Become More Confident

Have Stronger Relationships

Develop Coping Skills for Life

Your therapist will support you with improving the areas that are causing you stress. We understand that talking to someone may feel awkward at first and we strive to create a relaxed and comfortable environment where you feel comfortable to share what is real and important to you. Through therapy, we will help you explore and talk about what is bothering you, develop coping and stress management strategies, and social, study or other life skills. 

Academic Stress: Internal and external pressures to excel and maintain particular marks in school can cause high levels of stress and anxiety for teens.

Social Media Pressure: We all face pressures from the expectation to keep up with technology and social media. To maintain individual friendships and a sense of belonging in peer groups, teens often feel pressure to be on their phone texting and interacting on social platforms such as Snap Chat and Instagram which can be depleting and time consuming.

Anxiety and Depression: Pressures related to doing well in school, fitting in socially, exploring identity, and getting along with family can be overwhelming, and lead to anxiety and depression. Changes in your teen’s behaviour, mood, or social interactions might indicate underlying mental health issues and therapy can help give them a safe space to express and better manage their issues and challenges.

Family Challenges: Issues between parents and teens are common due to attachment ruptures, family stress, challenges with emotional regulation, a lack of communication and/or interpersonal skills.

High Expectations: Expectations to succeed and be the best can be crushing at times for teens related to rep sports, academics, and extra curricular activities.

Friendships or Romantic Relationships: Navigating relationships can be intense and give rise to complicated emotions for teens. Issues related to fitting in, peer pressure, cliques, bullying, fear of missing out (FOMO), and sexuality can cause confusion and overwhelm impacting self esteem and general day to day mood.

Trauma or Grief: Sadly, teens too can experience trauma related to various issues like bullying, physical or sexual assault, an accident, illness, or loss of someone or something they love.

Worry About The Future: Thinking about life after high school can feel uncertain and daunting for teens. With so many unknowns related to post secondary pathways, career choice, and expectations to be independent as they move towards young adulthood, its not a wonder this time can be filled with both excitement and anxiety.

Therapy can help teens manage stress and pressures in healthier and more balanced ways, setting realistic goals, offering coping strategies, support with communication, while building resilience in their self development and moving towards a fulfilling future.

Gender Issues

Sexual Identity

ADHD

Autism

Self Esteem and Confidence

Relationships

Substance Use

Self Harm

Divorce or Separation

In individual counselling with teens we use an eclectic mix of modalities including psychodynamic psychotherapy, relational psychotherapy, dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), mindfulness based therapy, internal family systems (IFS), and art therapy. If there is major depression or issues between caregivers and youth, our therapists may recommend attachment based family therapy (ABFT) which focuses on improving communication, rebuilding trust, helping with problem solving, emotional regulation, and repairing ruptures.  A family commitment of between 14-20 sessions is required. For more information on Attachment Based Family Therapy, please visit  https://abftinternational.com/