Psychotherapy for Youth 15+
Young adulthood is a difficult time in life of navigating transitions and ongoing change.
Most experience, shifts in roles and responsibilities, sexual development, identity conflicts, and difficulties with peers, and academic or career challenges. Not to mention the unprecedented demands of today’s world can add a lot of pressure and strong feelings of uncertainty, which can be difficult to manage alone. Take the pandemic for instance, this forced a generation of young persons to adapt quickly to a virtual learning model and isolate from friends and family, missing out on significant developmental milestones.
Along with rapid physiological, sexual, cognitive, and emotional change, the onset of mental health conditions can emerge during this time, further complicating an already difficult time.
Some mental health challenges that emerge in adolescence include:
Identity Confusion
Eating Disorders
Self-esteem issues
Substance Abuse
Personality disorders
Learning challenges
Social Impairments
Psychotherapy is a holistic, evidence-based form of mental health care
that can help children and families understand inner processes to change negative thinking, emotions, and behaviours. There are various psychotherapeutic approaches which involve different techniques. At times, a combination of approaches can be helpful, depending on individual needs or presenting issues, worldviews, and the contexts of their lived experiences.
Starting therapy in young adulthood can support an individual’s confidence to make decisions and develop healthy ways of thinking and coping with distress.
Provided the right treatment, young adults will learn skills to be empowered and manage their own mental health challenges to go on to live meaningful lives.
Psychotherapy can also be used in combination of medication treatment to optimize care; however, psychotherapists cannot conduct formal assessments to provide a diagnosis or prescribe medication.
Below are some therapeutic approaches to address challenges that arise in young adulthood:
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Focuses on inner processes to understand and accept emotional struggles to commit to moving forward in a positive way.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Helps improve mood and behaviour by exploring inner conflicts and harmful thought patterns. Individuals can gain a greater understanding of the interconnection between how we think, feel, and behave to replace negative thoughts and behaviours to better align with their views, values, and personal goals.
Family Therapy
Explores patterns of communication, interactions, and support. This can include the parent(s) and child or adolescent, siblings, and grandparents.
Dialectical Behavioural Therapy
Addresses chronic suicidality and high risk or self-harming behaviours. This approach encourages accountability and helps examine conflict resolution and intense negative emotions. This can involve a combination of individual and group sessions and is often effective for managing symptoms of borderline personality disorder.
Person Centred Talk Therapy
Provides a warm, empathetic, non-judgemental, and safe space to discuss negative experiences and self-explore personal thoughts and feelings, to identify with strengths and develop healthier views and coping strategies.
Take The First Step Today
Being a parent is hard enough, and you do not have to do this alone. At YYZ Talks, we have a team of compassionate and knowledgeable psychotherapists who are ready to support you and your child’s mental wellness.
Contact us today for a free consultation with Anny, our experienced Youth Social Worker & Psychotherapist, to learn more about the services we offer and start therapy today!
Related Articles & Insights
Issues We Work With
At YYZ Talks, we offer comprehensive support for a wide range of mental health concerns and life challenges. Our experienced therapists are equipped to address various issues that may be impacting your well-being and quality of life.
-
If your life is being impacted by your difficulty paying attention / impulsivity / hyperactivity / disorganization, reach out and we can help you figure out where to go from here. In some cases, formal assessment and medication are warranted. We go beyond coaching to explore how ADHD affects all domains of your functioning. We work with clients to understand and process the complex impacts that ADHD has upon their self-image.
-
We provide anger management, PAR program, and various combinations for both Court ordered cases and personal development purposes.
We approach anger as a symptom, and work with you to uncover what's really going on. We provide strategies, and psychotherapy to help you better gain control of yourself. We don’t just explore anger in the here and now, but also the origin story of your emotional world
-
There are different types of anxiety disorders, including phobias, panic disorder, agoraphobia, social anxiety disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.
Cognitive-behavioural therapy is shown to be an effective approach to anxiety. One goal of therapy would be to learn how your thoughts, emotions, and behaviours work together and to change the thought patterns that feed anxiety.
We also dedicate part of the process to understand how your anxiety came to be by exploring your childhood
-
Being in a relationship can be challenging. Whether with a romantic partner, a good friend, or family members, each can be marked with struggle that can be confusing and frustrating. We can offer an unbiased external perspective, without any agenda other than your happiness and well-being, to help manage these relationships in the best way possible.
-
Feelings of deep sadness, lack of motivation or interest, and apathy are all characteristics of
depression or a depressive mood and it can be very distressing. We can help manage this gray,
heavy, or empty feeling by implementing small changes in your day to day life, as well as
approach broader issues in a safe, supportive, and comforting environment.
-
Gaslighting is a confusing process to be the victim of. Between the loss of self, confusion, and disoriented narrative, we can often feel erratic and out of sorts long after we've moved on from those relationships. Work with an experienced Psychotherapist to find yourself again and make sense of your narrative.
-
Our grief and loss services are primarily provided by Laura, who holds an Advanced Grief Certification, and a certificate in emotional regulation strategies.
Loss can occur in many forms, from a sudden and terrible shock to a slow or painful decline. Some losses are literal, such as losing a loved one, relationship, job, or home, while others relate to one’s identity such as loss of identity, independence, and hope. Loss therapy focuses on helping individuals take the time to explore the impact of loss on one’s emotions, thoughts, and perceptions, to process emotional responses, and to empower clients with resiliency to move forward while preserving the memory of what has been lost.
-
Interpersonal conflict is inevitable in our lives. How we deal with it, both within ourselves and in communication with others, can make all the difference. This form of therapy explores our reactiveness, helps to understand ourselves more deeply, and seeks to find compassion for ourselves and the other. Through learning how to navigate conflict, we aim to develop stronger, healthier relationships.
-
Evolving views on religion and spirituality can unfortunately lead to conflict within social and familial groups. There can be the loss of support systems, loss of meaning making, and the loss of routines, roles, and responsibilities. Our approach for individuals going through this rooted in helping you pursue meaning in your life. This involves making sense of your relationship with multiple domains, and managing changes to your identity.
-
We all know that life is full of change, but to really accept that and adapt to changing circumstances and expectations takes a lot of work. A new role whether it’s at work or at home requires us to adjust many variables such as expectations, hopes, and responsibilities. This can be quite stressful and lead to conflict, disappointment, and communication issues.
Our Psychotherapists can help you navigate this by helping you identify blindspots, manage expectations of yourself and others, and develop a greater insight into why you’re experiencing something the way you are.
-
Unless you live in a hammock, you're going to face stressful situations. A little bit of stress is normal and the stress response can be helpful. Having a lot of stress all the time is not helpful. It means your mind and body are running in overdrive, and that is taking a huge toll on your resources. It's not sustainable and more and more studies are showing the negative impacts stress can have on you.
We work with you to create a custom stress-management plan. Together we'll identify your stressors and existing patterns, develop a self-care routine, find healthy outlets, and develop resilience.
-
¼ of our caseload is students. We love working with you before the world has made you jaded. Being a student is a fascinating and difficult transition. Issues like feeling homesick, academic pressure, time management, test anxiety, social struggles, family and career expectations, and more can arise. Talking to a Psychotherapist can provide support and a safe space to problem solve to ensure you get the most out of your post-secondary experience.
-
Traumatic events can have wide-reaching effects on your life. Whether you have been diagnosed with PTSD or not, whether your trauma stems from physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, we can help. Traumatic events overwhelm the brain, and lead to symptoms such as nightmares, flashbacks, being easily startled, avoidant, numbness, emotional volatility, cognitive issues, and feeling distant from life.
Our team is experienced in working with trauma in all its forms to help you get back into your life and your relationships. For Individuals suffering from complex trauma, our Certified Clinical Trauma Professionals are always available to help you on your recovery journey
-
Life is full of unknowable factors, and dealing with uncertainty is a part of life we can't avoid. Some people are more sensitive to uncertainty, hating it and trying to control it as much as they can. This can lead to a lot of avoidance, distraction, procrastination, impulsivity, and anxiety. We approach uncertainty through multiple angles to improve your insight, and tolerance and build better-coping strategies.
-
If your struggle isn’t captured by this list, reach out to us anyway to discuss if we can help. If we can’t, we’ll try our best to find you help at another practice. We’re bad capitalists and will happily refer you to another practice if we think they can help you better than we can.
Book a Free Consultation
