Relationships make us who we are; when we are well in relationship with ourself and others, we are well in the world. For teenagers, developments within the brain and body mean that peer relationships hold tremendous power to harm and to heal. In therapy too, the relationship is the key. We meet, we see how it feels, we go from there.
Mind and body: health in one is fundamental to health in the other. A young person's relationship with food can become a vehicle for control over life when other elements feel shaky. Self-harming is another way of managing emotion, a use of the relationship with one's own body. The therapy I practice is about linking the head and the heart, being able to connect with and use your "gut feelings". It's about learning to be happy and well as a whole person.
Grace. Humour. Energy. Compassion. It has been my experience that young people possess these strengths and more, that they are keen to be seen for the best within them, that they have tremendous capacity for growth and that, if therapy is their choice and they trust their counsellor, they can make wonderful use of the process. Small steps at first, great leaps when they're ready.