Adolescence & Counseling Approaches

ISSUES IN ADOLESCENCE AND HELPFUL COUNSELING APPROACHES

Burns (1994) has noted that during the course of even the most normal adolescent period of development, many young people and their families will encounter difficult "spots" which can be helped by a period of time spent in counseling. In these cases, adolescents may be seen separately or with their parents, or with the entire family as the need arises. The purpose of this paper is to examine some of the typical issues for which young people seek counseling and some of the common strategies counselors use to deal with these issues.

According to Pledge (2003), adolescents face several issues during this period of developmental growth. These are said to be issues related to: understanding self, confronting family relationships, peer pressure and substance use/abuse issues; issues associated with psychological and emotional stress; sexual maturation issues, and school/academic issues. Each of these issues and commonly used counseling techniques for handling them are discussed below.

Jaffe (1998) reports that adolescence is difficult for most youngsters in that it is a period during which an individual challenges self and childhood ideas. It is the beginning of physical, emotional, social, and intellectual growth which brings excitement, delight, anxiety, and misunderstanding. The child, who in elementary school was obedient and academically motivated, may see

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equire in order to effective provide counseling to adolescent substance abusers. First, it is noted that counselors need to review the various models of the causation of substance abuse and develop a conceptual position regarding causation upon which they can make consistent therapeutic assumptions and decisions to guide counseling practice. Second, Sales (1999) states that counselors should familiarize themselves with those treatment practices that are most effective in dealing with substance abuse. For example, Sales reports that, at least to some degree, effective treatment outcomes have been observed for short-term interventions, aversion therapy, stress management, solution-focused brief therapy, and social skills training. In terms of traits and characteristics counselors need for successful outcomes, Sales (1999) states that the research generally shows a need for counselors to develop open, collaborative relationships with their substance abusing clients, helping them to t rust the counselor and understand that he or she is committed to helping them with the problem. It is this perception on the part of the adolescent that will ultimately allow the counselor to help the teen focus on the problem and implement interve

Category: Psychology - A