When you’re considering therapy options for your teenager you may want to consider a group therapy-based approach according to recent research.
Individual therapy undoubtedly has benefits for teens in terms of teaching them how to navigate the rigors of young adulthood, but group therapy has been shown to improve a teen’s ability to maneuver social environments and might even be better for this purpose than individual therapy.
One way group therapy works is by helping teens overcome social anxieties. Teens learn to better relate with one another through shared experiences and concerns that emerge.
Another benefit of group therapy for teens is that the therapist is able to see social interactions as they emerge and bring them to awareness, allowing for them to try on a more effective way of relating. Through group they have a chance to learn how to give constructive feedback to others and hear it themselves.
Specifically, Psychology Today listed the following conditions as benefiting from group therapy for teens:
- Social Isolation
- Acute Shyness
- Bullying Issues
- Peer Rejection
- Anger Management Problems
- Identity Conflicts
In a group setting teens can develop their social skills that will serve them later in life, such as public speaking and expressing needs and desires in an adult setting.
Social anxiety, especially during the teenage years, can be quite a barrier to developing relationships and even getting a job. Learning these skills in an environment like this provides teens with an opportunity to express themselves that they might not otherwise have.
While they build social confidence and their social skills with one another, they also learn what a positive peer influence is. This is critical for most teens as their peer group can often have an outsized impact on their decision making and the pressures they experience.
Working with other teens in a group setting wherein each supports the other shows what mature, healthy relationships look like. This may help them avoid making bad decisions later in life and identify those peers that may not have the bests interests of others in mind.