Teen Counselling

Are you looking for a psychologist for teenagers?

Relationships between you and your child through these teen years can be volatile, exhausting and difficult to understand. As your child transitions from a young child to adulthood there are many emotions, thoughts and feelings that can arise and cause challenges.Relationships with family and peers can be affected as they experiencesignificant change. This can impact everyone involved in different ways and be a source of great difficulty and concern.

It’s important to understand that teenagers have stronger emotional responses as they develop through their adolescent years. As their young adult brains continue to develop they also undergo physical changes and their sense of identity and values begin to shift. This change can result in your child being at risk of experiencing poor mental health including anxiety and depression, risk-taking behaviour, as well as antisocial behaviour.

For this reason, it is important to seek help when you feel your child might be experiencing more than ‘teenage moodiness.’ Adolescent Counselling is the answer and will help you explore new and effective ways to communicate with each other. It will provide valuable support to your teenager, allowing them to discuss their issues in confidence and better equip them with the skills to deal with day to day issues in a more constructive way.

Topics that can be addressed in Teen Counselling sessions include:
  • Depression
  • Anxiety and worry for the future
  • Exam anxiety
  • Self harm
  • Family issues
  • Relationships with friends
  • Loneliness
  • School issues
  • Violence and trauma
  • Bullying
  • Romantic relationships

Why choose Teen Counselling at A resolution Applecross?

We are a team of teen therapists near you. Our commitment is to provide you and your adolescent with a comfortable environment to discuss your concerns in confidence. We will provide you with expert care from an experienced psychologist who specialises in adolescent and family counselling. We also believe in offering family counselling where suitable, to include parents and siblings in the process.

Topics we can help with

FAQ

The initial appointment with you and your child is 50 minutes. For most issues, follow up appointments are usually split between you and your child or you and your child together, this allows time for use to answer any questions you may have about their progress. If you have any questions please come into the appointment 15 minutes before the scheduled end time i.e., after 35 minutes so that these can be worked through. Our sessions are blocked as 50 minute appointments, the remainder of the session is to make notes, contact relevant people and prepare for your child’s next session, this ensures that our sessions start on the hour or half hour.

The length of therapy is quite variable, and the final decision regarding the length of therapy rests jointly with you and your psychologist. Some children/teens stay for six sessions, while others are in counselling for two or three years or more. Most children/teens need between 13 to 20 sessions to overcome general anxiety, depression or family issues. Children with significant family concerns or more complex issues such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or post- traumatic stress disorder may require 20 or more sessions. For children/teens, this will depend on their age, the issues presented and type of treatment used. For many concerns parents will also attend some sessions to get strategies to help with your child.

In the beginning you will need see your therapist weekly to establish your therapy and build some traction. This takes a minimum of 3 sessions we recommend you book these in on your first appointment. After this, therapy needs to be paced according to your issues, the therapy style your therapist is using and even your financial considerations. Some people come fortnightly, others monthly.

For many young child clients including parents is an important part of the change process and you will be invited into
the last 15-20 minutes of the appointment regularly . If you would like an update about your child’s progress send
the psychologist an email requesting this so that they can arrange the appropriate forum, whether that is a pre-
booked and prepaid skype/phone session, additional face to face appointment or otherwise we often need time to
prepare a response if we have not already scheduled time with you during your child’s sessions.

Once you book an appointment its yours. We encourage you to keep your appointments to avoid delays in booking new ones and to speak with our team members about discontinuing therapy. If there is no way you can make it please call reception to reschedule.

If there is no way you can make a skype session and you need to change or cancel an appointment, please provide at least 48 hours notice otherwise there are cancellation fees.

All of our team members are registered psychologists so you are able to claim Medicare or Private Health Fund rebates (you can only claim one or the other per session). Medicare provides a rebate of either $84.80 or $124.50 back per session for up to 10 sessions per calendar year provided you have a Mental Health Plan drafted by your GP and a referral letter to any psychologist. After the initial 6 sessions you need to return to your GP for a review to access the final 4 for the calendar year. Private health rebates are available provided you have cover for psychology.

We offer appointments between the hours of 9 am and 7pm Monday to Friday and 9 am to 2 pm on Saturday. Individual psychologist availability varies, please contact reception for more information.

When our clients are preschool-aged children, we generally only see them with a parent or guardian present and involved in the sessions, so parents are aware of all the information being shared. For older children, it is often beneficial for them to spend some time alone with their psychologist at some stage, but only if and when the child and family are comfortable with this.  If children spend some time in session alone with their psychologist, confidentiality also applies for them as clients, in that we would request their permission to share specific information they have shared with us, even with parents (though there are still the same exceptions, such as when there are concerns about risk of harm).

Our Teen Counselling Team

Megan Moosa

Senior Psychologist

Megan is a valued member of our team and a Senior Registered Psychologist. She is committed to working with you and your child to better manage a wide range of emotional and behavioural concerns.
Her dedication to adolescent health includes her work as an experienced School Counsellor. She specialises in addressing issues related to anxiety, bullying, exam preparation and anti-social behaviour.

Find out more about Megan Moosa

Francisca Lessa

Psychotherapist (English and Spanish speaking)

Francisca is passionate about helping teens with depression/anxiety and or self-esteem issues to understand more about themselves and develop their sense of identity. Francisca has experience in teaching and psychotherapy. Francisca has worked with teenagers ranging from aged 13 to 18. Read more

Unami Magwenzi

Senior Clinical Psychologist

Unami is passionate about working with young people and their families.

Find out more about Unami Magwenzi

Katherine Shanhun

Senior Psychologist

With several years experience as  a school counsellor, Katherine is passionate about helping teens with depression/anxiety and or self-esteem issues to understand more about themselves and develop their sense of identity.
Find out more about Katherine Shanhun

Our couch, Your private space

Our private and warmly appointed rooms in Applecross provide the perfect space for you to begin your journey of self-development and start taking control of leading a more fulfilling life. We are located near Applecross Village with a private rear entry, upstairs at the back of the building.

Get In Touch

We will get back to via phone or email the same day during business hours!

    To Make an Appointment Phone Today 08 6555 7786