The best counselors are very good listeners. They will spend the time needed to fully understand your child and your needs. While some of the behavioral problems facing your child might be common your teenage is unique.

A working approach - There are a number of approaches to counseling. Find the approach that works best and provides long term results. There should be a balance of trust, firmness, and real concern for the child. If a counselor is too soft the adolescent might really enjoy their meetings but progress will be limited. Vis versa, if a counselor is to rigid the student might feel intimidated or emotionally shut off to anything the counselor says.

It may take several weeks for your student to feel comfortable and trust the counselor. This is to be expected. Bad behavior and habits have been formed over many years and will take time to correct them. It may take even longer to build trust if your child was involuntarily enrolled in a program or into meetings with a counselor. Many times it is in the best interest of the teen to follow through with counseling to show those that are responsible for their progress that they are trying to make things better. Judges, parents, and others in autority will view the intent of counseling as a sign that the youth wants to change. Not following through with counseling can have an adverse affect on developmental progress as well other setbacks.

Group Therapy Counseling - Most programs provide group conseling for specific behavior. It is effective to have students talk through their problems together. Sometimes youth hearing other youth talk about issues helps clairify issues. In many cases they can identify the problem when they are listening as a third party. Group therapy also provides a means for teens to support and help each other. When one member is weak others will help these teens. Group therapy can be a powerful agent for change. When selecting a program enquire about the size and frequency of specific group therapy sessions. Each program might be generalized in their treatment but over time they may start to specialize in certain areas like anger manaagement, drug abuse, eating disorders, and more.

 

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