a large part of dealing with this issue makes it difficult for young people to manage this stage of life and what is needed from counselors are diverse practical strategies that assist teens in leaving childhood behind. Group counseling is said to help. Also, it is recommended that youngsters be given tasks such as writing a daily journal. The primary objective, however, in all strategies is for counseling to be an opportunity for adolescents dealing with identity issues to engage in self-exploration.
Issues Involving Family Relationships
Sprinthall (2001) reports that as adolescents begin to form their own identity, they also grow increasingly independent. Commonly, this is difficult for both the adolescents and their parents who are called upon to allow this independence but also provide structure and support. Complicating this problem is the fact that divorce is widespread and the traditional family where both parents provide support is disappearing in America. Single parent and step-families are a fact of life for many youngsters, and in this climate of changing family structure, family relationships become more complicated and can be difficult for adolescents to deal with.
As to what teens need in the way of counseling in order to deal with the challenge of independence and other issues pertaining to family relationships, Littrell (1998) reports that the primary objective for the counselor should be to help adolescents and their parents better understand one another. Counselors need to help the teen and the family work together and so assist, in whatever way and to whatever extent possible, the young person to make the difficult choices required during this period of maturation.
It is also cautioned BY Littrell (1998) that counselors need to be especially alert to dysfunctional aspects of students' families in order to develop counseling strategies and guidance interventions that help adolescents overcome any negat...