How To Find A Good Therapist For Your Teenager

Being a teenager is a time of physical, emotional, social, and mental changes. It is challenging, to say the least. This is why it is important to know how to find a good therapist for your teenager. Successful therapy for your teenager will include a therapist who understands the developmental stage of your teen. You will want a therapist who knows how to engage and guide your teen in a way that resonates with them, as an individual. Finding the right therapist will provide the tools necessary to help your teen successfully cope and develop into adulthood.

A Teen’s Developmental Stage

If you are looking for a therapist for young adults with anxiety and depression, it will be helpful for you to know more about the challenges your teen faces. Children and teens simply think differently than adults. This is because of the developmental stages of their cognitive abilities. Pre-teens are beginning to apply reason to information that is literal and definite. As they move into becoming a teenager, they become able to consider abstract ideas, such as hypothetical and moral considerations. The information they are seeking to understand is no longer just the “definites” in life. 

Because of limited life experience, this stage is extremely challenging and can cause a great deal of teen stress. Despite its challenges, this is a pivotal time, as your teen is adding to their abilities to adapt and overcome as they move toward adulthood. This further highlights the importance of parents knowing how to find a good therapist for a teenager. Being vigilant about the way your teen is navigating these changes and new found abilities will help them become a successful adult.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Teens

The life changes adolescents face are confusing and intimidating for even the most successful teen. This increases the need for awareness and intervention for mental health issues in adolescence. A successful intervention method a therapist for young adults with anxiety and depression may use is cognitive behavioral therapy. 

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of talk therapy which is known to be successful in managing anxiety and depression. CBT helps teens develop healthy thought patterns when reasoning through stressful situations. Even deeper than that, CBT plays an important role in the early identification of problematic core beliefs and learned behaviors. These core beliefs are what guide the teen’s current thoughts, which play a role in their reasoning, and subsequent behaviors. 

Additional Therapies For Teens

Using cognitive behavioral therapy to take an objective look at thoughts and emotions is an effective therapy. But often a therapist for young adults with anxiety and depression will use a blended approach. This means that knowing how to find a good therapist for your teenager will include learning about the other types of therapies that may be suitable for your teen.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming

Many therapists tailor a therapy plan which includes neuro-linguistic programming. This therapy technique helps individuals identify and understand their thoughts and actions. Once the individual’s unique perspectives and actions are understood, the therapist can help your teen enhance and develop new skills for more favorable outcomes.

Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy has a variety of applications. Knowing how hypnotherapy works can help you better understand how to find a good therapist for your teenager that meets their specific needs. Hypnotherapy puts the individual into a deep state of relaxation. Your teen is still in full control of themselves, they are simply more open and receptive to positive strategies for managing stress and other influences. These positive strategies bypass the conscious mind, where they may meet with the resistance of current beliefs and learned behaviors, and reach deep into the subconscious. 

A therapist for young adults with anxiety and depression may include a blend of hypnotherapy, neuro-linguistic programming, and cognitive behavioral therapy in your teen’s treatment regimen.

Family Therapy

Facing life’s challenges as a family provides a steady foundation for each member to thrive. Family therapy has a wealth of benefits for the individual members of your family, as well as your family unit, as a whole. So, while you may be exploring how to find a good therapist for your teenager, you may also be interested in exploring how to choose a family therapist. This will enable you and your family to fit into your teen’s mental wellness. 

Setting family therapy goals will not only contribute to your teen’s success, but also strengthen your family’s bond. It helps provide the tools necessary to nurture your family’s unique form of communication, as well as re-establish the connection between family members. Family therapy is an integral part of navigating significant life changes by providing the support families need in times of loss, times of struggle, and is also part of divorce counseling for kids.

Choosing a Family Therapist

Whether you’re exploring how to find a good therapist for your teenager, looking specifically for a therapist for young adults with anxiety and depression, or simply wondering how to choose a family therapist you will want to look for a therapist who specializes in a variety of therapeutic approaches. A highly educated therapist who is able to combine the benefits of therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy, hypnotherapy, and neuro-linguistic programming will become integral in the success of your family’s mental health. 

If you are looking for family therapy in Miami, Miami Hypnosis and Therapy’s therapist, Anna Marchenko, LMHC, M.A., Ed.M, has the education, experience, and credentials to offer your teen, and your family, the support they need. Anna holds dual master’s degrees from Columbia University in psychology and her hypnotherapy certification is certified by Florida’s Department of Education. If you are in the Miami area, you can schedule a consultation or book your appointment. There is no better time than now for you and your family to take the first step to transforming your lives.