Therapy for adolescents in Manhattan, NY
The teenage years are unlike any other in your life
The teenage years are a time for self-discovery, friendships, and growth, but for many, these years are spent anxious, battling depressive thoughts, and with low self-esteem. Who do you talk to when you can't talk to your friends and it is too embarrassing to talk to your parents?
Adolescence is unlike any other time in our lives. At the very moment when everything about our physical appearance is changing and we are trying to figure out who we want to be, we are simultaneously scrutinized by our friends, teachers, coaches, and parents about our appearance, intelligence, athleticism, and behavior in a way we weren’t just a year or two before. Friend groups shift and as they start to congeal and normalcy to sets in, you’re off to college to figure everything out again.​ Therapy can give your teenager the space to work through difficult emotions and navigate life's hard moments with someone other than their parents​
The anxiety of managing the pressures of family and friends can be overwhelming
Teenagers in New York City grow up fast. Living in the biggest, most diverse city in the country, means getting used to seeing and hearing certain things that kids in smaller cities and towns never do. That can prepare them for the life ahead, but it can also onboard them to adult pressures and anxieties. ​Anyone who has gone through the NYC school application cycle knows that too much stress can fall on NYC teens at too young an age.
Do they seem distant? Not themselves?
Troublingly, rates of depression in adolescents have risen precipitously in the past decade or so with 8% of teens meeting the criteria for a major depressive episode in 2009 to nearly 16% in 2019. This is true more generally: the prevalence of all mental disorders among children and adolescents has been increasing over the last two decades and, according to a nationally representative survey, in 2016 alone 41% of children aged 6-11 and 59% of adolescents aged 12-17 were diagnosed with a mental disorder; only only 50.6% received treatment from a mental health professional.​​​
​
This is often made worse by people on Instagram and TikTok, discussing a recent and trendy mental health topic and passing themselves off as experts. Though sometimes these people are competent clinicians or researchers, more often they simply repeat the current popular perspective and so reinforce beliefs instead of challenge them, and calcify negative emotions instead of helping to work through them.
Therapy for teens in Manhattan
Teenagers, especially those in New York City, are under an incredible amount of pressure. Therapy gives teenagers a dedicated person to talk to about their friends and family, about their fears and anxiety, about their lives and what comes next. Having that non-judgmental space, separate from their friends or family, teachers, or coaches, can help open them up to talk about difficult topics.
​
Teenagers are often smarter and more capable than they are given credit for, but without someone they can have truly private conversations with, they can get help from unhelpful sources. At Lexington Park Psychotherapy, our therapists are professionals who understanding child development, school systems, parenthood, and the unique difficulties teenagers face today. We can help regulate difficult emotions and break through negative thought patterns, so your teenager can enjoy life again. ​​​​​
​
There are many reasons why teenagers come to therapy, including:
​
-
Struggling with low self-esteem
-
Fears about college
-
Strong feelings of depression or a depression that just won't go away
-
Feeling anxious all the time
-
School or friend related stress
Parents and Teenagers
As hard as this time is for teenagers, when teens are struggling, parents are struggling too. As the saying goes, you're only as happy as your least happy child.
Parenting a teenager carries with it unique difficulties that the elementary school years just don’t prepare you for. Parents are in some ways in a uniquely poor position to help their kid feel better: parents have to negotiate between being someone your kid can come to in a hard moment while also being someone who sets rules; being someone who is there to help make good decisions while also being non-judgmental and someone who doesn’t invalidate experiences; being a friend and an authority. Parents are often in the uncomfortable and unenviable position of being told how horrible things feel while being unable to do anything about it without being perceived as being part of the problem.
​
Therapy for adolescents offers a safe and non-judgmental space to speak with someone without the social ramifications that might come from friends or awkwardness that might come from parents. In therapy, we work together to learn to regulate emotions, overcome anxieties, and speak to other people to receive support when it is needed.
Adolescence is the ideal time to start going to therapy. Not only is therapy very effective at improving mood, academic performance, and emotional development but it can take the pressure off of the relationship teens have with their parents, allowing the family to come together again as a unit.
​
Therapy for Teens at Lexington Park Psychotherapy
Adolescents are innundated with information and misinformation about mental health. Influencers on Instagram can give a false impression of what life is, or should be, and "experts" on therapy-Tok can give misleading information about interpersonal relationships, boundaries, narcissism, and just about everything else. Friends can also be supportive, but rarely challenge perspectives. That can cause emotions to spiral into more and more extreme places.
​
The therapists at Lexington Park Psychotherapy are real experts. We understand what teenagers are going through - what middle and high school are like, the pressures from friends and family, trying to find (and create) yourself. But we also understand how quickly angry and reactive feelings can get out of hand and know how to encourage thoughtfulness instead of reactivity. We offer full wrap-around services and can coordinate with teachers, coaches, speech-language pathologists, pediatric psychiatrists, and any other person or agency you need us to to help provide your child the care they need.
​
​