ADOLESCENT THERAPY
Therapy that helps adolescents gain confidence, manage conflicts and improve their relationships
Adolescence is a confusing stage with a lot going on
Moving and living abroad can make it tougher
Perhaps your teenage child is giving you a hard time at home or are self-isolating. Maybe they are prone to angry outbursts triggered for no apparent reason. Or they are suffering from low self-esteem which is causing them anxiety socially or at school.
Whatever the problem might be, you want to help them, but they won’t allow you to. Your attempts to help are met with “you won’t understand” and “not that again”.
Or perhaps they do talk about it but, you don’t really know how to deal with the issue.
So you are looking for English-speaking therapists that specialise in adolescent therapy and understand all the added complexities that expat life can entail
We can help you with:
Relieving Anxiety
Are they afraid of messing up, hard on themselves or worried about fitting in?
Dealing with Depression
Do they cry easily and are sullen? They appear to have lost interest in activities and are holing up at home.
Handling Stress
Common scenarios are inner restlessness, overreacting to minor mistakes, taking on too much and exhausting themselves or dreading the future.
Teenagers are subject to many pressures (to be the smartest, prettiest, strongest, most popular, most charming, etc.). They have to cope with both their own expectations and those placed on them.
Maybe they can handle it all, but if it starts getting out of hand, it might be the moment to ask for help for them.
ADHD
The older your child gets, the higher the academic and social expectations placed on them. For teenagers with ADHD, this means the going can get tough.
As a result, their grades may be falling, their peers may be ignoring them or they may be having more extreme mood swings.
OCD
Stressful changes like moving abroad, adjusting to a new school, a divorce or the death of a loved one can trigger or exacerbate OCD in teenagers as they try to regain control of what is happening to them.
They constantly check and recheck, put things in a certain order and have uncontrollable and recurring thoughts.
Gaining self-confidence
Does your teenage child have a “I’m not smart enough, so why bother” attitude?
Are they convinced they’re “not pretty enough” and that’s why they aren’t dating anyone?
Do they feel different and get anxious about making friends or fitting in?
Their inner criticism might have got out of hand.
Resolving problems to maintain friendships or interact socially with peers
Are they having trouble making good friends?
Do they tend to befriend toxic kids?
Do they want to broaden their friendship group?
Coping with bullying
Bullying can be verbal, physical or social, or take the form of cyberbullying. It’s often hard to spot, because your child might feel ashamed of what is happening or afraid of repercussions.
Is your son or daughter being ridiculed or constantly laughed at by a person or a group? This will be lowering their self-esteem.
Is your child tripped up or shoved around? They may start skipping school, their grades may fall, or they may get anxious about going to school.
Are your child’s personal belongings being hidden and not returned? This may be going on while you think they are being very careless and losing or breaking their things.
Are they being harassed or humiliated in WhatsApp groups or on social media? They may have withdrawn from social activities and are becoming more and more isolated.
Navigating peer pressure
Is your child trying to fit in by doing what everyone else does even though he or she wouldn’t normally do it?
Perhaps this is to avoid other adolescents excluding or picking on them.
Or because they want to “be a part of”, “belong to” and be liked.
Handling school stress and anxiety
Your teenager could be feeling the pressure of “prepare for your future” stuff and might be scared of letting you down.
Are they tired, edgy or irritable?
Is sitting exams a tough time for them?
Do they have trouble balancing their activities?
Overcoming academic difficulties
During therapy sessions, we will help your teen cope with change by shifting their focus from the negatives to the positives, so they feel more comfortable with the change.
Improving communication and coping
Do you feel your communication options have been reduced to nagging, interrogating or arguing?
If you give them advice and make suggestions, do they think this is because you don’t trust them?
Managing effective communication is important for both you and your son or daughter.
It’s a way to support them and to ensure they will come to you with any problem they might have.
Managing difficulties to adapt after a relocation
Are your children having a really hard time finding friends and people with who they can share experiences?
Are they easily annoyed by the locals or do they show a condescending attitude towards them?
This is the source of new tension at home because maybe they are blaming you for “ruining their life” or it’s having an impact on their relationships.
Tackling health issues
Is your teenager struggling to adjust to living with a chronic illness such as diabetes or a heart condition?
Is your adolescent becoming frustrated by how long it’s taking them to recover from a road accident?
Is your teenager stuck in their room playing video games, not getting enough exercise and eating too many comfort foods?
Can you see signs of alcohol or recreational drug abuse?
Easing distress due to the death of a loved one or a pet
We all grieve differently. There is no right or wrong way. Maybe your teenager is…
- Acting recklessly or having anger outbursts that are not helpful.
- Refusing to talk about the loss.
- Feeling down and sleeping most of the time.
Teens have many ways of dealing with a loss, they can withdraw, keep going on as if everything is OK or have an existential crisis.
Improving behavioural issues
Anger
They may be expressing it verbally, by coming out with the most hurtful comment they can think of, or physically, by kicking doors or throwing objects.
This anger may appear suddenly and powerfully, and they may not want to explain the outburst or even know why it is occurring.
Risk-taking
You may have found out they are having unsafe sex, playing dangerous games or drinking heavily.
Maybe they are trying to impress peers or are just unable to see the danger. It worries you, especially because they disregard your advice and guidance.
Resolving eating or body image issues
Nowadays, social media rules. This is where adolescents interact with their peers and follow influencers. This is where they acquire their notion of an ideal body (be it fit, thin or muscular).
Feeling they’re not living up to this ideal can lead them to develop eating or body image issues such as:
- constantly watching their food
- focusing on what they don’t like about themselves
- or binge-eating and then hardly eating at all to compensate
Coping with parental divorce
Perhaps you feel your divorce has affected your teenage child more than they are willing to admit or understand.
Maybe they think they could have prevented it (by being more cooperative or getting better grades) or they are the cause of the divorce.
Perhaps they are feeling protective towards you or, on the contrary, they blame you for the situation.
Or they may be grieving for the family life they have lost.
How do we help with these issues?
Our therapists draw on different techniques to build rapport and help your teenager.
Therapy will not always involve talking as it can be hard for adolescents to share their feelings. That’s OK. They may feel awkward about speaking to a stranger at first.
We may use art, music or writing to help them express themselves and release their feelings. Role-playing can help them see concerns from a different angle.
During therapy, we will get to the root of the problem (low self-esteem, loneliness, anxiety, etc.) and we will help them process their feelings and memories, reframing negative self-talk into positive self-talk.
We will share tools and strategies so they can learn to cope more easily with strong feelings and difficult situations.
We may use CBT and mindfulness to allow your teenager to stay in the moment and relax. Or we might use Social Thinking to help them regulate self-behaviour.
Another approach is to break down their goals into smaller and more easily attainable objectives, to ease stress, anxiety and other emotions.
It will all depend on your son or daughter’s concerns and on the change they have targeted.
At Therapy in Barcelona, we have specialist adolescent counsellors who can help your teenager
Therapy in Barcelona was initially founded as a solo practice in 2011. It evolved into a group practice in 2018 when the increasing number of internationals who sought support encouraged the founder to expand.
In the last three years, we have helped more than 1,850 clients feel better, increase their level of well-being, and manage situations, feelings and thoughts.
We provide:
Non-judgmental acceptance
We create a safe space where clients can self-explore.
Authenticity
We build real connections with our clients so they feel seen and heard.
Effectiveness
We focus on tailor-made interventions using evidence-based techniques.
How does adolescent therapy work?
We can provide a rough road map of the form it takes but since we tailor-make the therapeutic process to fit each client, it will more than likely vary.
1
Start
Complete the intake form or book a discovery call with our Intake Coordinator. Your teenager will get matched and a session scheduled.
2
Intake appointment
Ideally, both parents should come to the session without the teenager since it allows them to speak freely about issues. At times, only one parent will attend with or without the adolescent. It will depend on concerns and family circumstances.
During this initial session you will also talk about the details of informed consent and background information that is relevant for the therapist.
3
Session 2 to 4
Your teenager will meet weekly with their therapist. They will work on building a strong understanding and connection, and set therapy goals.
4
Sessions 5+
They shall analyse coping methods, learn skills to communicate better and practise methods. As your teenager starts to feel empowered, you may start seeing changes in them.
5
Ending therapy
Once therapy goals have been reached, the therapist and your adolescent will develop a follow-up plan for him or her to maintain what they’ve achieved.
“CHECK-IN” SESSIONS
After finishing therapy, you might feel you need a check-in session to make sure you stay on track and everything is running smoothly.
Do parents receive information about the sessions?
Imagine that you chose to tell a close friend about something that embarrasses you and they went and told a mutual friend about it. It would annoy you, wouldn’t it? Because you expected your friend to keep it between the two of you.
Therapy has to provide a safe space for your teenage son or daughter to open up and work on issues.
This means that, unless there is a risk of the teenager self harming or they ask for parental help with a coping skill, or the therapist wishes to offer strategies to improve relationships within the family, information disclosed during sessions will remain confidential.
Our fees:
Our collaborators set their own prices, but fees fall around:
€75-115* for 50-minute sessions with either parents, adolescents or both.
€45* for a 30-minute meeting between the adolescent therapist and school (online/phone).
€85* for a 60-minute meeting between the adolescent therapist and school (online/phone).
€100* + travel costs (cost of return taxi)for an onsite meeting between the adolescent therapist and school.
*Including 21% VAT
Prices may be subject to change at the discretion of our collaborators.
Once you are matched to a therapist, we will let you know their preferred payment method.
Are you ready to arm your teenager with skills and techniques that will help them manage adolescence?
By empowering them and giving them a toolkit, they will feel calmer and more confident. As a result, the level of harmony at home should improve.
We will contact you within 24-48 hours M-F.