Teens and pre-teens are undergoing a great number of internal and external pressures as well as changes to their bodies and minds that can make it difficult to cope. As a result of these difficulties, some may develop major behavioral problems as well as eating disorders or even addictions to drugs or drinking. It’s no wonder that many of today’s parents are concerned about their adolescents’ well being. Not just troubled teens and tweens can benefit from counseling in such scenarios — often, the entire family will find it easier to cope with the help of a professional therapist.

Many parents of teenagers or pre-teens lose confidence in themselves and in their ability to parent due to the difficulties and behavior problems their children face. More and more are reaching out to psychologists for guidance. Family counselors work with these parents to help them understand what is happening to their adolescents physically, mentally, emotionally and socially.

The rapid physical growth adolescents undergo, not to mention the difficulty of puberty, often makes teens and pre-teens feel clumsy, uncomfortable and even embarrassed about their bodies. Teens and pre-teens can often seem like they are stubborn, argumentative and exasperating for the sheer sake of being contrary, but this isn’t the case. It can be hard for parents to remember that teens and tweens are very concerned with expressing themselves and also protecting their constantly shifting and expanding social scene. New peer pressures come with new friends, and the adolescent experience is full of extraordinary ups and downs — one moment tearful and the next one full of joy. Is it any wonder that parents may find it difficult to cope? Family counselors can help greatly during these times.

As part of the counseling process, psychologists may choose to spend one on one time with each member of the family, hearing his or her perspectives and learning how each feels in individual situations. There will be other times when the counselor will sit down with the family as a whole with the intention of keeping the lines of communication open. This way, the therapist can help each individual to understand what everyone is feeling, and get to the root of some of the destructive behaviors that are occurring. They also help each person understand how to communicate with each other in order to prevent misunderstandings, alienation and other problems.

Many parents benefit from learning new ways to instill important life skills like self-discipline, problem solving, and effective anger management and time management, and this is something that family counselors can assist with. Learning how to cope with adolescent ups and downs, plus understand the changes their teens and pre-teens are experiencing while trying to establish a settled identity can help parents realize that continued pressure from adults for them to “grow up” will only fuel inconsistency, discouragement and perhaps even anger.

While no one is an island, as the old saying goes, adolescents often need time, space and near-infinite patience to blossom into the wonderful adults they can become. Family counseling can help parents, teens and preteens, and even other siblings better understand each other and learn new ways to effectively deal with and overcome behavioral problems and other challenges.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 3:59 pm and is filed under Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.