Adolescent Therapy
With adolescents, I tend to say many of the same (wise) things that you, as parents are saying. Sometimes, adolescents just listen better when someone else says it. Many teenagers and their parents benefit from having a neutral third-party help them negotiate the typical developmental changes that occur as children move from elementary school through high school. While there is no “rule of thumb,” I tend to work individually with teenagers for a number of sessions and then recommend a family session in order to help the teens communicate more effectively with their parents. This is a schedule that recurs over a period of months—giving parents a chance to talk about their concerns and teenagers a chance to talk about theirs.