Child & Teen Counseling

Enter your text here...

About our child and teen counseling

Our child and teen counseling focuses on building self-esteem, creating a healthy sense of responsibility, strengthening relationships and improving communication. Our therapists are experts at helping children and teens cope with stress, develop problem-solving skills, build a strong sense of self and increase emotional strength.

Children and teens can easily become overwhelmed by the intensity of their emotions. Many need help dealing with school stress, violence, bullying, the loss of a relationship, or peer pressure. Others need help working through their feelings about family or social issues, particularly if there's a major transition, like a death, divorce, move, or serious illness. The struggle to fit in socially, succeed academically, please peers, parents and other adults is difficult enough. To do this while attempting to define their own values and establish a strong sense of core identity can be paralyzing. For a young person, this is a lot to navigate. Additionally, they need support to get through it. You and your teen aren’t alone. We’ve helped many families going through the same thing you are right now.

Being a teen can be especially difficult. Often, they are

learning how to balance being independent while still

needing support. This is a time where they are trying to

figure out who they are, who they want to be, and

where they belong. During this time, both parents and teens often feel misunderstood, unheard, disrespected,

and disliked or ignored by the other. All of our therapists

will take time to get to know your teen and what’s

bothering them. Our counselors will build trust and

rapport so your teen feels comfortable, safe, and

listened to.

To be able to live a self-directed life and feel accomplished as an adult, something all children and teens need to learn before they leave home is responsibility. An individual with a highly developed sense of personal responsibility is more likely to succeed in school, in the workplace, and in society at large. Having a sense of responsibility is a quality which shows up in every area of life. People who are responsible do what they say they’re going to do. On the other hand, Children and teens who assume or are given too much responsibility may suffer from low self-esteem because no matter how hard they try they’ll never be able to live up to the standards either the adults or they set for themselves. The job of being a child and a teenager has gotten a lot harder. There is more stress, higher expectations, harder choices, and ever-increasing stimulation surrounding our youth than ever before. They feel incompetent to handle the tasks given to them, do them poorly and suffer the consequences. The poor self-image can manifest in many ways such as acting out, perfectionism and more. It can start as a child or as a teen and follow them through adulthood.

We provide counseling to children and teens who are experiencing:

Worry and anxiety
Irritability
Depression
Rages, tantrums, and meltdowns
Substance abuse
Difficulty with social dynamics
Self-harm
Suicidal thoughts
Trauma
Issues with sexual orientation or gender identity
Challenges with divorce or new family members
ADHD, lack of focus and concentration
Developmental regressions
Challenges launching into college and/or adulthood

At Mindscape Counseling, we know that while therapy and counseling can be great for children and teens, that it’s not unusual for them to have no interest in actually meeting with a therapist. Our therapists have years of experience working with children and teens and are skilled at connecting with even the most disinterested youth. Our clinicians have worked in residential treatment centers, intensive outpatient programs and school settings and have learned how to use different techniques to help children and teens feels safe and to help them get to the root of their struggles.

While we do work with children and teens one-on-one, we also feel that it is important to keep parents involved as much as is possible and appropriate. Generally speaking, the younger the child, the more we want and need parents to be involved. Ultimately, in order for our young clients to feel safe and to build an effective relationship with their therapist, it is important to establish trust. Our therapists also clarify that if something is important and we believe it needs to be communicated to the family, that we will communicate those safety concerns to parents but also help our child or teen to feel empowered to communicate directly with their families themselves, and we will always let our child or teen know before anything is shared with their families.

Our aim is to improve communication and effect positive change through increased sense of empowerment and responsibility. We are here to help you and your child or teen navigate this journey. Please call to see how we can help.

Get started with child and teen counseling

Book An Appointment