Growing up is hard work. Being a teenager is filled with endless changes, both physically and mentally. Throughout all these changes, it’s common for many adolescents to struggle with anxious, depressed, or worried feelings. Many teens feel isolated in school, having a tough time managing their emotions and behaviors such as emotional outbursts, anger, or aggression. Throughout these common insecurities it’s easy for teens to struggle socially or tend to end up in friendships where they are being taken advantage of. Academic performance can suffer during this time, feeling like they cannot focus in class or losing interest in what they enjoyed previously in school. Overwhelmed with these life changes or transitions (divorce, blended family dynamics, a move, or loss of a family member or close friend) can be difficult for teens to cope, because they haven’t yet developed effective, safe coping skills, instead isolating themselves from family and friends, or hanging out with troubled peers who themselves haven’t developed effective and safe coping skills and they may at times turn to alcohol, drugs, or unsafe sex as a way of numbing their feelings or attempting to “fit in”.
Comforts of Home Counseling, offers a program called TEAM Teens Group. Once a week, multiple teens from all over the local area meet to have a place to connect with each other over their common struggles of being thrust into an unknown phase of life that is the teenage years. In fun, therapuetic ways, teens from the ages of 12-18 are taught skills to cope with anxiety, depression, trauma, and conflict resolution. The group has a mental health professional guiding the direction, Tonya Back, LPC. With her extensive clinical experience working with adolescents, families, adults, and at-risk teens, she has guided many clients to a sense of better mental health. With her direction, the teens in the group have set their own rules, and have bonded and made friendships, all through meeting through their common struggles. Having a group of supportive, accepting peers makes growing up not such a scary, difficult process.