How to Talk to Your Teen About Counseling (1) 26 Oct 2020

BY: admin

Relationships

How to Talk to Your Teen About Counseling

How to Talk to Your Teen About Counseling

You want nothing but the best for your teenager, and it’s heartbreaking to watch them struggle mentally. Your child may have voiced their mental health problems, or you may notice from afar that something is off but have no idea how to intervene. Many parents worry about bringing up counseling to their child for fear it will send the wrong message.

Unfortunately, some parents have used the therapy as a threat, implying that it is a punishment and their teenager’s mental health struggles are a wrongdoing. We want to change the view families have about counseling and help you present it as not only a form of treatment or a “last resort” for serious issues.

We believe counseling is a tool for everyone, and it can be just as beneficial for treating problems as it can be at preventing them. If you are wondering whether counseling is right for your teen, here are some of the topics a counselor can address:

  • • Self-esteem and confidence
  • • Social skills, including making new friends and dating
  • • Family relationships
  • • Depression, self-harm and suicide risks
  • • Anxiety
  • • Substance use and addiction
  • • Eating disorders
  • Sexuality and gender identity

How to Bring Up Counseling to Your Teen

Your child should feel like they are included in the decision to go to therapy. Counselors will face a greater challenge forming a connection with your teen if they have been essentially forced into talking against their will. Resistance to participate in counseling often stems from fear, embarrassment or shame about their struggles. To combat this, you should start a dialogue that is rooted in love and a desire to help your teen feel good about themselves.

You should start off by reminding your teen that you love and care about them. Just because they may not always be receptive to affection does not mean they don’t need it. In fact, adolescents are particularly sensitive to approval, so affirmation is essential.

Let them know what you’ve noticed about their behavior or mental health, but avoid coming at it from a critical standpoint. For example, you may say, “You’ve seemed really down lately, and I’ve noticed you’re spending a lot more time alone than usual. I need alone time when I feel down, too. Has this been helpful for you?”

Once you begin to understand your teenager’s experience and perspective, you can suggest counseling as one way for them to help themselves. You may share about therapy being helpful to you as well; it can also be beneficial to mention that you understand talking to you or other people can be difficult, and a counselor will listen without judging or violating your teen’s confidentiality.

Reach Out Together

Inform your teen about their options when it comes to counseling. We offer virtual online therapy for teens that is accessible and convenient for their schedule. Being able to talk to a therapist online can also make talking to a professional less intimidating. Let your teen know their options, and explore different counselors and forms of therapy together. Then, make the appointment and encourage your teen to play an active role in their own wellness.

You can learn more about our teen counseling services and contact us anytime for more information. We’re also happy to provide you or your teen with personalized feedback about how we may help them address specific problems.

Political Stress and Anxiety and How to Cope (1) 20 Oct 2020

BY: admin

Relationships

Political Stress and Anxiety and How to Cope

Political Stress and Anxiety and How to Cope

Social media and the internet has made it possible for political news, messages and online activism to reach us anywhere, anytime. Americans are stressed, anxious and downright scared about the direction the country is headed, and it’s natural to feel an unwavering sense of unease as things continue to progress beyond your control.

Some therapists have begun calling the uptick of politically-induced symptoms “election stress disorder.” While this is not a clinical diagnosis, it gives a name to the extremely common and increasing number of symptoms people are turning to therapy for help with. If you feel tense or anxious before checking the news, compelled to always see what is happening in the headlines and experience stress or depression thinking about the political climate in America, you may be suffering from this condition.

How Politics Cause Anxiety

Anxiety stems from fear of a threat, either real or perceived, which activates the autonomic nervous system. This is the system responsible for the fight-or-flight response. More than a psychological fear or constant worry, anxiety changes how your bodily systems function. It puts your brain on “high alert,” constantly tense and waiting for something bad to happen. In psychology, this is known as hyper-vigilance. It can impact our ability to function on a basic level.

When you constantly worry about politics, you may likely bring up worst-case scenarios or dwell on fears about what will happen if the opposing candidate wins. You may even feel like you’re stuck choosing between the lesser evil, essentially hoping for a miracle but fearful that there is no “right choice.”

No one can decide who you should vote for or what you should believe in but you. However, there is a social tie to politics these days that influences everything from our relationships to our feeling of control and autonomy. Even dating apps have even incorporated a feature that allows members to display whether or not they’ve voted on their profiles, causing us to immediately judge people for their outward actions and affiliations rather than getting to know them and their views independently.

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with being passionate about government, over-emphasizing politics can not only damage your mental health but also become a barrier in your relationships.

Ways to Cope With Political Stress

The most important thing to do is distance yourself from the source of your problem without becoming avoidant. Rather than prohibiting any type of political news, moderate how much you read, and be picky about what forms of media you engage with. Watching analysis and opinionated videos may only heighten your stress, and you’re likely to feel worse rather than better after reading comments and engaging in heated online debates.

Make note of how often you think about, engage with and talk of politics. Obsessive thoughts can lead to compulsive behaviors, actions we feel like we have to do to eliminate feelings of distress. This thought cycle also causes you to feel less in control, which only heightens your need to look for external sources of validation.

Take a moment to write down your priorities in life, and see how they align with or conflict with your current relationship with politics. You might find that your differing opinions with relatives and friends are causing you to be more judgmental and intolerant, pushing you away from people who you love and care for because you think differently about certain subjects.

It’s okay to hold your own stance on things, and not everything has to be a debate. Therapy can also help you learn to balance your own views while coping with others’ opinions. A counselor can also help you work through your own underlying thoughts, unease and fears about the future in a constructive way that empowers you in the present moment. Contact us for more information.