Teen Therapy
You can see how hard they work in school and how they spend all day trying to make everything perfect so they fit in with their friends.
You are worried about their grades, feel pressure from other parents and colleges, and want your teen to succeed. The two of you have tried talking, but it escalates to fights, yelling, swearing, and no matter what you say, you can’t get through to them. The hope you had for your child is sinking, and you fear the worst for them.
You see how overwhelmed they are by school and their commitments this year. It is impossible to connect with them, and you’re unsure how to handle parenting at this stage. You worry about the rest of high school and college and fear the worst for them.
You are worried about the amount of time they spend gaming online with their friends and fearful about who they could meet online. You worry about their online activity, and you see how the hours they spend scrolling on their phone leaves them feeling unlovable, anxious, and sad because they can’t compare to the perfect images they see online. You’re worried that they might be caught in a trap of comparing their looks to the airbrushed and filtered images online. When your teen looks in the mirror, they hear a reel playing in their head that says, “You’re not good enough.”
They might even struggle with watching porn on their phone, and you are starting to worry that they’ve developed a problem with it. Teens today spend hours online, and we do not have sufficient research to say what this is doing to their brains.
We do know that hours spent watching pornography online hijacks the adolescent brain and can create emotional and physiological disturbances. Most adolescents have encountered pornography on their smart devices and some of them struggle to stop watching it. We have specialized training to help teens break the porn habit and develop healthy online behaviors.
We teach teens and families about resources that can help them change online behaviors while promoting healthy social relationships, and support the teen to find engaging social, sports, or creative activities that replace online porn. We use consistency, engagement, and family support to help your family navigate this issue, and help you develop healthy communication tools to talk about this tough subject.
Our adolescent daughters spend hours on social media platforms where the images are filtered and look airbrushed, leaving them anxious and feeling unworthy, because the reflection in the mirror looks nothing like the images online. Sometimes these girls begin to restrict food, dress in ways that hide or expose their bodies, and struggle with anxiety, depression, and feelings of worthlessness. Sometimes teen girls struggle with friendships and might even be bullied online or in school. These experiences are devastating for their self-image and self-esteem. Sometimes the depression hurt, and anger can lead to self-harming and suicidal thoughts.
We take these issues very seriously and work with your daughter to develop healthy coping skills and improve their self-esteem and self-worth.
Teens today question their gender and sexuality and might use terms you never heard before. They might even want you to use a different name and/or use a pronoun that differs from their birth sex. You worry this might be a phase and want your child to be happy, but you feel unsure how to support them through this stage. We help teens figure out their gender identities and use affirming activities to help them navigate these feelings and questions.
We make the weekly sessions fun and teach teens skills to help navigate peer relationships while exploring their gender identity and learning coping skills to manage stress and anxiety. We work with parents and the entire family to navigate this process to learn to communicate better, problem solve, and experience more love and connection than ever felt before. We will teach you how to affirm your teen’s identity and can even help you find medical resources. We adhere to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health Standards of Care (WPATH 7), to promote the highest standards of care and believe that being Transsexual, Transgender or Gender-Nonconforming is a matter of diversity and not a sign of disease or pathology.
At Ray Family Therapy we get you. We understand the struggles teens and their families experience in today’s world, and we know how unbalanced life can feel--(we’re parents too!). We won’t judge and are here to help them sort out their thoughts about big life issues (hey, we get it, it’s confusing and sometimes your teen just needs a safe place to talk about these things!). We understand the pressures teens face today and come to each session prepared to help you work toward your goals. (Wait did I say goals?!) Yup, we help teens become more goal-oriented and self-compassionate while helping them find their superpowers to feel more confident and happier in life.
When you call, we’ll talk with both you and your teen before scheduling your first appointment. This way, we can make sure all of you agree that our therapists are a good fit for your needs. (Don’t worry, we can talk to you both separately and at different times--we know how busy life is). We know that picking the right therapist is important, especially when looking for someone to work with your teen. We also understand that teens sometimes feel scared (just like us adults!) when they come to their first session, and we want you to feel confident and assured that you are in a space that fosters healing and growth. If you’re ready to start living family life with abundant love, joy, fun, and creativity, call today to schedule your first appointment.