LET'S GET WISE WHILE WE'RE YOUNG
"...but people are oceans. You cannot
know them by their surface."
— Beau Taplin
Having gained five years of experience providing therapy for children and adolescents within the Bozeman School District, I would like to think I am fluent in youth. I understand the unique stressors that come with being their age and know how to support them in their struggles.
Children and teenagers don't always ask for help when they need it, for many reasons. It can be especially difficult for children to say what they are feeling because many times they don’t know what to name the feeling they are experiencing. This is why children typically express their stress through physical symptoms (e.g., stomachaches, headaches) rather than through emotions or thoughts. As a parent, it can be difficult to know when your child or teenager is going through something that is "normal" and age appropriate, or when they might need the help of an expert.
It might be time to seek the support of a professional, if your child is:
1 | Struggling in multiple areas of life (e.g., home, school, community)
2 | Withdrawing from family, friends, or activities he or she used to enjoy
3 | Showing excessive worry
4 | Quick to anger or irritableness
5 | Showing significant changes in appetite and/or sleep habits
6 | Engaging in self-destructive behaviors (e.g., self-harm, drinking, drugs, risk-taking)
7 | Expressing hopelessness or making comments like "I wish I weren't here"
Common Benefits of
Child/Teen Counseling
• feeling heard + understood
• learning to identify + verbalize emotions
• implementing new coping skills
• gaining self-acceptance
• improving stress management
• various skill development:
○ social skills
○ conflict resolution skills
○ problem-solving skills
• healing old wounds
• improving frustration tolerance
• strengths family relationships
• decreasing emotional reactivity
• building trust
• developing independence
