Art Therapy for Teen Girls in the St. Petersburg & Tampa Bay Area.
Being a Teen Girl is Tough...Let Me Help!
The pre-teen and teenage years are an essential time for self-discovery, identity formation, and social development. With hormones, emotional roller coasters, strained family relationships, and social/academic pressures, adolescence is a challenging developmental stage, a I right!
Most teenagers experience confusion, inner turmoil, and conflict as they attempt to cope with peer relationships, school demands, difficult decisions, and complex family dynamics. It is common for teenagers to feel like they are alone and that no understands them, which makes this developmental period all the more stressful and complicated.
During this transitional period, adolescents may isolate from their loved ones making it really tough for families to connect and communicate. Even though teenagers may have difficulty accepting it, parental love, guidance, and understanding are deeply important and adolescent therapy can help you bridge those connections.
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Get Through Adolescence with Confidence
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Growing and maturing is both exciting and scary, for teens and parents! Adolescents are constantly influenced by their interactions with friends, family, media, culture, and our society as a whole.
Today’s world presents a number of unique pressures for teens and stressors for parents, especially with the prevalence of social media and modern technology. With technological advances, teens are now facing unique situations that adults have difficulty relating to such as cyber bullying and “sexting”. Because of these virtual challenges, parents need to be more involved than ever through providing unconditional love and support coupled with stability and structure.​
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Parenting during the teen years can be one of the toughest jobs ever! To all my parents out there, you deserve a medal. Parents worry constantly about how their teens will develop, whether they will make the right choices, and what kind of a person they will grow into. The job of a parent is 24/7 with no potential raise for a job well done. Most parents won’t feel appreciated until many years down the road. This full-time job can be extremely frustrating, exhausting, and discouraging at times. Although parents may have the best of intentions, sometimes their strategies aren’t as effective as they would like and can even make matters worse. As a parent, I believe you do the best that you can and it’s important to recognize when additional support is needed.
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What to Expect in an Art Therapy Session
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Many teens struggle with trusting someone they don't know and are less willing to open up and talk about difficult topics. In an individual art therapy session, I focus on the needs of your teen. The primary goal is to first establish safety and comfort, in a non-judgmental space. If your teen is not comfortable they will not open up and the therapy won't work. I approach therapy from a strengths-based approach, meaning I help teens feel empowered, encouraged and motivated to succeed. Teens who work with me experiences reduced stress, improved coping skills, improved self-esteem, better decision making and stronger family bonds,
Your teen does not need any previous art experience to benefit from Art Therapy services, only a willingness to be creative and to try something different. Sessions can either be in the home, in the mobile art studio, or via Zoom. Basic art materials are needed but not required, as almost anything can be used for creative expression. Although parents, you do have the right to know what is being discussed with your minor, however we ask that you respect your teens privacy within the therapy session. Having the courage and willingness to open up to a therapist isn't easy, there's an emotional risk involved for your teen. In order to receive the best results, your teen needs to feel safe and comfortable opening up about tough stuff. If they think what they're sharing in session will be shared with their parent, they will begin censoring themselves and we definitely don't want that. There are exceptions, which include risks of self-harm, harm to another and abuse. All therapist are mandated reporters and therefore privacy is null and void in these specific circumstances.
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Art Therapy will help your teen learn skillful behaviors to replace self-destructive behaviors so your teen can move forward happier and healthier.
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There is a strong likelihood that your teen is struggling with who they are and what they value and need skills to navigate their day to day lives. Teens need help recognizing their strengths, talents, values and goals. Together we will encourage creative expression, discovery, while helping them to learn necessary skills to improve their confidence and ability to successfully navigate life on their own. What parent doesn't want all of that for their child?
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Ready to See Some Changes? Book a Session Today!
