What Do You Give Your Child To Choose Instead of Drugs?

Notice all the choices shown? Parents, if you expect your teen to make better choices than using drugs/alcohol, you should take responsibility by GIVING THEM THESE CHOICES. Does your teen have any athletic involvement? Have you signed them up for a music/Art/photography class? Do you know what their hobbies are and support them? What are the things your family participates in, as a unit, on a weekly basis?

If you can't provide these answers, then how do you expect your child to pull tools from an empty toolbox? 

All this week, 2/23/15-2/27/15, I will be focusing on providing information focused on the Parent-Teen relationship. Check back everyday for my posts, comment your thoughts, share them to others, and check back other weeks for a focus on many different therapy-related issues.

 

- written by Nakya Reeves, LMFT. I am a therapist and owner of a private practice where my main focus is working with families on communication issues, especially the parent-teen relationship. I also utilize PhotoTherapy techniques in my practice, which integrates bringing in photos that the client has taken or collected as a part of the therapy process. I can be contacted any time at csolutionstherapy@gmail.com

PhotoTherapy Mindfulness Group Session for Substance Abusing Teens

Pictures from a photography-outing today. I conducted a group therapy exercise focused on mindfulness. The group walked to a local park and had the opportunity to capture photos on our walk, as well as at the park. It was a great experience seeing who really connected with the exercise, the differences in each teen's interpretation of the assignment, and the differences in perception. I'm very passionate about this topic, so I made sure to capture a few of my own.

#Selfies - Using the Self-Portrait in the Therapy Room

If you are not aware, "selfie" is a term used in popular media to describe a picture that is taken by a person of that person. Selfies are fun - we see pictures of people holding their phones in just the right position to capture a new outfit, an exciting moment, new hairstyle, or whatever. Selfies show the world what we are doing, and how good we look doing it! It's probably the most common way of sharing photos on Instagram, Facebook, SnapChat - you name it. You see the word everywhere - articles, blogs...I think there is even a show called Selfie (though I'm not sure if the same definition applies). So how can this phenomenon, commonly used for entertainment, be helpful in a therapeutic way?

Alternative Emotional Expression for Teens Dealing with Trauma

[These pictures are shown with permission from my clients] - The collages shown were done by a few teenagers I worked with in a therapy session focused on trauma they had experienced. I often find that, for some clients, it is difficult to verbally express feelings relating to certain topics such as trauma, deep rooted self esteem issues, problems in their family, divorce, etc. In these cases, I like to find alternate means of expression that can be just as therapeutic as a conversation about feelings. I push clients to go deep in alternate-media sessions,
and often get interesting interpretations - which turn into deep, revealing sessions

Here are the clients' explanation of their creations: