Individual Therapy for Adolescents ~ ages 13-19
We “get” teens! Adolescent focused art & verbal therapy strives to meet the teenager right where you are. Cultural humility, social justice, and acceptance are key facets of our treatment. Therapy for teens must care about and respect: your dreams, your opinions, and your small picture and big picture concerns and worries.
The most important ingredient for successful adolescent therapy is building and maintaining a trusting relationship. To do that, we communicate non-judgmental acceptance of who you are, work out meaningful goals you are motivated to work on, and communicate deep confidence in your ability to face and overcome every challenge. We trust that you will let us know your most comfortable mode of interacting, whether it is through art, playing a game, talking, tossing a ball around, or any other create way of being together while helping you feel and function better.
Art & Verbal Therapy
What Teenagers Experience
Adolescents experience a therapist who really gets teens! Teenagers live on the border of childhood and adulthood, and must develop a sense of independence. It’s hard to be a teen in today’s world!
At CFATC, our teenage clients find a comfortable, confidential place away from family, friends, and school where they can be completely themselves. By standing on their own two feet with the therapist they develop their OWN goals, their OWN coping skills, their OWN solutions, their OWN identity, and their OWN self-esteem. We help our clients become the best possible version of THEMSELVES.
In 50-60 minute sessions, young people experience a whatever-it-takes therapy style. “Whatever-it-takes” means that our therapists can use art materials and discussion, pure verbal therapy, play cards and chat, or even throw a ball around. We don’t have a preference about WHAT activity we do other than joining with our client in a positive process that gets them where they want to be. A combination of art therapy, verbal therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy is available.
What Caregivers Experience
While adolescents crave independence and confidentiality, they can’t always handle everything on their own. We can’t help them in a complete vacuum because we can’t remove the family’s influence on them! It’s hard to be a caregiver for a teenager! You’ll help us develop goals that fit your family's values.
Caregiver meetings help you understand your teenager’s situation, emotions, behaviors, treatment progress, and needs – while still preserving the client’s confidentiality. Our therapists also use these meetings to get a big picture update about what is going on in our adolescent clients' larger world – at home, school, with friends, etc.
These meetings help our therapists update treatment goals and keep therapy moving forward.
We teach support strategies, as needed. We help caregivers learn when to be a confidant and when and how to be a limit-setter or a guide. Caregivers learn how to communicate and listen to teenagers, how to set realistic and meaningful rules and guidance, and when to cut their child some slack.
We empower our clients and caregivers to develop the courage, the self-control, and the communication skills to effectively talk AND LISTEN to one another. Improved communication facilitates the healing of old wounds, increases understanding and empathy, and IMPROVES RELATIONSHIPS for the duration of their lives.
Where do you offer these services?
We offer these child therapy services at our four office locations, Haverford, Paoli, Plymouth Meeting, and Center City, Philadelphia.