Helping the Stressed Out Teen

Explore the unique issues causing teens and young adults to be stressed out and ways to help them
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Adolescent Anxiety
Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes
AllCEUs.com Continuing Education
Objectives
 Explore triggering issues
 Discuss how/why adolescents respond differently than adults (or even children)
 Review intervention approaches
Physical Triggers
 Sleep (Anxiety; schedules; homework; hygiene)
 Nutrition (incl. energy drinks)
 Hormone
 Gender Identity (and determining their gender identity)
 Hyper-responsive (comparatively) HPA-Axis
 Immature PFC
 Hyperactive stress response
 Stuck in F/F mode (emotional mind) making it difficult to think clearly and identify what is bothering them in the moment
Affective/Cognitive Triggers
 Fewer experiences to inform default schema
 Increased “learning” from less than accurate sources
 Lack of awareness to find “accurate” sources
 Increased distress increases emotional salience of distressful triggers
 Extreme thinking / demands for perfection / difficulty with identifying diminishing returns
 So much stimulation serves to distract from mindfulness
Cognitive Development
 Concrete:
 Dichotomous
 Egocentric (until age 7) Can only see their own point of view
 Inductive reasoning—observation to idea (generalization)
 Formal (11y.o.+):
 Abstract thinking,
 Deductive reasoning— If A=B and B=C then A=C If any of the premises are incorrect then the solution will also be incorrect.
 How much incorrect or only partially correct information is out there?
 Based on their “years of experience” how many of the generalizations made during childhood which now inform their reasoning are accurate?
 Often not taught to challenge existing generalizations
Environmental Triggers
 Lack of safety
 Virtual safety: 24/7 and permeating all safe spaces; disinhibition (abuse/neglect); deep fakes; identity theft; catfish; out of context posts or life-long posts negatively impacting school acceptance or jobs
 Lack of a need to leave leads to fewer experiences “out there” and a discomfort with “out there”
 Instagram facade
Relational
 Identity vs. Role Confusion (Erikson)
 Defining “Who am I?”
 Identity involves the experiences, relationships, and values that make up a person's sense of self.
 People who are not allowed to explore and test out different identities might lead to role confusion—being unsure of who they are and where they fit in (if anywhere).
 People who develop a role identity based on one or more “canceled” principles may fear abandonment if people knew the “real them”
Relational
 Parental distress: Perception and Disengagement
 Texting vs. talking
 Cancel culture (rejection/abandonment)
 Constantly changing landscape
 FOMO = no time for relaxation
 Larger fishbowl (swipe right / ghosting)
 May never know why someone ghosted which can lead to inaccurate conclusions
 Reduced effort in relationships
 Sexuality
 Define rich and meaningful life
Purposeful Action
 Choosing to use your energy doing things that just spin your wheels or help you get traction to move forward
Mindfulness (Morning and Night)
 Strengths and vulnerabilities
 Physical
 Affective
 Cognitive
 Environmental
 Relational
 Identify ways to address vulnerabilities

Urge Surfing
Distress Tolerance: TAGS
Exercise and Stretching
 Adolescents are growing rapidly.
 Exercise and stretching can help with feelings of coordination and reduce pain
 Mild exercise can help reduce cortisol levels
 Moderate to intense exercise can help “reset” the stress response
BETA Testing
 Breathe
 Examine the Facts in Context
 Talk to others and think about alternatives
 Act to improve the next moment and assess outcomes

Video by Dr. Dawn Elise Snipes on integrative behavioral health approaches including counseling techniques and skills for improving mental health and reducing mental illness.

AllCEUs provides multimedia counselor education and CEUs for LPCs, LMHCs, LMFTs and LCSWs as well as addiction counselor precertification training and continuing education.
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