Adolescent Counselling

Adolescent counselling is counselling aimed at young people to help them make sense of their
feelings, behaviors and thoughts and entails the use of unique techniques that draw out the
expressive nature of a young person like art therapy or more traditional approaches like talking
therapy. This form of counselling is important in helping guiding kids transitioning into adulthood
and to understand themselves better.

The adolescence stage is the period when a child transitions from being a child to becoming an adult
and usually takes place between the ages of 10 and 19. During this period, the young adult starts
experiencing a great deal of mental and physical changes. Physically, adolescents start seeing
changes in their bodies, a process referred to as puberty, and is a time that leaves them confused as
the changes in hormones start affecting their moods and

thoughts. 
Often, when these changes start setting in, adolescents become extremely sensitive and start
experiencing mood swings and fluctuations in their confidence levels. If not properly guided or
counselled, adolescents could take to their own devices and start making their own judgements,
which are often clouded. As a result, they could end up following the wrong path and becoming prey
to negative things that could ruin their lives like drugs, peer pressure and such. It is for this reason
that adolescents should consider counselling to address their feelings and thoughts allowing them
to grow into healthy, sound-minded adults.

The Importance of Adolescent Counselling

Any parent can attest to the fact that the adolescence stage of any child can be extremely difficult
and confusing. With fluctuations in mood, your youngster could be happy one minute and mad the
next. Often, during this stage, most kids feel as though their parents are pressuring them and just
want space. That is why most kids tend to withdraw when they reach their adolescence and don’t
want much to do with their parents. During this period, they also become more aware of their
bodies and their sexuality. As a result, they tend to want to make new friends and experiment with
new things. It is a confusing time so parents need to monitor and supervise to ensure teenagers do
not end up making wrong life decisions.

Adolescent counsellors are professionals who have been trained on how to listen to young adults
and to address different things an adolescent might be going through. At the same time,
they provide feedback to adolescents on how they should handle themselves amidst all the changes
that they are going through.

Before looking at the different facts about adolescent counselling, it is important to understand that
this form of counselling can be done using different methods or approaches. Some of the available
counselling methods include:

Interactive Counselling Workshops: Interactive counselling workshops are often performed with the
main intention of counselling groups of young adults all at once. During such workshops,
adolescents participate in different one on one and interactive activities like talks, games and other
practical sessions. At the same time, young adults are given information talks about adolescence
and peer pressure.
One-on-One Counselling: One-on-One adolescent counselling involves having the adolescent attend
counselling sessions. Often, this form of counselling is advised in the event a parent has concerns
about their child and/or about transitioning into adolescents or who has been influenced negatively
by different factors during this very fragile stage.
Facts About Adolescent Counselling
Adolescent counselling is not only for adolescents with personality or behavioral issues but is for
any child undergoing adolescence who may be confused or overwhelmed. While it is important that
kids with issues related to their adolescence undergo counselling, this form of therapy is crucial for
any young adult as it could help them understand the changes they are going through and who they
are becoming as it addresses basic aspects pertaining to adolescence.

Adolescent counsellors are trained professionals who have undergone extensive training in
psychology and behavioral changes and are able to professionally handle any situation a young
adult may be going through. At the same time, most counsellors are people who possess skill,
knowledge and experience when it comes to adolescent counselling attained through handling
different patients over time.

Just like any other form of counselling, adolescent counselling is confidential as practicing
counsellors are bound by confidentiality guidelines. As such, the patient can rest assured that their
case will be handled with discretion. Adolescent counsellors will only share important information
with the parent or primary care giver to help them understand what the child is going through and
how to address the problem.

This form of counselling focuses on not only the patient but also on the patients family. Counsellors
prefer involving the family as they play a crucial role in the adolescents life and will determine how
well the young adult will cope with the changes they are experiencing. As such, parents should be
ready to get involved in the counselling of their young adults. At the same time, this form of
counselling involves the counselling of the parents to ensure that they understand how to handle an
adolescent during this stage.

Adolescent counselling runs for as long as it takes to achieve therapy goals or until the patient or
adolescent fully recovers. As such, it is advisable that a child’s family not try to hasten the process as
it is important for the child to get helpful counselling and advice.

Understanding the above facts about adolescent counselling will help you have a better
understanding of the process as a parent. As such, if your child is having a tough time coping with
the changes they are experiencing, it is advisable that you consider taking them for counselling
rather than wait for issues to build and get worse.