Growing up is hard work. We help children and teens who:
- Feel anxious or worried all the time
- Feel depressed, lonely, or isolated
- Have a tough time managing their emotions and behaviors such as emotional outbursts, anger, aggression
- Struggle socially, or tend to end up in friendships where they are being taken advantage of
- Struggle academically and feel overwhelmed and stuck in knowing how to get back on track
- Feel overwhelmed with life changes or transitions (divorce, blended family dynamics, a move, or loss of a family member or close friend)
We also offer support to parents who feel overwhelmed or stuck in figuring out the best steps to take to help their child or teen.
Teen Counseling
Teens can be moody, it’s part of being a teen. Within this time period, the body is going through so many physical, hormonal, and emotional changes that can be overwhelming for someone’s mood. Sometimes, a teen’s mood swings can be so large that it seems like it’s more than just a hormone change, when a teen seems or feels so “low”, they can be experiencing a major depressive episode. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “An estimated 3.2 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 in the United States had at least one major depressive episode.” (2019) It is common for teens going through a bout of depression to struggle in school, struggle socially, or have fits of rage and having trouble controlling/ acting on their immediate emotions. Teens and those around them are painfully slow at recognizing and acknowledging the symptoms of teen depression. As a parent, it is difficult to watch your teenager experience depression and emotional pain. It is hard to understand how a once upbeat and optimistic child has become a withdrawn or despondent teenager. It’s normal for parents to feel frustrated or saddened by these changes, especially since many teens have a difficult time confiding in their parents. It’s just as difficult for parents to initiate the confiding because they might not want to overstep and anger their teen; even knowing what normal teen behavior is or a depressive episode is is difficult. Often times there are things that are happening and going on in your teen’s life that they don’t share with you. There are so many pressures and stressful things that are happening in a teenager’s life that they quite often become very overwhelmed and don’t know how to manage and cope.
Is your teen depressed? Look for changes in three main areas:
Changes in Mood
- Feeling sad or low
- Irritability
- Feeling nothing or a lack of enjoyment in formerly pleasurable activities
Changes in Physical Symptoms
- An increase or decrease in appetite, leading to changes in weight
- Sleeplessness or not being able to get out of bed in the morning
- Not being able to focus or concentrate
- Having little or no energy
- Feelings of agitation or restlessness, sometimes relieved by self-medication via drugs, alcohol, or self-harm
Changes in Self-Attitude
- A loss of confidence or self-esteem
- Feelings of worthlessness
Medication is rarely the first approach to treating teen depression, and many teenagers have successfully overcome depression through counseling alone. At Comforts of Home Counseling, we understand that some teens don’t want to come to therapy, this is a normal reaction, but therapy works. You may be able to get your teen to come around to the idea by honestly and gently expressing your concerns, and showing them that they want to feel better, for they are not their normal self. Growing up and moving into adulthood is hard work, at Comforts of Home Counseling we have experts that specialize in working with teens and teen therapy that can help your son or daughter get back to their normal self.