Expectations & Acceptance

As clinicians, our role in supporting teenagers dealing with mental health stressors is multifaceted and often challenging. Establishing realistic clinical expectations is crucial for fostering a safe and productive therapeutic environment.

Like any client population, teens are no exception to having to expect the unexpected. Although it is our role to build rapport with teens, building trust is a two-way street. In order for our teen clients to divulge their inner thoughts, there needs to be a level of mental gymnastics and test-taking. Of course, not in the literal sense of sitting down in a classroom and checking a box of what constitutes the best modality would fit the teen. But here’s a condensed version of what to be aware of when working with this population:

Expectation: Clinicians could expect teenagers to exhibit emotional volatility, resistance to vulnerability, provocation, and evolving identities. We anticipate sporadic communication, engagement barriers, and testing the trust of the clinician. Recognize the importance of patience, empathy, and adaptability in fostering trust and progress during therapy with adolescents.

Accepting Quirks: Anticipate and embrace any types of quirkiness that adolescents may show up as. This is a significant moment in their development to finding their identity. Careful not to discredit their identity for the therapists’ comfort. Accepting the teen to show as themselves can co-create a sense of nurturance in building trust. Be cognizant in our facial reactions. Sometimes we want to cringe because of our past experiences and outcomes, but the important part is reinforcing the client’s autonomy to make their own decisions– not robbing them of an experience because of the discomfort we received from our past.

It can be difficult to separate our own issues when we are invested in working with a population that has notoriously shaped our own identity through the developmental years. However, recognizing and resisting the urge to change an outcome is the healing aspect of acceptance both for the client and the clinician. Consider the idea of a time traveler and the butterfly effect, sometimes leaving our own wants and needs can be monumental for the client’s future. As clinicians, it is our job to support them in fulfilling their ambitions and aspirations, no matter how bizarre, afterall adolescents deserve to be recognized for their dreams like everyone else.