Psychotherapy for Adolescents

Why is it important to get psychological support during adolescence?

Adolescence is the most complex period among the developmental periods, which begins with the age of 11 and manifests itself with both physical and emotional changes.The most important factor that makes the adolescence period so complex in the life of the child and the parent is that the child experiences all the opposites together and at the same time. For example, while the child’s abilities begin to become clearer in adolescence, on the other hand, if the expectations of the child in school life do not match the child’s abilities, the child also experiences contrasts such as feeling unsuccessful and successful in life. In other words, while the child has a talent in the field of sports and can develop this talent and become a very good basketball player, the fact that he has to give up sports due to preparing for the exam and deal with the mathematics lesson that he does not like at all is one of the most important triggers that make the child experience conflicts in this field.

Since adolescence is a stage between childhood and adulthood, it is seen that in this period, the adolescent is sometimes regarded as an older person and sometimes as a small person by his parents and social environment, depending on the events he/she has experienced. In the face of this situation, the adolescent may experience contradictions as to whether he is a grown up or still a small child. Conflicts related to this play a major role in forming the child’s social environment. Adolescents who feel younger than they are, avoid taking responsibility in life, get along more easily with younger children and display a childish attitude, while children who feel like they are older than they are may choose friends from the older age group rather than spending time with their peers. In both cases, it can drag the adolescent away from his peers and into a wrong circle of friends.Another of the biggest contradictions experienced by the adolescent is the contradictions experienced by the child in the circle of friends. During adolescence, when the identities of being a boy and a girl are more dominant, it may not be easy for a friend who is close to him or the opposite sex to understand whether he is his friend or the person who likes him. For this reason, the adolescent’s resentment with his best friend for any third person after a few months may also confuse him about who will be his close friend. While all these confusions are going on, there is also a “Who am I?” When the identity confusion and identity crisis, which are the search for answers to the question, are added, the importance of getting psychological support in adolescence grows exponentially.

What should be considered when psychotherapy is applied to adolescents?

This period plays a very important role in terms of social environment, academic success and family relations of the adolescent. For this reason, the first step in eliminating the confusion is to make sense of the complex period that the adolescent is in and to convey this to the adolescent in the correct language. This correct language transfer is not as easy as speaking directly to the adolescent. Because of all this confusion, the emotional world of the adolescent also gets its share. Since adolescents are more sensitive, more fragile, more self-defense, most self-righteous and very prone to be aggressive in this period, they are also very prone to close themselves in communication or to be prejudiced against others. For this reason, it is very, very important to communicate correctly when meeting with an adolescent. The therapy language used by the specialist during the therapy process with adolescents is a language that is good for the adolescent to talk about and overcome problems. This spoken language is also tried to be transferred to the communication between parents and adolescents, and a positive effect is tried to be achieved in family relations.

What problems are most common during adolescence?

Adolescence is a period in human life when character development is most accelerated and trial and error method is used most when determining their own character. When the adolescent encounters problems in his life and cannot find the right guide to help himself in this confusion, he may enter into wrong solutions. For example, an adolescent who thinks that he has no friends may choose the wrong environment in order to be included in the group of friends and be loved and start smoking in that environment. During adolescence, when the first likings are experienced and romantic feelings are very intense, emotional problems such as adolescence crisis, first love pain and depression may also come up if the adolescent does not receive a response to his feelings by the person in front of him. Tendency to run away from home in order to escape from problems is another negative situation encountered in adolescence.In addition, exam stress, anxiety problems due to academic failures, social phobia, lack of attention, anger and aggression tendencies, communication problems, internet addiction, social adaptation problems, wrong choice of friends, tendency to bad habits and anxiety about choosing a profession are among the most common problems in the world of adolescents. It is one of the most popular topics.

Why should you get support from Mutlu Yaşam Psychological Counseling Center?

Adolescents can be sensitive, fragile, touchy, angry, suspicious, questioning and distrustful due to the age period they are in. If a therapy process is started without considering their emotional sensitivities, it may cause serious disappointment in the adolescent’s life, causing the adolescent to feel more helpless in finding a solution to his problems. This situation can make the adolescent more introverted or more aggressive.

For this reason, great attention is paid to the content and language of therapy in our center with adolescents. Our priority is to understand the source of the problem that brings the adolescent to therapy and challenges him spiritually, and to reflect that we understand him in a correct language. However, the adolescent, who feels that he is understood correctly, begins to be willing to open his inner world and find a solution to his problem. In this process, during the interviews with the parents of the adolescents, the roles and behaviors of the parents are also discussed in order to help solve the problems of the adolescent. Thus, it is aimed that the adolescent will feel good both when he is alone and with his family, not only as long as he receives therapy, but also after the therapies are over. When this goal is achieved, the adolescent gains the impression that he is not alone in his life and that only the right people can establish healthy relationships with him. This impression is generalized in the mind of the adolescent, making it easier for him to establish healthy relationships when he becomes an adult in the future.

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