Therapy for Adolescents

Children and adolescents struggle with big emotions and difficult situations, too. Let’s help them get through it.

How can therapy benefit youth?

Modalities we use for adolescents

  • People with GAD can worry uncontrollably about ordinary issues such as health, money, work, and family. The biggest fear is “what if…”and these worries occur almost every day for at least 6 months.

  • People with panic disorder have panic attacks and fear when the next attack will strike. These are sudden, repeated periods of intense fear when there is no danger. The attacks come on quickly and can last several minutes or more.

  • People with OCD have uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions) and/or behaviors (compulsions) that you feel the urge to do in order to relieve the anxiety. These obsessions and compulsions can start to become the focal point of your life and make it difficult to function and feel at ease.

  • People with phobias have an intense fear of something that poses little threat and you may go to great lengths to avoid the feared object. Your fear may be about specific things such as spiders, flying, going to crowded places, or receiving injections.

  • People with agoraphobia fear and often avoid places or situations that lead you to feeling trapped, helpless, or embarrassed. Being in such places can cause panic and a strong urge to escape.

  • People with social anxiety feel anxious in anticipation of social situations and have strong urges to avoid them for fear of being embarrassed, self-conscious, and judged negatively.

How to know when it’s time to start therapy

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  • Feeling nervous, restless or tense

  • Feeling a sense of impending danger, panic or doom

  • Increased heart rate

  • Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)

  • Sweating

  • Feeling weak or tired

  • Difficulty concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry

  • Having trouble sleeping

  • Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems

  • Having difficulty controlling worry

  • Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety

How we can help you manage your anxiety

Anxiety can feel overwhelming, like there’s no way out. Therapy is a process of increasing insight and building skills to help people with anxiety disorders understand, identify, and transform their anxiety. Therapists can help you cultivate effective coping skills for stress and anxiety, create routines, build a toolbox of restorative practices, and identify your triggers. Treatment modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can help you evaluate the negative or harmful thought processes that produce stress and anxiety while examining how your behaviors and reactions trigger or worsen your anxiety. Your therapist can then help you reframe those thought processes to create positive coping techniques and engage in positive behaviors that more effectively manage symptoms of anxiety. Other anxiety and stress relieving activities may include mindfulness exercises, meditation, support group, physical exercise, fidget toys, avoiding caffeine, or deep breathing exercises. Check out some of our treatment options below!

Treatment for Anxiety

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    Cognitive Behavior Therapy

    The science of changing troublesome thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. CBT places an emphasis on helping individuals develop coping skills, whereby they can learn to change their own thinking, problematic emotions, and behavior.

  • Person with arms outstretched facing a large statue of Christ with open arms against a cloudy sky.

    Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

    Mindfulness based therapy focused on increasing psychological flexibility through six core ACT processes including acceptance, the opposite of experiential avoidance; cognitive defusion, in which negative thoughts are observed mindfully instead of avoided or reasoned away; chosen values; and committed action.

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    Mindfulness Training

    Mindfulness is the human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. Mindfulness helps us put some space between ourselves and our reactions, breaking down our conditioned responses.

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Hello Mental Health can help you

Reach out to us to get connected with one of our therapists who can help you work through your struggles to live an anxiety-free life.