Challenges Facing Teens

Being a teen can be tough. On some days you’re expected to be mature and act more like an adult and other days you are told you are still a child! The mixed messages can be confusing and frustrating. When you try to assert your independence, you may find yourself challenged or you may feel like everyone is too busy doing their own thing to notice what you are doing. You are not alone.

Everything can feel so overwhelming as you simply try to determine who you are. Compound this with:

• stress from the pandemic.
• pressure from peers.
• social media messages telling you how you “should be.”
• exploring gender and sexuality
• cyberbullying and/or bullying at school.
• school or social anxiety.
• family stress.
• issues with blended families, stepfamilies, or where you belong?
• swapping homes regularly, and it can feel like no one really “gets” you.
• Difficulty with relationships with family and/or friends.

You may even find yourself acting one way in one home or situation and acting differently somewhere else. This makes you feel like even you don’t know who the “real you” is sometimes.  The good news is that it isn’t you. Anyone facing the overwhelming challenges you face would feel the same. We can help you get control and help you move forward with confidence!

How Treatment Helps.

We meet you where you are at and introduce new strategies to help you cope and manage everything more effectively. You simply do not know what you do not know. You cannot use strategies you have never been taught. Sometimes, your parents cannot teach you what they do not know, because no one taught them. This isn’t anyone’s fault. The good news is that help is available. We may use a combination of CBT, DBT or ACT skills and strategies to give you more control and freedom.

Trauma

Trauma can have a huge impact on anyone at any time. Trauma may include having a family member who is seriously ill, death of a loved one, loss or abandonment of a loved one, witnessing a high conflict divorce, violence at school, or even a dysfunctional family dynamic that causes a lot of discord and chaos in the home. Trauma can also include witnessing or experiencing family violence, sexual, verbal, or emotional abuse. Trauma changes us.

You may even have received numerous diagnoses over the years, making you feel like you are the problem, you are defective. The truth is that trauma changes the brain. You are NOT your trauma. Your brain is reacting to your experiences to protect you from more trauma. It is not your fault. More importantly, we can help you process and move past your trauma, so it doesn’t keep impacting your life and your relationships! Using EMDR we can help you re-process and re-program what your brain has learned and replace it with more adaptive and healthy beliefs, strategies, and emotions. You can lead the life you deserve and desperately want.

Teens are faced with a multitude of challenges. You may withdraw to try to avoid unpleasant situations, but this is not a long-term solution. It leaves you feeling isolated, and even worse. We can help you move slowly through what is holding you back, help you identify the strategies that work for you, and give you the confidence and skills to start creating the life you want and deserve. When would you like to get started?

For more information on relationship violence, visit the RCMP Relationship Violence website.

View our PDF on unhealthy and abusive relationships.