Adolescence is a challenging time. Almost everything is changing all at once: a teen’s body, hormones, and social scenes are all in flux. On top of all this, teen brains are still maturing. Areas of the brain that control emotional regulation, decision-making, and executive functioning continue to develop well into a person’s adolescence and early adulthood.
This is a lot to navigate for even the most well-equipped, fully-resourced teen. If your child is experiencing an adolescent identity crisis, it’s understandable for you to be worried. Their behavior might seem strange or concerning. Maybe they’re moodier, more anxious, and more isolated than they used to be. Why is this happening, and how can you help them cope?
At Liz Morrison Therapy, we know how tough adolescent identity crises can be for both parents and teens. We specialize in therapy for teens and family therapy. To support teens and their families address and healing from mental health challenges. Understanding the difficulties of adolescent identity development and knowing the signs of a teen who’s struggling with an identity crisis can help you decide whether therapy is right for your family.
Challenges of Adolescent Identity Development
As teens begin to discover who they are in relation to the world around them, they often undergo changes in mood and behavior. There are various internal and external factors that impact a teen’s sense of identity as they age. Here are 8 of the most common ones we see with our therapy and coaching clients.
Bodily Changes: Teens face physical changes during puberty and throughout high school that can have a huge impact on their self-esteem and body image. The pressure to fit into whatever body type is currently in is huge, and teens who fall outside those narrow ranges may struggle to accept and care for their bodies. This can lead to disordered eating, the sense that one’s body is wrong or bad, and lasting mental health issues.
Social Pressures: The need for belonging is strong among humans, and particularly strong among teens. Peer pressure and the desire to fit in can lead to stress, especially if social norms conflict with their personal interests and values.
Emotional Intensity: Hormonal changes and underdeveloped executive functioning skills intensify teen emotions and mood. Many teens are learning how to understand and express their own emotions – and to interpret those of the people around them.
Cognitive Development: As teens develop abstract thinking skills, they may begin to question big topics like their beliefs, values, and who they are. This can feel confusing, overwhelming, and even frightening.
Family Dynamics: During adolescence, family relationships often undergo significant changes. Teens naturally crave more independence as they age, which can lead to family conflicts.
Cultural and Societal Expectations: Cultural, societal, and sometimes religious expectations can create added layers of complexity in adolescence. Teens may struggle with the dissonance between what they’re taught and what they themselves believe.
Digital Identity: Social media can be a huge source of anxiety and depression for teens. Many teens feel pressure to curate an online persona and are constantly bombarded with hundreds of strangers whose lives seem relatively glamorous, easy, or fun. It can be impossible for a teen not to compare themselves with everyone else they see on social media – and to assume their lives are worse.
LGBTQ+ Identity: For teens who are questioning their gender, sexuality, or other deeply intrinsic aspects of their personality, it can be easy to feel like an outsider. This is particularly true for teens with religious backgrounds or those who live in more rural (and therefore less diverse) areas.
What You Can Do to Help With an Adolescent Identity Crisis
As a parent, you can help your teen in their identity development by being curious about their experiences. As well as maintaining open lines of communication, and listening to them without judgment.
It’s easy to want to jump to offering advice or telling your child how you think they should be thinking. The intentions behind this behavior are good: you’re trying to help them! However, this often backfires. Teens (and adults, for that matter) don’t respond well to being told what to do or how to think.
Help cultivate a safe space for your child to express their emotions by listening without interrupting, avoiding making their issues about yourself, and only offering advice if they explicitly ask for it. Try to empathize with their situation and let them know you have compassion. You can also ask them to clarify their emotions and help them understand their own feelings by saying things like: “That sounds really tough. What did that feel like for you?”
The more your child knows you’re a safe person to approach with whatever difficulties they’re facing, the more trust you’ll build with them.
The Role of Therapy For Teens Identity Development
No matter how hard you might try to help your child with a teen identity crisis, you only have so many resources at your disposal. If your teen is truly struggling, it can be challenging to know how to help. That’s where therapy comes in.
Our teen therapists help guide your teen through all the difficult transitions and challenges they’re facing. We provide a supportive, safe, and encouraging space for your teen to explore self-discovery, and acceptance, and build a strong sense of identity. Plus, we help them understand the changes they’re going through in a language they can relate to because we’re each trained specifically to work with adolescents and families.
Here’s how we help support teen identity development:
Exploration of Personal Values and Beliefs
Through reflection exercises, examination, and clarification, we help teens understand and clarify their values and beliefs – and the role these factors play in their behaviors and identity.
Emotional Awareness and Expression
We guide your teen in developing awareness of their emotions. This includes identifying and labeling their emotions as they arise, and responding to them with curiosity, compassion, and healthy coping tools.
Coping Strategies
Therapy provides teens with healthy coping strategies to deal with challenges like hardships, stress, anxiety, and peer pressure. These strategies empower teens to make independent and values-based choices and lessen the impact of both external and internal pressures.
Self-Esteem and Body Image
We work with teens to build a positive self-image and self-esteem, focusing on their strengths and accomplishments and getting curious about perceived flaws. We also help teens develop a healthy relationship with their bodies by encouraging and practicing acceptance and self-love. We’ll also help your teen deal with social media challenges, including helping them critically evaluate the messages they receive from media sources.
Family Dynamics and Identity
We offer parenting support and family therapy to improve communication and parent-child dynamics. This helps the whole family learn about each other, equips parents to communicate more effectively, and creates healthier and more authentic family bonds.
Understanding Gender and Sexual Identity
Our therapists offer a safe, judgment-free zone for teens to explore and discuss their gender and sexual identities. We’ll support and validate your child, helping them navigate any confusion or distressing feelings. We’ll also provide further resources for your teen or family, such as connecting a teen with supportive local groups or communities.
Building Resilience
Higher levels of resilience are associated with fewer mental health issues. Therapy utilizes personal goals and problem-solving skills to help teens increase self-confidence and resilience. Our therapists help teens learn how to handle challenges, setbacks, and successes alike, growing through whatever they face.
Developing Authenticity
Sometimes therapy is one of the only places a teen can feel truly free to be their whole, true selves. Therapy encourages teens to embrace who they are at their core, which increases authenticity in their relationships and behaviors. For teens who navigate multiple cultural, social, or digital identities, therapy helps teens understand how to integrate these facets into a cohesive sense of self.
Mindfulness and Self-Awareness
Therapists guide teens in learning mindfulness techniques that help them build stress tolerance and self-awareness. Regular self-reflection exercises in therapy can empower teens to build a more stable sense of self.
Validation and Empowerment
At Liz Morrison Therapy, We know that helping people feel understood and accepted is key to building a positive sense of self and identity. Therefore, we all take pride and care in validating teens' feelings and experiences. We’ll always empower your teen to take ownership of their life and choices, and how to continue to grow in the face of challenges.
Help Your Teen’s Identity Development With Therapy for Teens in Manhattan, New York City, Brooklyn, or anywhere else in New York.
If your teen is struggling with an identity crisis, don't wait to get them the support they need. Contact us at Liz Morrison Therapy to learn how our specialized therapy for teens can help them develop foundational knowledge and skills for identity development. Let's work together to empower your child to achieve their full potential.
Follow these three simple steps to get started:
1. Contact us to schedule an appointment for Therapy for Teens
2. Begin meeting with a skilled teen therapist
3. Achieve your full potential!
Other Services Offered at Liz Morrison Therapy
Liz Morrison Therapy offers services for the whole family. In addition to supporting your teen’s mental health in therapy for teens, our services also include Parenting Support for those looking to create healthy relationships with their children to help them live their best lives, Young Adult Therapy for individuals looking for support, guidance, and real-world strategies to help them deal with their struggles, and Anxiety Therapy for those wanting to cope with their anxiety in healthy ways. For more about us check out our Blogs and FAQs.