Lay the Groundwork for Connection
Avoid clinical missteps
- Who to meet first: Teen or caregiver?
- Top 5 strategies to build an alliance
- Dos and don’ts to avoid blunders
- How to support teens who don’t want help
- The Family: Determine where they fit into counseling
- Limitations of the research and potential risks
Assess Adolescent Mental Health
Typical teen angst vs mental health issue...and does it matter?
- Recognize and respond to crisis
- Tools for identifying grounds for concern
- TikTok diagnosis? Handling teens’ preconceived notions
- Assessment tips for hard-to-engage teens
- Caregivers’ role in assessment
- When parent and teen perspectives differ on level of concern
Address Teen Turmoil
Help teens who are struggling with one or more of the tasks of adolescence:
- Parting with childhood
- Make and maintain friendships
- Harness intense emotions
- Contend with adult authority
- Plan for the future
- Embark on a healthy love life
- Care effectively for themselves
- Ready-to-Use Resources: Clinician handouts and client materials
Clinical Approaches for Teen Mental Health Issues
Interventions for anxiety, depression, eating disorders, self-harm and high-risk behaviors
- Myth-busting: Emotions are not the enemy
- Persistently sad, numb, or “snarky”: Top techniques to treat depression in teens
- Interventions for unhealthy coping:
- Problematic social media use and gaming
- Eating disorders
- Avoidance
- Self-harm
- Substance misuse
- Hands-on Experience: Interactive clinician and client exercises
Clinical Considerations
Navigating ethics and legalities
- Working with teens from deeply troubled families
- Ethical guidelines for collaboration with teachers, coaches, and others
- Manage questions of safety and confidentiality
- Youth-specific cultural and ethical considerations
- Uphold appropriate clinical boundaries