Young People
We Welcome Adolescents and Teens Ages 10 & Older
When it comes to our kids, everyone wants the same thing – the very best. That “everyone” includes the team of knowledgeable therapists at The Center for CBT in New York City. We welcome young people ages ten and older to our practice, and we greatly enjoy having the opportunity to foster good emotional, cognitive, and behavioral health for our young clients as they learn to thrive in all aspects of their daily lives.
If your child or teen has experienced something difficult or they’re having a hard time in the classroom, at home, or within their friend group, therapy can help them learn to maximize their innate strengths to overcome areas where they may struggle. The skills and strategies learned in therapy can help young people throughout their lives.
Why would young people need therapy?
Young people experience many of the same difficulties as adults when it comes to processing stress, dealing with the pressures of daily life, achieving their academic or personal goals, and navigating difficult life transitions. On top of these difficulties, young people can feel very out of control since they don’t often have a say in big decisions like where they live or even little decisions like what time they go to sleep. It can be really helpful for kids who are having a tough time at home, in school, or socially to have someone outside of their family to talk with. We always collaborate with parents and caregivers with a team approach, but these individual therapy sessions can help young people learn their own way of processing tough situations, understanding the complexities of the world, and finding their place in it. There are many reasons parents bring their children and teens to see us, and we’ll go through some of the specific situations where therapy can be beneficial for young people in the following sections. However, the main reason for young people to spend time working with a therapist is simple – growing up is difficult, and therapy can help young people increase their resilience and develop tools and strategies to process life’s struggles in healthier ways, allowing them to thrive at every stage of life.
Continue reading to learn more about how our therapists provide support to young people.
NAVIGATING LIFE TRANSITIONS
Change can’t be avoided, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy at any age. Think about some of your big life transitions – moving to a new home, starting at a different school, and family changes. Making big transitions can be scary, stressful, and exciting all at one time, but at any age, change is difficult. Some adults and young people seem naturally better equipped to move through life transitions with ease, but it’s not magic or luck. They simply have a set of skills and a support system that allows them to feel safe and stable at times of transition. When young people struggle to navigate life changes, our team of therapists can help them develop strategies to move through changes with less stress and increased resilience.DEALING WITH PERFECTIONISM
Does your child meltdown if they get a B+? Do they worry that their performance on a quiz in 7th grade will impact where they go to college? Many young people feel a drive to do better and be better all the time. You may hear this referred to as perfectionism. We all want our kids to be great and work hard, but perfectionism can be extremely destructive to a young person’s sense of self-worth and their ability to live a satisfying life now and in the future. Therapy can help young people who struggle with perfectionism to redefine their own “perfect,” and start making things like joy and stability a part of their achievement plan.IMPROVING COMMUNICATION & SOCIAL SKILLS
Let’s face it, adults often struggle with communication and social skills. Interacting with other people can be difficult, confusing, and stressful – at any age. Therapy is a great resource to help young people who struggle with anxiety around social situations, low self-esteem, and other difficulties to improve their communication, interpersonal skills, and overall comfort in social settings. By developing strategies for navigating hard conversations, setting boundaries, and navigating social interactions at a young age, children and teens are set up for long-term success when it comes to maintaining relationships personally and professionally.PROCESSING COMPLEX EXPERIENCES & EMOTIONS
Just like adults, young people can struggle to understand, process, and heal from experiences that are difficult or painful. Whether your child has lost a loved one, witnessed or experienced a traumatic event, or is struggling with challenging emotions (anxiety, depression, anger), therapy can help them develop strategies to navigate these difficult situations.UNDERSTANDING & WORKING THROUGH PARENTAL DIVORCE OR SEPARATION
When parents divorce or separate, young people can struggle to understand this transition. Many teens and children blame themselves for the divorce, get angry at one or both parents, and act out or turn inward because they’re upset. Divorce and separation aren’t easy for parents either, and the confusion and stress that adults are dealing with make it difficult for them to give kids and teens all of the support and attention they need. During a divorce or separation, therapy can be extremely beneficial for young people (and their parents), giving them someone to talk to about the complicated emotions related to their parents’ divorce or separation. Additionally, therapy helps young people to identify, manage, and process complex emotions, which may decrease the likelihood that they will act out in upsetting or potentially unsafe ways.
Benefits of Therapy for Young People
- Increasing life-long skills – communication, independence, resilience, self-esteem, and other skills kids and teens develop in therapy will improve their ability to thrive at every stage of life moving forward.
- Processing emotions – young people may feel overwhelmed by their emotions and not have good outlets that allow them to express these feelings in healthy and safe ways. Therapy gives them the opportunity to uncover strategies for understanding and processing difficult emotions.
- Talking through tough stuff – many young people have big thoughts and complicated emotions they don’t feel comfortable talking about to their parents or even their friends, but therapy gives young people someone to talk with about their most difficult experiences without worrying about being judged, feeling embarrassed, or thinking they’re letting a parent down.
- Developing identity – who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose? Many people don’t even have the answers to these questions figured out as adults, and that’s okay. Children and teens often find themselves struggling to understand who they are as individuals, find a place within their families, fit into their communities, and work through other concerns related to identity. Therapy gives children and teens the safe space and tools to continue exploring and uncovering who they are.
- Learning to maintain relationships – the young people we work with are often starting to develop their first deep friendships and romantic relationships, and they need help learning how to foster and maintain healthy, satisfying relationships. Therapy helps young people to communicate well, establish and maintain boundaries in their relationships, and develop lasting and meaningful friendships.
What can I expect during therapy?
While we will collaborate with parents, caregivers, and family members through a team approach throughout the therapy process, it’s important that young people feel safe and able to speak openly with their therapist. During the intake process, we may schedule one or more sessions with just our young client, as well as sessions with the main caregivers. This gives us an opportunity to ensure everyone’s concerns are voiced, and we can create a therapy plan that achieves the goals of the young person and considers how these goals impact their role within the family system.
After this intake process, we’ll continue to work one-on-one with our young client to develop skills and strategies to process emotional responses in healthy ways, heal from trauma, understand and work through difficult transitions, and build upon their strengths to increase long-term resilience. In most cases, this includes using cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a research-supported therapeutic approach that helps people explore and understand the interconnectedness of their thoughts, feelings, and actions. This can be especially beneficial for young people as they are experiencing many of life’s difficulties for the first time. CBT gives children and teens the skills to recognize their negative thinking and behaviors and start identifying the underlying, unprocessed emotions that are often at play. These skills can then be used throughout their lives.
Who offers therapy for young people?
What Should I Do Next?
When you’re ready to begin therapy, we hope you’ll consider contacting The Center for CBT in New York City. We offer a safe space where you are free to be who you really are and express yourself and your values authentically. We embrace, value, and welcome people of all sexual orientations, genders, and racial identities. The Center for CBT in New York City makes beginning your therapy journey simple. You can get started any time by completing our online consultation request form. One of our team members will be in touch within 24 business hours to answer your questions.
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