Riverina Counselling has speciality areas in support for teens and adolescents struggling with mental health challenges. Matthew has experience being a Clinical Lead over a number of youth services over the years. Teen and adolescent difficulties can often stem from anxiety, issues with friendship groups, managing exam stress, support around the impacts of bullying and even support around suicidality and self-harm.

We support teens who may struggle to connect with others, such as those with neurodivergence. This time period is often a very difficult time for young people as it can be overwhelming, with many issues often arising in relationships with others, including ongoing difficulties with parents.

This is also a time where support can be imperative, as during this period the emergence of mental illness can start to appear. Therefore, there will be times where it may be hard to put a finger on a trigger, especially if there are other underlying causes that need further investigation.

Reflective Parenting

As an adolescent goes through therapy, we recommend that parents also get support to help caregivers better connect and understand their own triggers. We aim to help develop tools to manage difficulties and carer frustrations, which better helps connect with adolescents when they are not feeling seen or heard.

Trauma

We provide support for adolescents who have gone through different forms of trauma over the years. This often takes a different approach from standard therapy and requires a longer-term approach, as often it can take quite some time to connect and establish enough safety before even going into the impacts the traumatic events have had.

Trauma can rear its head in many ways and often impacts every aspect of life. It can lead to the vulnerability of developing other mental health issues if it is unaddressed and continues to be perpetuated.