youth/young adult

I want to commend you for coming this far!  If you are reading this page, it might mean that you are looking for some support in an area of your life that you feel you can’t deal with on your own.

The next steps can be some of the toughest that you will experience and I want to support you through them.

Sometimes the hardest part can be talking to your parents about therapy and expressing a need to talk to someone who is “unrelated” to you.  If you are over the age of 12, you do not have to notify your parents that you are seeing a Social Worker – although you may want to.

Most of my clients have found that once they started the conversation with their parents, it all became a lot easier after that.

I have listed some helpful conversation starters for talking to your parents about wanting to start therapy:

First of all, most parents will want to know that you are both physically and mentally safe.  Consider starting the conversation by saying, “Mom/Dad… I have something to tell you but let me start by saying that I am ok.”

Consider following up with something like:

1. “I’ve been having some feelings that have been bothering me and I’d like to talk to someone about it.” or
2. “I’m feeling a lot of pressure at school and I’d like to reach out for some help.” or
3. “Things are getting a little tough for me and I want to see a professional so that I can work it out.”

Remember, that asking for help is a sign of strength and not weakness.  If you want to talk more about starting a conversation with your parents, please feel free to email or phone me for a free consultation.