How are parents involved throughout the process of teen counseling?
Parents' involvement in the process of therapy is key. Early on, we seek a mutual agreement on what parent’s involvement will look like. We will consider your child’s need for privacy while finding ways to include you in the process. A parent’s level of involvement is unique for each family. Figuring this out with you and your child will be priority.
Here are a few examples from our experiences: some parents have preferred a 5-minute phone call periodically, a short email exchange, or even attending sessions infrequently. Topics discussed with parents typically include:
Therapy themes: a general idea of what’s being discussed in therapy
Identified goals: what we’re targeting as therapy’s finish line;
Progress in achieving goals: behavioral, emotional, and cognitive change;
Strategies practiced: therapeutic methods being implemented inside/outside therapy.
Your involvement would provide you the opportunity to ask questions, better understand your child’s concerns, be more informed of what’s happening in therapy, and learn how you can help the process. Every parent’s preference for degree of involvement is different, so we can figure this out together.
