"I WANT MY TEEN TO BE SUCCESSFUL."
Your teen seems to be all over the map emotionally, filled with anxiety one moment and rage the next. Friendship drama is at an all time high, and when you try to help, your teen tells you that you just DON’T UNDERSTAND. The tension in the house is sky high, and your patience is long gone.
You’re worried about your teen. Too much time is spent behind closed doors, DISENGAGED from friends and family, and instead engaged in a life online. Your attempts of connection are rejected and you just don’t know what to try anymore. Is your teen going to make it through high school? Poor organizational skills, weak study habits, and the inability to take responsibility for choices, leaves you wondering if it’s possible. You try to build up skills for them to succeed but are left shaking your head in frustration.
As a parent, you just want your teen to be successful: to feel good about who they are, to have confidence, and to have healthy relationships. You want them to learn coping skills, to respectfully communicate feelings and needs, and to make choices that they are proud of.
SO, LET'S HELP THEM GET THERE!
At Swabey Family Counselling we value the role of parents and therefore want parents involved in the process as much as possible. We help parents build their toolboxes so that they feel more confident in supporting their teen through life’s challenges – whatever they may be. We know how valuable the parent-teen relationship is for teens to navigate their journey for identity and autonomy – and we know that parents need support through it too.
Your teen CAN be happy, successful and confident so that they are ready for college and beyond. We have just the tools for them and for you as a parent, so that you can competently support them every step along the way.
The families we work with experience amazing shifts like respectful communication between parents and teens; teens knowing how to use strategies that build calm, control, and confidence which increase problem solving skills; teens understanding and maintaining healthy relationships; and teens that are self-reliant and ready for college life!
HOW WE WORK WITH TEENS
First Steps:
Learning All About Your Family
We always meet with parents first as we want to learn the ins and outs of your family’s dynamics, routines, strengths, and challenges. In the first few sessions your Family Counsellor will:
- provide information about the counselling process including what to expect, risks and benefits, rights and responsibilities, and confidentiality,
- gather detailed information about the concerns that brought you to counselling and develop a clear understanding of your needs,
- explore preliminary goals for counselling,
- determine when to meet your teen.
Second Steps:
Meeting Your Teen
When meeting your teen your Family Counsellor’s focus is to:
- provide information about the role of a Family Counsellor, what happens in sessions, how and when parents are involved, client rights and responsibilities, and confidentiality,
- gather information into your teen’s understanding of why they are coming to counselling,
- explore your teen’s goals for counselling, and
- introduce different handouts and resources used in sessions.
Next Steps: Creating Change
Once the Family Counsellor has met you and your teen, they will support you in developing a plan for change. This plan will guide the work done in sessions. At this point sessions are flexible and may be parent focused (you may request parent sessions at any time), teen focused, or family focused (parents and teen together). Your Family Counsellor will keep you informed of the next steps. In sessions your Family Counsellor will:
- inquire about positives and progress towards goals to assess what is working and to help highlight the many things that are going well,
- explore any roadblocks and challenges that might be getting in the way of meeting your goals,
- develop and strengthen various skillsets to help create and maintain change, and
- identify what to work on outside of session.
Fees and Insurance
Fees for services are $145 per 60-minute session, which includes email support between sessions. Accepted forms of payment include debt, credit, cash and e-transfer (e-transfers must be sent prior to session or immediately after). If you will be utilizing insurance to pay for services, it is your responsibility to verify with your insurance provider that services are covered. When checking with your insurance provider you need to ask which credentials they cover for counselling services, not just if you are covered for counselling. Some providers will specify that for counselling to be covered, you would have to see one of the following: Psychologist, Social Worker (RSW or MSW/RSW) Psychotherapist, or Clinical Counsellor. Green Shield is the only insurance provider that we bill directly to, for all other providers you must pay for services and submit your receipt. If you have questions about insurance coverage, please ask and we will do our best to answer your questions.