Counselor, Psychologist, or Psychiatrist—Which Is Right for Your Teen?
If your teen child is going through a rebellious phase and is making really bad decisions, you might be able to help your child by scheduling a visit with a counseling center. Counseling is great for helping teens through tough time periods, but there are many types of counselors to choose from. As you begin your search, you should compare your options to find the right type of counselor for your teen. Here are three of the options you can choose from and understanding what these are can help you select the right type.
Counselor or Therapist
The first option you could choose is a counselor or therapist. This is the type of professional that offers primarily talk therapy, and this can be useful for a variety of different reasons. Talk therapy can be quite helpful for a rebellious teen for several reasons.
It allows the teen to express how he or she feels in a non-threatening environment. This may help the teen open up and state feelings, thoughts, and situations a little easier.
It also gives the teen a different perspective. Teens do not always feel comfortable talking to their parents about issues, and they usually do not like to take advice from their parents. By hearing it from another person, they may be given the same perspective that you would give them. The difference is that they will often accept this more so than they would from you.
Counseling can also help identify problems that need to be addressed. Simply from talking and listening to a teen, a counselor is often able to identify what the real problems are that need to be addressed.
Psychologist
A second option you have is to choose a clinical psychologist. Psychologists also use talk therapy to help people, but the work they do often goes deeper than what a counselor will do. Psychologists aim to find the root issues, which often stem from childhood. By doing this, they are able to really help the person with his or her issues.
In addition, psychologists are great for helping people with mental illnesses. They are able to diagnose mental illnesses, and they can work with medical doctors to find solutions for the issues. If you suspect that your teen might have a mental illness, such as chronic depression or bipolar, visiting a psychologist might be the best route to look into.
Psychiatrist
Finally, you could take your teen to see a psychiatrist. A psychiatrist has the most training of all these types and is able to prescribe medication. When teens have very severe issues, such as mental illnesses combined with major traumatic experiences in life, a psychiatrist might be the best option. Psychiatrists can do it all, which means there is no need to visit a regular doctor separately.
Another key benefit of psychiatry is that these doctors look at a person as a whole. They understand the correlations that can exist between health problems and mental states, and they take all these factors into consideration when helping people.
Before you can choose the right type of counselor for your teen, you should really look into the teen's life, experiences, habits, and symptoms. If your child has gone through really traumatic events in life, he or she may have scars from these events, and these scars can affect the way a person thinks and acts.
If you want to help your teen get back on the right path, consider making an appointment with some type of counseling center. This can be a great first step to take towards helping your teen work through the issues he or she is struggling with.