Common Challenges Teens Face

What Parents Can Expect

Therapy for teens is a collaborative process between the therapist, the teen, and the teen’s parents. We are all there for the same reason: to help your teen thrive! Communication therefore is key to the therapeutic process: because teenagers are in that liminal space between childhood and adulthood, therapy for teens requires a delicate balance. Confidentiality is pivotal for building trust, which is necessary for therapy to be effective, and parents are always included as appropriate. Our therapists are trained to attend both to teen privacy and safety considerations, so both parents and teens can rest easy that they will receive respectful, responsible, and sensitive care here at Instilling Light.

Teen Therapy FAQs

What ages do you work with?

Our therapists work with men, women, and children across the whole lifecycle—including all the tween and teen years, which loosely covers the age range of 11 to 18.

How long are counseling sessions, and how long does therapy last?

Each session lasts approximately 50 minutes: long enough to make real progress, while short enough to fit into a teen’s busy schedule! The number of sessions varies significantly depending on the needs of the particular teen. Sometimes a specific or acute issue is resolved in six sessions. Often, because the teenage years come with so much rapid change and development, teens find therapy to be a valuable harbor and support on an ongoing basis.

Will you tell my parents everything we discuss?

No. Therapy is confidential, and it is our job to give you a space that you can trust where you can explore and process what’s going on in your life. When there is something your parents need to know, we will work with you to help decide the best way to share with them. It’s important to know too that we’re committed to your safety, and the laws hold us to that commitment: so if there are extreme situations where you or someone else is in imminent danger, the law requires us to share that information as well in a way that best preserves your safety. Both your privacy and your safety are top priorities for us!

What if my teen doesn’t want therapy?

This happens a lot, and it’s not surprising: as teens develop their senses of identity and autonomy, what we as parents see as care and appropriate authority can legitimately feel for teenagers like attacks against their worth, capability, or sense of self. It’s pretty common then when a parent wants to get support for their teen through therapy, the teen may perceive it as the parent thinking they’re “broken” and need “fixing”, or as yet another way to control their life. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this tricky dynamic, but making sure that your teenager knows that you love them, and, equally importantly, respect them, is a good starting place. Encourage your teenager to take ownership for the therapy as a space of their own, where they can work through what they need to without scrutiny.

But don’t worry if your teen won’t budge. We see lots of teenagers who are initially very skeptical or resistant. Over time most of them come to embrace therapy as a space to relax, let go of all the social and family pressure, and just be in a comfortable, low-pressure environment.

How involved are parents?

In most cases, the parents collaborate with the therapist to best support the teenager through whatever is bringing them to therapy. Likewise, the therapist may communicate regularly with the parents whilst also respecting the confidentiality of the teen, which is necessary to build trust and successfully support them.

In some situations, when the issue bring a teen into therapy directly involves their relationship with family members, we will shift into the family therapy format. This specific model focuses on the family relationships rather than on the teen alone, and involves direct involvement and presence of the teenager and at least one other family member in session.

Do you help with school anxiety and stress?

Absolutely. School presents some of the most intense and common stressors for teen, including issues surrounding academics, peer relationships, self-worth, identity, sexuality, boundaries, and more. We know how intense every day can feel during middle and high school—but you don’t have to navigate it alone. We’re here to support you!

Can therapy help with social media stress or bullying?

This is an excellent question. Teens are more online than ever, and typically face massive amounts of information, social complexity, and lengthy device use on a daily basis. Unsurprisingly, these can produce a vast array of emotional and psychological struggles, and we are absolutely here to help a teen navigate them. Whether we are helping teens set and maintain their personal boundaries regarding technology, emotionally filter and digest the social baggage that comes with social media, or improve lifestyle factors in order to reduce anxiety or depression stemming from social technology, we are ready to help navigate this increasingly prevalent and complex aspect of adolescent life.

Bullying unfortunately is also a perennial reality faced by teens, whether online or in person. Therapy can help teens develop the skills to emotionally process the effects of bullying, build healthy support systems, find and invest in trusted figures, and wisely navigate the situations where bullying arises. While we can support teens who suffer from bullying, stopping the pattern goes beyond therapy. If your teen is being targeted by bullies, in addition to therapy we encourage you to have frank and constructive conversations with your teen’s school about what’s going on and what must be done to stop it.

Can I choose whether my therapist is a guy or girl?

Yes, we have both female and male therapists on staff and you can definitely choose whether to see one or the other. While most of our therapists are women, if you would prefer to have a male therapist, feel free to reach out to Braeden.

What happens during the first appointment?

You may be worrying that the first appointment is going to feel awkward, or anxiety-producing, or invasive. Honestly, don’t worry. While there may be some awkwardness at first—which is normal—the first session is mostly focused on introducing ourselves to one another, learning about what the therapy involves, and talking a bit about what’s bothering you. That’s all! We only bring out the brain probes and the inkblot tests on the second session. (Just kidding. The second session is also mostly conversation!)

Do you offer virtual sessions?

Yes! We understand that teens (and their parents) deal with hectic schedules, transportation crunches, and competing obligations. For this reason we offer telehealth options for therapy. The mode is also flexible: if your schedule means that doing telehealth the whole time makes the most sense, that works for us. If you want to be in-person most of the time, but occasionally would benefit from the option of telehealth, that’s an option as well!

Schedule a consultation today to learn more.