Therapy and Coaching for Teens

Drifting away from your little one…

It’s 4:30 pm and the daily check-in text doesn’t come in. Denise tells herself not to worry – that her teen, Olivia, is probably hanging out with her friends a little longer than she had planned.

So, she waits another hour… and her worry intensifies. She texts her, but there is no response. She asks her dad if he has heard from her, but he hasn’t either.

As she drives home, Denise is upset, but she doesn’t want to get into an argument. Maybe Olivia just got busy studying and forgot. When she pulls up to the house, she is relieved that her bedroom light is on. She is home safe.

She heads to Olivia’s room, and she gives her the usual, “Hey.” Denise asks how her day went, and she gets a short, “It was ok.” She doesn’t mention the missed text, and neither do you. “Ok…” Denise tells herself, “I’ll let it go.”

But she notices that Olivia has become increasingly distant.

The little girl who used to run to her with exciting news of her day at school is now in her bedroom, on the computer, or on the phone with her friends. She seems to be latching onto her friends more and more. Denise asks her husband whether this seems like normal teenage behavior. He tells her to let it go… that it’s “just a phase.”

But the feeling in her gut tells her something different. Olivia is now irritable, short-tempered, and snaps at her for even the smallest of things. Her grades haven’t slipped too far, but her mood swings are frequent.

Denise even worries about her being on drugs, so she breaks a promise she made to herself to respect her privacy. Luckily, a search of her room didn’t reveal any concerns.

Denise asks her if she is doing okay… even plans a day for just for the two of them. But rather than the connection she’d hoped for, it’s just a day of arguing that ends with, “Just leave me alone… you don’t understand!” It’s very unnerving to watch her go through this.