Anxiety Therapist Shares What you Want to Know About Teenager Counseling

By: Elizabeth Chambers, LMHC

You’re tired of watching your teen struggle. You see how school is harder for them than it used to be and aren’t sure what else to do to help. You try to communicate with them but each time leaves you feeling frustrated and discouraged. 

As an Anxiety Therapist who specializes in Teenager Counseling, I understand feeling overwhelmed.

You recognize that your teen needs help. You’ve been trying to use all the tools that you have but it doesn’t seem to be helping your teen feel better. You’re starting to think that it’s time to seek out professional help by finding a teen counselor. Although you recognize the need for this, it’s intimidating to start the process of looking for a counselor for your teen.

At Mindful Living Counseling, we’re here to help you with this process. In this post, we’ll define what teen counseling is, what to look for in a teen counselor, what to expect in counseling, and much more.

What is Teenager Counseling?

Counseling for teens generally consists of individual sessions with your teen and a counselor. At the initial session, parents join the session to provide history and any pertinent information that they feel your teens’ counselor needs to know. After the initial session, most of the work is done individually with the teen. In order to create a welcoming environment where teens feel they can express themselves, it is important for your teen to have individual time with their counselor.

Teen counseling will look different for each teen and family, depending on what they are coming to counseling for. Generally, counseling at Mindful Living Counselings consists of weekly sessions that are 50 minutes in length. Once per month, parents are invited into the sessions to provide their feedback on any changes they have noticed at home or concerns they may have about their teen that they feel the counselor needs to be aware of.

When Should I Consider Counseling for my Teen?

Counseling can help with a variety of stressors your teen or your family may be facing. Do you feel like you keep trying to help your teen feel better and you’re getting nowhere? Does it feel like communicating with them has been impossible lately? Teen counseling can help with these issues and more. Going to counseling can help your teen through low self-esteem, anxiety, irritability, depression, and more. It can also help improve communication at home with parents and siblings, making it easier to have conversations and work through problems that come up at home.

Sometimes it can be difficult to know if what your teen is going through is a normal teenage problem or something more. I encourage you to look at this post which goes into more detail about the warning signs of anxiety in particular. Additionally, if your teen is directly asking you to go to counseling, it is important to take this seriously and honor this request. Teens have a hard time asking for help at times, especially when they’re struggling with their mental health, so when they voice to you that they need help it is important for a parent to listen to this request and allow them to feel heard.

Types of Teen Therapy

Each counselor differs in their specific style and approach to counseling. Our office has multiple specialties that alleviate symptoms of anxiety, depression, trauma, and more.

1. EMDR Therapy

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) can be a helpful approach to alleviate distressing symptoms. Although initially researched for reprocessing traumatic memories, the use of EMDR has now been expanded to help those with anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and more. This specific approach helps get to the roots of where the problem started, allowing your teen to heal from what caused their distress to start.

Our EMDR therapists will help your teen first learn new ways to cope, using specific skills that are taught in EMDR. After learning new tools, your teens’ counselor will help them trace back where this distress started and use EMDR techniques to help alleviate the symptoms it has caused. EMDR is a wonderful tool that can provide long-lasting relief.

2. Mindfulness

Incorporating mindfulness can have benefits for those with anxiety, depression, trauma, and more. Mindfulness consists of two key components: attention and acceptance. Attention refers to bringing your focus to what is happening right here, right now, in the present moment. Acceptance refers to being non-judgmental about what you’re experiencing at the moment, such as a thought, feeling, or body sensation.

Learning mindfulness skills can help your teen feel more in control of their emotions and learn to regulate the distress that they may experience. We often see that anxiety pulls you into the future - worrying about what will happen next, trying to predict your future, or planning for worst-case scenarios. Depression on the other hand typically drags you into the past, where you may fixate on past mistakes, regrets, or times you felt low. Mindfulness brings the focus back to the present, allowing your brain to be in the now rather than being pulled into the future or dragged back to the past.

Three Things to Look For in Teenager Counseling

So you’ve decided to search for a counselor, but aren’t sure what you should be looking for in your search. There are a couple of important things to keep in mind.

1. Experience

A key factor to look for is if a counselor has experience working with teens. Counselors have a wide variety of expertise but not everyone has worked with teens. When searching for a qualified counselor, it is important to see what age range they typically see and ask about their experience in working with the age group that your teen. Having this experience can help the counselor know how to work best with your teen.

2. Credentials

Counselors have different credentials which means different backgrounds when it comes to education and training. Generally, you want to seek out a licensed mental health professional. This can include a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, or a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Another credential that you may come across is a Registered Intern. This means that this counselor is working towards obtaining their license, but is still in training and has not achieved this yet.

3. Availability

Because most teens are at school throughout the day, it is important to find someone who has the availability to accommodate this schedule. Additionally, if you are bringing your teen in for an urgent matter, it is important to ask about how soon your teen can be seen by the counselor or if they have a waitlist.

What to Ask a Prospective Counselor

Finding a counselor who is the right fit for your teen can be a challenge, which is why it’s important to ask the right questions when you’re searching. Firstly, ask if the counselor has worked with the presenting concerns that you are bringing your teen into counseling for. If the prospective counselor does not have any experience with the particular difficulty your teen needs to work through, someone else may be better suited to help.

Additionally, asking about the counselor’s approach and style of therapy is important as well. This is especially important if you are seeking a specific therapy, such as EMDR or DBT, as these require additional training that not all counselors have taken. Asking about logistical questions, such as the frequency of sessions and cost, is important as well to determine if you are able to commit to the frequency and cost that each counselor has. Read our blog 8 Questions to Ask a Teen Counselor in Orlando for more information on questions to ask a prospective counselor for your teen.

Preparing Your Teen for Teen Therapy

Once you’ve scheduled an appointment with your teen’s counselor, now it’s time to prepare for your initial session with the counselor. This can include talking with your teen about the concerns you plan to share with the counselor, what points they would like to bring up, and discussing goals you each have for counseling prior to meeting with the counselor. 

Another key factor in preparing for the first session is completing the necessary paperwork. Your counselor will often have forms and assessments for both a parent and the teen to complete. This usually consists of an informed consent form, a history questionnaire, and assessments to measure current symptoms your teen may be experiencing. These forms give your counselor helpful information to start the first session with and it’s a great opportunity for both teens and parents to share what brings them to counseling prior to verbally discussing it in session.

You may want to discuss with your teen what will happen in their first therapy session and answer questions they may have. Even if you don’t have the answer to one of their questions, providing the space to hear their question can be helpful. This is especially important if your teen has anxiety, as new situations and people may be particularly difficult for them. One of our teen counselors has written about dispelling myths that teens often hear about counseling; this can be helpful to share with your teen before coming to their first session.

What to Expect in Teen Counseling

During your first teen counseling session, parents join their teen for approximately the first half of the session. Together, you and your teen will discuss their history, what brings your teen to counseling, and what goals you are each hoping to accomplish as a result of your teen being in counseling. After the first half of the session, parents then exit to the waiting room so that the teen and the counselor can meet one-on-one.

Having individual time with your teen is important in building a therapeutic relationship with them. By getting to know your teen and establishing trust, this fosters a safe environment for your teen to be able to express themselves and share what they have been experiencing. Generally, your teens’ counselor will meet with you approximately once per month to check in on how your teen has been doing outside of session, such as at home or at school. Although we stress the importance of individual time for your teen, we also strongly value parent feedback.

Your counselor will tailor their sessions to what your teen is needing. Therefore, each person’s treatment will look a little bit different. Typically, your teens’ counselor will discuss their symptoms in the beginning, teach new ways for them to cope, and then get to the root of where this problem developed. This may look a little different for each teen, depending on why they are coming in for counseling. To learn more about what you and your teen can expect in therapy, feel free to browse through this helpful post about What to Expect During Teen Counseling.

Teen Counselor Near Me

So you’ve decided to bring your teen to counseling but you’re not sure where to start looking for one. There are multiple options to find a counselor as well as things to keep in mind. The most common way is Google searching “teen counseling Orlando” or “teen counseling near me” to see who is local and provides these services. By looking at the websites of these counselors, you can determine which ones feel like a good fit.

Another popular place to search is EMDRIA, where you can filter by location. This site gives you an overview of the counselor’s style, the cost of sessions, and a brief description of them as a counselor. It also lists the types of concerns they treat, so you can search specifically for what your teen is seeking help for.

Throughout your search, it is important to ask your teens’ opinions about the counselors you find. Ask your teen what traits they would like in a counselor - some common examples that we find are having a preference for age and gender. Allowing your teen to have a voice in the search can help them feel more comfortable with the counselor they help choose when they start to work with them. One of our teen counselors has compiled a list of tips to find a teen counselor in Orlando.

Ready to start teenager counseling in Orlando?

Our counselors at Mindful Living Counseling Orlando are here for your teen. Our highly trained team will help your teen feel in control of their emotions again, help improve their self-esteem, and bring peace and calm back to your home. To get started with one of our counselors:

1. Fill out our New Client Consultation Form

2. Schedule a consultation call with our Client Care Coordinator

3. Start the journey of helping your teen heal

Not Quite Ready for Teenager Counseling?

We have a highly trained team that is ready to help your teen on their healing journey. Orlando therapists will help you gain tools that will help you overcome any anxiety your teen may be struggling with. If you’re not ready, we understand. In the meantime, feel free to read the articles below.

Additional Teen Counseling Resources

Teen Counseling Orlando Resources

Orlando Therapist Helps Your Teen Navigate Through College Rejection Letters

Teenage Counselor Helps Your Anxious Teen With College Applications

How to Validate Your Teen So They Feel More Understood

How to Find an Orlando Therapist for Teens

What to Expect: Teen Therapy Orlando

Therapist Orlando Spotlight - Elizabeth Chambers, LMHC

8 Questions to Ask a Teen Counselor in Orlando

How to Talk to Your Teen: 6 Helpful Steps

An Anxiety Therapist Shares Everything You Need to Know About Anxiety

Other Therapy Services Offered at Mindful Living Counseling in Orlando, FL

Our therapists understand that anxiety may not be the only challenge you may struggle with. That’s ok. We offer a variety of therapy services at Mindful Living Counseling which include Trauma therapy, EMDR therapy, Eating Disorder Therapy, Toxic Relationship Therapy, and Anxiety Therapy. We encourage you to check out our Guided Meditations. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out!

About the Author

Elizabeth Chambers, LMHC is an Orlando therapist at Mindful Living Counseling Orlando. Elizabeth specializes in working with teens struggling with anxiety, trauma, self-esteem, and depression. Elizabeth is also an EMDR Therapist. Utilizing EMDR and mindfulness practices helps clients move beyond anxiety and depression.

As an Orlando Therapist specializing in teen therapy Elizabeth enjoys helping teens work through anxiety and self-esteem issues, as well as helping teens and their families rebuild their relationships. During her free time, Elizabeth enjoys spending time with her family and her two dogs.