Adolescence is a stage between childhood and adulthood in the sense that still as children, adolescents are very flexible, in evolution as well and have a great potential to learn like children whilst, begin to talk and think like an adult. In these years cognition, by the hand of the language, is growing, the capacity to conceive other different possibilities or hypothesis about the same aspects of reality emerges…, the capacity to empathize gets deeper and they begin to understand experiences that are only talked (or contacted verbally) without the necessity of having to experience them directly. All these characteristics that adolescents begin to develop are already in adults and for this reason, the therapy for adolescents is oriented much similar as it is for adults.
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The most outstanding and specific characteristic of this stage can be the evolving self-concept, that unlike in the adult, begins to evolve perceiving themselves much more from the other´s look (social self-concept) and will change during these years and influence their way of behaving and for what they behave, saying a lot about what moves them or motivates them. The new or evolving sense of self will be attached therefore to the things they begin to value more: their relationships with the others (peers), the romantic relationships or with the other sex, being loved and cared by relatives, belonging to a group of friends… Consequently they will feel themselves more vulnerable in relation to who they are for their peers, boys, girls, friends and in relation to their independence and choices in respect of stages of adolescence, adolescent development or any characteristics of adolescence.
In the other hand, they will begin to value significantly more their independence, being and feeling capable to manage on their own, to experience new things, and living life… their desire for this blossom and increases and unfortunately sometimes society does not cover or guide this natural healthy energy and desires, for example by delivering significant experiences for them in the area of being independent, experiencing new aspects of life, allowing them to make important choices that affect them like those ones that make them more independent, or allowing them and guiding them to make free choices to become more free persons and to learn consequently from their choices and own mistakes, by allowing them and preparing things make them responsible of their own decisions. Here is more specialty require for intervention process as in child psychology
If it is in this stage when their self concept “expands”, and develops as their sense for freedom and independence, it will be essential to allow them certain range of freedom to give them that trust and respect they deserve, to allow them to learn from their own choices and mistakes to make of them more conscious adults, responsible of their choices and their lives.
Their willingness to get what they want is strong, and this is a good tool, but so their impatience is strong and so their fears when they feel or perceive that they won´t get what they value. The adult sometimes don´t empathize with these great willing for experiencing, for doing new things, for putting into practice their skills, learning…for being independent… Instead, many of these reactions will be perceived as potential dangerous outcomes and the adolescent as the child he/she is not any longer.
Our capacity to understand what they are becoming and how important is to guide these needs and valuable new life-stages towards a constructive learning is totally compatible with allowing them to discover and explore life with certain limits (depending on the individual and age), and with allowing them to be responsible of their choices and acts. But if we never give them those opportunities or accompany them in the way, how then will they learn to be responsible, to learn from their mistakes, to be independent…?
When society do not dedicate an specific psychological handling education in these matters the adolescent will not know how to cope in certain situations or about things that are important to them, and will learn inadequate or maladaptive habits or behaviours (using alcohol, drugs, sex, skipping rules or limits, abandoning effortful ways etc.) if they think (or have learnt ) that those ways of behaving would lead them to what they want
The adolescent will as the adult look to the “over-thinking” tool in order to solve the above problems that matter so much to them with the cost that over-thinking has the dark side of the coin of complicating too life “problems” instead of bringing a solution.
As adults, they will require a higher verbal therapeutical intervention than children need, in order to take them out from the over-thought “labyrinth” created, to return them back to life and its natural contingencies teaching them to cope with their fears and their personal difficulties.
Adolescents are the best population to take advantage (and learnt from too) of the great vitality and passion they have for life and freedom in order to guide them in the learning of the necessary skills to cope suffering and life goals, in order to give them adequate tools in pursuing what they want and love, to be what they want to be-do in the future, or the person they want to be, to put in practice their passion for art, music, dance, to make of the world a better place… These and others are typical values that we can find in them.
A life changing value provided to client through psychotherapy Dublin, psychology Dublin services.
Which kind of more complex difficulties would need of an external help?
Circumstances for psychological Intervention
- Divorce of parents, bad relation ships with one or both parents
- psychological difficulties that parents may living
- Feelings of being abandoned or solitude
- Difficulties in their studies, difficulty to concentrate
- Specific learning difficulties: attention deficit, hyperactivity, reading disorder, language expression, dyslexia…
- Difficulties in self control: addiction problems, engaging for the pleasure in the short term but no engaging in behaviours attached to consequences for the long term
- Addictions: gambling, alcohol, smoking, drugs…
- Too much control: dieting, exercising too much with problematic consequences
- Sadness in the long term, self-image dislike, anorexia, bulimia…
- Avoiding behaviours towards daily important activities
- Sadness or depression, lack of energy and willing to do things they enjoyed, abandonment of what they did-liked to do,
- Loose of sense, lack of motivation
- Death and looses
- Difficulties in social interactions: fears, anxiousness, avoiding behaviours…
- Anti-social or avoidant behaviours
- Difficulties to follow rules in school with frequent complaints from teachers alluding to no adaptive or disruptive behaviours
- Specific learning difficulties: reading disorder, language expression, dyslexia…
- Attention Deficit or Hyperactivity
- Anxiety, social anxiety
- Generalized anxiety
- Stuttering
- Tics
- Obsessions, rituals behaviours, rigid behaviours
- Anger management, aggressive behaviours
- Dependence
- Borderline or histrionic behaviours
- Sleep Disorders
- Bipolar Disorder
- Schizophrenia disorder
- Psychotic symptoms-behaviours
- Post-traumatic Disorder
EtymØn Psychotherapy & PsychØlogy for Life 