Counseling For Your Teen
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Sometimes your teen and/or family may need to seek the advice of a mental health professional. It is hard to know when one is needed and when not with teen-agers because most adolescents display a broad range of symptoms that could indicate a need for professional help but often don't.

What do I mean? Well, it is normal for teens to experiment with alcohol and drugs on at least a few occasions.

Another example . . . many teens decline in academics around junior high and the first year of high school. It is quite common for A and B students to start bringing home Cs and quite common for C students to come home with Ds and an occasional F.

In addition most teens generally test limits and break rules, especially yours. Teens also withdraw from parents, become sullen, arrogant, verbally abusive at times, and just all around difficult to live with.

Count yourself lucky if your teen doesn't exhibit any of these symptoms, but on the other hand if your teen does, it does not necessarily mean s/he needs professional help.

You can see why it is hard to know when to seek professional help when behaviors at any other time in life would be cause for alarm but during this period are relatively normal and expectable.

With all of the above qualifiers in mind I suggest the following guidelines. Any disturbing behavior, such as alcohol and drug abuse, chronic and unremitting decline in academics, frequent truancy repeated (over a long period of time), total isolation from peers(over a long period of time), very bad self-esteem(over a long period of time), repeated outright defiance of rules and limits that you set, and any other disturbing behavior that persists over a long period of time . . .may be cause for alarm.

If any of the above seems to characterize your adolescent, it might not hurt to consult a mental health professional. I would go to see the professional first at least one time to seek advice before perhaps unnecessarily involving your teen. In other words the professional may be able to reassure you that things sound okay.

You can get help from social workers, counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychoanalysts. Fees from $75 to $150 per hour session are all within normal range (even higher fees may be within normal range, depending on the professional's discipline and years of training; psychiatrists often charge fees of $200/hour or more).

This site offers a Directory of mental health professionals qualified to treat adolescents and families, organized by location.

Good not-for-profit family service agencies and mental health agencies like the one I formerly directed generally operate on an adjustable fee scale so that your fee will be assessed according to your income and other pertinent facts of your life situation.

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