Jamie Batha
Marriage and Family Therapist
Are you a teen who could use some help?
We all know being a teen can be hard.
You can probably handle the hard stuff. It's the incredibly hard stuff that you might need help with. There is a lot of pressure on teenagers. A lot of things can go wrong, family-wise, socially, academically and emotionally.
My approach is to hear the teen and parent's concerns, help identify problem areas and goals, and design a therapy plan to reach the goals. Many times problems that seem too big to handle can be dealt with by breaking them into smaller parts and taking them one by one. Don't despair--you can get through this!
It's important to find the counselor that is the right fit for you and your problems. If you are unsure as to whether counseling is right for you, there is a website "Going to a Therapist" that might help you decide And before you make an appointment, give me a call and we can talk about what you need help with and whether I'm the right person to help you.
Questions? Would you like a free consultation? Contact me with this form
Are you worried about your teenager?
Adolescence can be a fun time to develop friendships, skills, and memorable experiences. It can also be a time of intense pressure, awkwardness, anxiety and difficulty. Teenagers act out their anxieties and rebellion in a number of ways that can be painful to themselves and their family members. Often, support and guidance in the form of therapy for the teen or family can provide the guidance needed to move forward from a place of pain to successful functioning and progress.
Does your teenager have any of the following signs of difficulty?
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Earning grades that are below his or her capacity and your expectations?
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Acting out in ways that are potentially dangerous, such as drinking or taking drugs?
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Rebelling and refusing to comply with family guidelines?
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Struggling to make and keep friends?
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Underachieving due to anxiety?
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Seeming depressed, moody, or difficult to get along with?
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Suffering from a loss or trauma?
Counseling can help:
One way that counseling can support a struggling teen is by developing a relationship or alliance with them, so that they feel there is someone outside their family who is working with them to solve their difficulties. It might help for everyone to view the problem as a family issue, rather than caused and continued by the teen. Most often, family members can make the problem better or worse by their behaviors, and understanding this gives everyone a role to play in improving the situation!
Once a trusting relationship exists with the teen and the problem and the goals are clear, therapy can include helping them understand the problem, learn skills to cope with or change the situation, and find a path within the family and possibly the school to support new, more positive behaviors.
What if my teenager is autistic?
Teens with autism have greater challenges, and may need quite a bit of coaching to learn to navigate social, organizational and academic hurdles. Counseling helps them understand their own difficulties and how they can work around skill deficits.
Can counseling help with the problems of an ADHD teen?
Teens with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder have more challenges in middle and high school, when staying organized and being able to complete often boring or hard homework is a requirement. Counseling can help them understand the long-term benefit of short-term planning, as well as strategies to delay gratification and improve decision-making.