It’s not easy to parent a teenager. Raging hormones, bullying, loads of schoolwork, and more are all swirling around your child, and it can feel impossible to help them with their struggles. Fortunately, the stigma of therapy and psychological counseling is finally starting to dissipate.
Child psychologists are great resources for teens, especially when anxiety comes into play. Below are some ways that these medical professionals can work with parents and teens to identify problems and conflicts and come to terms with strategies and solutions.
In this article:
Identifying Anxiety Disorders
An Outside Perspective and Listening Ear
Meaningful Advice and Coping Strategies
Anxiety in Teens: How Child Psychologists Can Help with Anxiety Disorders
Identifying Anxiety Disorders
In some cases, teens show signs of anxiety as a result of bullying or even seeing a scary movie. In other cases, however, there could be an underlying anxiety disorder. A trained professional knows how to properly identify the signs and diagnose an anxiety disorder in a teenager.
It’s easy for parents to brush it off as teenage angst or a bad attitude, which is why seeing a certified child psychologist is crucial. It’s also important for parents to remember that their parenting style or abilities are rarely entirely to blame for their child’s anxiety diagnosis. Again, a psychologist can help both parents and teens better understand what’s going on and how to go about resolving it.
An Outside Perspective and Listening Ear
It’s common for teens to start distancing themselves from their parents. Even though the teenage years are full of upheaval and struggle, teens rarely want to rely on their parents for help.
A child psychologist can be a great resource because they understand what’s going on in a teen’s mind, but they also serve as an outside perspective. This can make teens feel more comfortable because they aren’t being judged against the small child that their parents once knew.
It can be difficult for mothers and fathers to see their children grow into confused young adults. Signs of teen anxiety are often difficult to identify. A psychologist can help both teens and their parents become accustomed to this new stage of life without judgement and unrealistic expectations.
Meaningful Advice and Coping Strategies
Dealing with anxiety isn’t easy, especially for teenagers. They’re already feeling self-conscious about their changing bodies, and the demands of school, friends, and even work can put quite a strain on them. It’s not uncommon for parents to give their kids outdated or harmful advice. After all, parents are simply using their own frame of reference to offer strategies to their kids.
However, this can be unhelpful because times have changed and each individual’s experience is different. Just because something worked for Mom or Dad, that doesn’t mean it will be beneficial to the child.
A psychologist understands this and typically has years of education and experience under his/her belt. They know the struggles that today’s kids and teens are facing, and they’ve kept themselves aware of the latest medical and psychological research. This makes them full of meaningful and helpful advice including coping mechanisms and strategies to treat anxiety.
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5954816/
