Stress Management Counseling for Teens

 The lives of teenagers have never been so full of pressure and stress as they are today.  Today's society demands a higher and higher level of education to achieve the same lifestyle. 

Stress at School

Teenagers can be painfully conscious of the importance of grades, participation in sports or clubs, community service hours and getting into the right college.  For some teenagers the pressure they feel from these high demands can feed into a level of perfectionism and intolerance for failure that can produce unhealthy levels of anxiety, worry and even depression.  Pressure to succeed can also lead to illegal prescription drug abuse such as adderall or ritalin. Teenagers that have difficulty managing stress may fear failure to such an extreme that they have difficulty learning from their mistakes and perceive them as being catastrophic. 

Stress at Home

When stress from school combines with stress from home it can often overwhelm teenagers to the point where they cannot perform well in school, at home or socially.  This tends to happen when teenagers are not given enough structure and predictability in their lives.  When teenagers have too much control over what they do and when they do it they suffer anxiety due to their inability to effectively manage their lives.  Teenagers have a very difficult time admitting this but they feel good, cared-for, and safe in parent imposed structure.  They rebel against it without end but when they get it, of course, it makes things worse.  Part of helping your teenager manage stress is to teach them to manage their lives by insisting on structure. 

Consultation

If you worry about your teenager's stress levels or the amount of pressure they are under contact Miguel Brown at 786-664-7426 or request a Consultation by filling out the form to the right.

By Miguel Brown