Going through adolescence can be daunting, for both teens and parents. You just don’t know what to expect, and uncertainty causes issues of its own. The same can be said for counseling for teens, which may be new for many. It can feel especially scary to find yourself in a space with a total stranger and be vulnerable with them about yourself and your life.
However, in many ways, the fact that your counselor is a third party with no personal connection to you provides the objectivity as well as professional expertise. This is needed to help your teen resolve their issues and receive the treatment they need. Sometimes it’s actually easier to talk to someone who isn’t a part of your life because they can listen without judgment, and they don’t have the emotional investment you do in the problems.
When you go for counseling at McKinney Christian Counseling, your counselor will talk with you to build rapport as well as get an understanding of what the issue is. That will help them to make an assessment and diagnosis, as well as a proper treatment plan that goes with it. The counselor will meet with your teen for an hour every week for several weeks, but that will depend on what the issue is.
Effective counseling rests on a relationship of trust, so the counselor will work to create a safe atmosphere in which your teen feels free to share their thoughts and feelings without fear of rebuke, retribution, or being judged. The confidentiality of the sessions also ensures that the atmosphere of trust is maintained. Only if there is risk of imminent harm or danger to the teen or another person, confidentiality will always be maintained.
At McKinney Christian Counseling, your counselor will make use of several techniques both to build rapport as well as undertake the treatment. These include talk therapy, in which they will ask questions and provide space for your teen to express their thoughts and feelings. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps one to understand the roots of negative patterns of thought and behavior. Then your teen will learn to identifying these and replacing them with positive and healthy patterns that promote well being.
Additionally, music, worksheets, exercises, and games are other useful ways to get your teen to process what’s going on in their lives. They will begin developing tools such as problem solving that will enable them to tackle issues in their lives constructively.
At Mckinney Christian Counseling, therapy can take place either in a group setting, or one-on-one with the counselor. Both have their advantages and benefits. Individual counseling has the benefit of the teen having the exclusive focus of the counselor and room to direct the conversation more freely. Group counseling is when a small group of individuals gather in a weekly session led by a trained professional counselor to focus on a specific issue faced by all group members. This approach helps to remove the stigma of feeling alone. Because some teens don’t respond well to authority figures, group counseling may be a more effective setting for finding healing and building effective strategies to overcome challenges.
Looking at Christian counseling for your teen
The teen years are important for their spiritual development. In Christian counseling sessions, your teen will begin to understand who they are in Christ, and they can leverage Christian wisdom to address their issues. This will help them in their teen years as well as later in life.
The challenges that you and your teen may be facing now may feel overwhelming, but they are certainly not insurmountable. There is help to be found from online resources, support groups, crisis centers, and through Christian counseling for teens in McKinney Christian Counseling.
Your Christian counselor in McKinney, Texas will create a safe space and provide support for your teen to grow spiritually. The counselor will help your teen develop the tools they need to express and process their emotions and thoughts. Your teen will learn to solve problems constructively without resorting to self-destructive habits. Through reliance on effective therapeutic techniques and godly wisdom, your teen will form a healthy self-image. The counselor will help your teen cultivate deep and meaningful relationships with others and make the kind of lasting changes leading to greater freedom and peace.
