No one ever said it would be easy to raise teenagers. Who knew it would be this hard? Our juvenile court system is overworked. Teachers are frustrated at out of control behaviors in the classroom. Parents are stressed out and feel as if they have no control.  At the same time, teenagers are trying hard to fit in with their peers, stressed with demands placed on them by others, while hormones are leading them towards adulthood their immaturity is pulling them in another direction. The adolescent life cycle can be a scary and confusing time in one’s life; as parents we tend to forget this.  

It is very common for parents to come into my office feeling frustrated with their teenagers. Unfortunately, most come in after the child has been through the court process. So much stress could be avoided if parents sought help before behaviors are so intense that the court system or the state system becomes involved. The juvenile court system is full of cases where parents thought “not my child” or stereotyped what kind of teenagers would be involved in the court system.    Unfortunately, any teenager at any given time could end up in the juvenile system.  The law does not discriminate.

Parents who come into my office will learn coping skills and techniques to work with their teenagers without the constant battle and/or yelling that may be occurring. Each situation is treated individually so that therapy can begin where the immediate problem is.  Sometimes, it is a communication problem, a problem with blending of families into one family, a problem with a parent being deployed/returning from deployment and that is just to name a few problematic areas.

Teenagers who come into my office for therapy will have a safe place to become aware of what is actually causing some of the negative behaviors. Teenagers will learn alternative ways to cope with conflict and/or stressors in their life. Teenagers will learn how to communicate with their parents.

Most importantly, people coming into therapy will learn that there is no such thing as “bad children” or “bad parenting”. What is bad is that there is no manual to teach us how to parent or how to transition smoothly through different life phases. Therapy helps to put in the missing pieces of the puzzle. 

Remember: “No matter how far you go down the wrong road, you can always turn back.”

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Sandra Herman, LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) recently opened a practice at 2515 Wilma Rudoph Blvd in Clarksville. She offers counceling services to families, couples, individuals and adolescents. If you'd like to talk, give her a call (931-237-5270).