• Adults
• Couples
• Families
• Adolescents and The Transition to Adulthood
• Veterans and their Families
• Individuals or Families Coping with Chronic Illness or Disability
• Persons Interested in the Intensive Process of Depth Therapy

Adolescents and The Transition to Adulthood

Adolescence and the transition to adulthood can often be challenging, especially if a young person has had to contend with significant losses or stresses during their early life or has not experienced a secure sense of belonging or the support and encouragement to develop their capacities as young persons.

Even if they have received optimal support, some young persons experience difficulties during adolescence and the transition to adulthood, destabilized by the profound physiological and psychological changes they are experiencing internally, or by external forces which - sometimes unintentionally or unwittingly - impinge upon their need for developmental and psychic “space.”

Many feel pressured anticipating the precipitous increase in responsibilities associated with early adulthood, or by a need to define a course for their futures before they feel equipped to manage even the most basic aspects of their own day-to-day lives, compelled by either the urgings of their families or “maps” they have adopted from others that stress academic, vocational or economic achievement more than personal development or pacing.

Departing from the customs or values of their own childhoods or the expectation of their families in the process of individuation, some young persons may feel conflicted by seemingly opposing psychological, social and practical needs.

Unsure of how to mediate these conflicts - and their perceived consequences - some adolescents or young adults may rebel, often deviating dramatically from any expectations they perceive others may have of them, or alternately, becoming anxious, depressed or acquiescent.

These processes can be stressful not only for a young person, but also for his or her parents, whose own fears and insecurities may be activated during this transition. Parents may be plagued by questions such as - Am I preparing my child adequately to be successful? - to avoid hardship? - to protect him or herself? - and prescribe solutions, based not upon their child's temperament, interests or needs, but their own anxiety about the future, especially if their own passage to adulthood was problematic in some way.

Sensing that their parent's guidance may be colored by anxiety, rather than a desire to help them pursue a life, based upon their own wishes or predilections, a child may begin to reject not only a parent's suggestions, but withdraw to retain or preserve a focus on themselves. This can lead to painful fissures in family intimacy, or a rejection of a parent's unbiased support, even among children and parents who once were close.

Other children may approach this passage with perfectionist tendencies that lead to excessive worry about their academic careers or futures, and bypass opportunities for developing friendships, hobbies and other interests.

Whatever your child's needs, psychotherapy can assist him or her to respond to these difficulties with more ease and confidence.

Psychotherapy can focus on your adolescent's needs, providing them with the spaciousness they need to reflect on their choices, process their feelings and develop strategies for resolving problems the problems they are experiencing in their lives. It can also provide a therapeutic forum for your family on a primary or adjunctive basis, depending upon your needs and circumstances.

If you are seeking assistance for your child or for your family, I would welcome your call.

If I cannot assist you, or meet the needs of both your adolescent and family, I would be pleased to help you in identifying other clinicians in San Francisco, Alameda or the East Bay capable of providing the support you are seeking.