How is treatment different for adolescents?
For increased success in working with adolescents, therapists’ initial meeting is with the parents. The rules and boundaries of confidentiality and expectations of what parents hope for their son or daughter is discussed in the context of the need to establish rapport with the adolescent, build trust in the therapeutic relationship, and build a bridge of communication between the adolescent and the parents. The second meeting is with the adolescent without the parents present. The parameters of confidentiality are discussed and the therapist shares the concerns of the parents as described in the initial session. In the first few sessions, the therapist focuses on developing a therapeutic relationship with the adolescent as this process takes time. Parents are encouraged to be patient with the process and avoid pressuring adolescents to disclose what they have shared with the therapist or to expect immediate changes. Initially, parents may feel left out of the process and adolescents ma
