or neglect)
- Coping with illness
- Lack of ambition in life
- Coping skills problems
- General dissatisfaction with life
At the Grand Junction Counseling, we can help assist with any of these areas and many more. We have several adolescent therapists that specialize in treating teenagers / adolescents. As adolescent therapy is a highly specialized field we highly recommend that when you pick a counselor for your teenager that you choose a therapist that specializes in this area of therapy. Remember adult therapy and adolescent therapy are not the same thing. For this reason, the GJC has on staff both adult specialists and adolescent counseling specialists.
How It Works
At GJC, we believe that the most important person in your adolescent’s life is you! That is why our first meetings are with the parents so that we may better understand the difficulties that your adolescent is facing. We will learn what is happening in your adolescent’s life at home and at school and determine how we can best be of help.
Once treatment begins, parents remain involved, giving the therapist feedback and sharing how your teenager is doing at school and at home. In addition, you may be assisted by the therapist in how best to help your adolescent as well as have the opportunity to address any parenting questions that you may have.
Teenagers are generally treated once weekly in individual psychotherapy with check-ins held separately with the parent to address your teen’s functioning.
If you are wanting to meet with Stephen Anthony, there are two ways to setup an appointment with him: 1) Fill out the Contact Form and he will call you with 24-hours; 2) Call our offices at (970) 640-2428.