Innovative Activities for Teens in Therapy

That in terms of the phases of human development, adolescence takes a special place. These years are often characterized by risk-taking and exploration as well as the battle to establish one's identity. Few of us would decide to put the time machine's dial back to the "teenage years" setting if given the option.



Therapists may find it particularly difficult to connect with teenagers. Teenagers are too old for many strategies that work well with younger children, yet they aren't nearly sophisticated enough to think through problems the way adults do. Working with teenagers often calls for creative problem-solving in order to relate to and assist them. In this article, we will look at some novel approaches to developing rapport with adolescent clients and provide interesting activities for adolescent counseling.

Ideas for Innovative Teen Therapy

You may employ the top teen therapy activities on our list in your sessions with adolescent clients. Lina Lowenstein and the American Counseling Association are to thank for these concepts.

A Rage Menu

When eating out, menus make it easy to see the options, and they also function well in therapy. Make a folded menu with the words "Anger Menu" on the outside and "Menu Options" within. Together, come up with a variety of suitable ways to show rage. The options should be listed on the menu's interior by the adolescent.

Lifeline

You invite the adolescent to make a timeline of their life as part of this exercise. The adolescent will finish the chronology up to the current day by sketching or using collage. Invite the youngster to talk about significant life events and fill the timeline's future section using their goals and aspirations for the future. With the help of this exercise, you may learn more about the client's early life and future ambitions in a less invasive way.

An online profile

Utilizing one's experience with social media is this action. You will provide the youngster a social media-style paper template with each of the elements of an online social media profile after discussing as much of their social media profile as they feel comfortable doing so. The teenager is asked to discuss a significant life belief in each part. In the profile picture area, for instance, there can be a prompt asking users to depict how they see themselves in the future. The template may ask them to briefly express how they view themselves and how they think others see them in the introduction. The prompts on the template may be altered to focus on the therapy objectives of certain clients.

Chat Meter

Teenagers often find it challenging to speak with a new adult, particularly when it comes to issues, they are facing. They might indicate their willingness to participate informally via the conversation meter activity. You start by displaying a drawing of a thermometer or other gauge with labels ranging from "completely unwilling to speak" to "ready to discuss right now." The adolescent should color the thermometer in up to the point that corresponds to their current degree of comfort speaking. Finally, talk about the difficulties they have in being honest during treatment.