Counseling for Teens Going Through Divorce

Teenagers that have gone through a divorce can experience several troubling emotions.  The all-powerful and all-knowing feelings that some teenagers go through have one particular downside when it comes to divorce.  The emotional logic goes like this: If I am all-powerful and bad things are happening to my parents then it must be my fault.  This emotional logic is almost always unconscious and cannot easily be articulated by the teenager.  This is usually talked about when in regards to the way that younger kids experience divorce but I have found in my experience that the same trouble is common in teenagers.   This can develop into difficulties with self-esteem and even lead to depression and anxiety concerns as teenager struggle with deep and mostly unconscious feelings that they are bad.  

Depending on the way that parents react to the divorce with their teenagers they may also feel intense loyalty conflicts and pressure to take sides.  This is particularly harmful to teenagers because they often feel that taking sides with one parent means damaging their relationships with the other.  Another side effect of this is that usually teenagers feels that they cannot be completely honest with either parent and the relationship with both of the parents suffers and leaves the teenager feeling alone and not understood. 

The practical changes in living arrangements can also be difficult for teenagers to deal with as they are simultaneously having a hard time with their feelings.  Complicated and difficult emotional reactions are also common when teenagers notice that their parents are beginning to form other romantic relationships outside of their original family and feelings of inexpressible anger are usually present. 

Counseling Helps

Counseling can be very beneficial to teenager going through their parents’ divorce and its after effects because it gives them the space and time to sort these feelings out without feeling like they have to take sides or inadvertently hurt the other parent. 

Consultation

If your teenager is struggling emotionally through your divorce call Miguel Brown at 786-664-7426 or request a Consultation by filling out the form on the right. 

By Miguel Brown