Basic Areas of Concern for Teen Girls

Working with teens can be difficult.  You know this if you work in a school, group home, detention center or other agency that serves adolescents.  Young people are dealing with so much these days, so many choices, decisions and pressures that shape their feelings about themselves and the world around them.


Teenage girls can be an especially challenging group to reach, as girls are faced with a different set of pressures that affect almost all of the choices they make.

In practice, I've found some success in reaching young women and I've noticed a few key areas that seem to have the biggest impacts on their lives.  When working with them its been helpful for me to have basic knowledge of the following:

1. Parents & Siblings: What is the current status (and history) of relationships with parents and siblings, in the home or outside? 
2. Stability: Have living arrangements and important relationships been stable over time?   
3. Connection with Mother: Is the relationship with mom tense or supportive? Close-knit or estranged?  Is Mom even around at all?
4. Sexual History: Is the client sexually active now or in the past?  Is she in a serious relationship?
5. View of Self: How does she feel about herself in terms of self-esteem, self-efficacy, self-confidence and level of self-awareness? 
6. Present/Past or Future Orientation:  Are past issues dominating her present feelings? Is she able to see herself in the future?  Does she feel positive about her place in the world?

All of these pieces affect and are affected by each other to form the whole person.  Deficiencies in these areas tend to show themselves in internalizing behaviors such as depression, anxiety and somatic complaints and externalizing behaviors such as fighting/aggressiveness, sexual promiscuity and vulnerability to unhealthy relationships.  Being aware of these major areas of concern will assist with diagnosis and addressing the presenting problems.

Successful interactions with teenage girls will require more than knowledge of the above, the most important piece of the puzzle is YOU! Are you the type of adult that a young girl feels she can confide in?  What makes you different than her parents and other adults that she doesn't trust?  How can she be sure that you have her best interests at heart?  Here are a few ways to become the adult that the kids on your caseload need: 

• Remember your own time as a teenager: Fully remember the thoughts, feelings and pressures you were facing.  
• Realize they are not adults: Understand that they do not process things the way you do.
• Resist the urge to parent: They are not your kids so don't treat them as such.
• Recognize their need for autonomy: A teen's sense of control over their own life has a strong impact on the decisions they make.  
• Reinforce their strengths: Help them see how special they are regardless of their history or current circumstances.

These are just some of the things that have worked for me.  What works for you?