Teens: The Emotional Roller Coaster You Can’t Get Off
Ah, the teenage years—the time when your sweet kid morphs into a moody, eye-rolling, phone scrolling enigma. If you’ve found yourself trying to decode your teen’s latest “mood of the day” and come up short, you’re not alone. Parenting a teen is a full-contact sport, and sometimes, the best support you can offer is connecting them with a professional who can help them navigate this turbulent chapter of life. Enter: teen counseling.
Why Your Teen Might Need Counseling
Is your teen just going through a phase? I remember being a teenager, and while I did eventually grow out of it, I felt dismissed by my parents, who told me I’d “grow out of it".” Well, yes and no. I was going through some serious things at school, and though my parents tried their best, I just didn’t feel like they were able to connect with me well emotionally. If therapy had been more normalized in the 90’s I think having someone who wasn’t a peer to process what I was going through would have been immensely helpful!
The adolescent brain is undergoing some serious renovations, and during this time, emotions can feel like they’re stuck in a blender without a lid. According to research by Giedd et al. (1999), brain development continues well into the mid-20s, particularly in the prefrontal cortex—the part responsible for decision-making, impulse control, and good judgment (you know, all the stuff teens don’t seem to have yet). So, when your teen is reacting like the world is ending because they can’t find their favorite hoodie, it’s because their brain is still learning to regulate those intense emotions.
In fact, the National Institute of Mental Health (2020) found that nearly 20% of teens will experience a depressive episode before they hit adulthood, and a 2018 study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology revealed that anxiety disorders affect a whopping 31.9% of adolescents. So, while some eye-rolling is standard-issue teenage behavior, if your teen seems stuck in a cycle of stress, sadness, or anxiety, it’s worth considering that it could be more than just a phase.
How Counseling Can Be Effective for Your Teen
We all need help regulating our emotions and learning coping skills. Yes, parents, even you ◡̈ A counselor can be that person for your child. A counselor can create a place for your teen to talk, process, and vent their anger and frustration. And they know they can’t be “punished” for what they say.
Here’s what counseling can offer:
A Safe Space to Vent: Let’s face it, sometimes your teen doesn’t want to talk to you about their feelings (I know, shocking). Counselors provide a neutral, non-judgmental space where teens can unload all their complicated emotions without worrying about eye-rolls from either side.
Stress Management Techniques: School, social pressures, social media… it’s a lot. Teens today are more stressed than ever, and the American Psychological Association (2020) reports that nearly half of teens say they feel stressed out "all the time." Counseling helps them develop coping mechanisms, from mindfulness to problem-solving, that can help them manage the inevitable stressors of life.
Improved Communication Skills: Technology has made teens more disconnected than ever, and they have not developed the fine art of social skills. This leads to further disconnection and so on and so forth. Working with a skilled counselor can help your teen learn how to be more conversational and make eye contact as well as be more engaging in real life.
Why It’s More Than Just a “Phase”
Let’s dive a little deeper into why teen counseling isn’t just for the kids struggling with obvious crises. Sure, your teen might be “okay” on the surface, but counseling is a powerful tool for helping them understand themselves better, especially before things escalate. A 2019 study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that early intervention—getting teens into therapy before issues become severe—can significantly reduce the risk of long-term mental health problems.
Here’s a bit of fun science to chew on: during adolescence, the amygdala, the brain’s emotional center, goes into hyperdrive, but the prefrontal cortex (the "rational decision-maker") is still in its fledgling phase. Think of it like your teen is driving a Ferrari (big emotions) with learner’s permit-level steering control (self-regulation). Counseling helps them figure out how to handle that emotional horsepower without crashing into life’s obstacles.
Counseling is the Cheat Code for Surviving the Teen Years
Teen counseling isn’t just about addressing crises—it’s about helping your teen understand themselves better, manage stress, and communicate more effectively with others (including you). It’s like a mental and emotional toolkit that prepares them for the future, whether they’re navigating social challenges, academic pressures, or just the wild ride that is adolescence.
So, if your teen has been going through a rough patch—or even if they’re doing okay but could use some extra support—counseling is an investment in their long-term well-being. After all, they’re growing up in a world that’s more stressful, more connected (and more disconnected), and more complex than ever before. Counseling is like giving them a life jacket in the middle of those choppy teenage waters.
And who knows, you might even get through a dinner conversation without hearing, “Ugh, whatever.” Miracles can happen!
Interested in learning more about how Alpine Family Counseling can help your teen?
Sources:
Giedd, J. N., Blumenthal, J., Jeffries, N. O., et al. (1999). "Brain development during childhood and adolescence: a longitudinal MRI study." Nature Neuroscience.
National Institute of Mental Health (2020). "Major Depression."
APA Stress in America Survey (2020). "Stress in Teens: An Increasing Problem."
Kessler, R. C., et al. (2018). "Prevalence and treatment of mental disorders in adolescents: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication-Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A)." Journal of Abnormal Psychology.
NICE (2011). "Early Interventions to Prevent Long-Term Mental Health Problems in Adolescents."
