Your Ultimate Guide to Teen Therapy After Divorce

Teen therapy for divorce can be a lifeline when your child. At Therapy for Women, we’ve guided countless teens (of all genders!) through divorce. While you’re juggling the practical parts of separation, investing in therapy for your teen can provide the emotional support they desperately need right now. Our experienced therapists understand exactly how divorce impacts adolescents and can help your teenager find solid ground again.

Understanding Their Emotional Journey

Remember the rollercoaster of being a teenager? Now add divorce to that mix. When teens come to our office, they often don’t know how to name what they’re feeling. They respond to divorce differently than younger children. Many times, they feel many conflicting emotions that they don’t necessarily feel comfortable unpacking at home. Here common things we observe in therapy with our teens:

• They are putting on a brave face at school while their grades are slipping, hiding their struggle to focus when their mind keeps drifting to worries about home
• Lashing out at parents or siblings, then feeling guilty about it later – a cycle that just keeps spinning
• Pulling away from friends because it feels impossible to explain what’s happening at home
• Trying to be the family “fixer,” shouldering adult worries that aren’t theirs to carry

Benefits of Teen Therapy During Divorce

In our offices in Philadelphia, New Jersey and on the Main Line, we specialize in providing therapy for teens facing family transitions. For parents, we also recommend reading the book, The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, as a resource. We create a safe, neutral space for teenagers to process their emotions about divorce. Our specialized divorce therapy for teens provides several key benefits:

• Find their voice and learn how to tell both parents what they need, without feeling caught in the middle
• Develop real-world ways to handle overwhelming emotions (that don’t involve slamming doors)
• Keep their own life on track – because being a teenager doesn’t stop just because parents are separating
• Process what’s happening with someone who isn’t taking sides

Recognizing When Your Teen Needs Therapy

Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between normal teen moods and signs they need counseling for divorce. Keep an eye out for:

• Changes in their sleep or eating that last more than a few weeks
• Making concerning comments about the future or expressing hopelessness
• Acting out in ways that seem totally out of character
• Withdrawing from activities or friends they used to love

Getting Started with Teen Therapy

Our practice makes beginning therapy as comfortable as possible. We’ll start with a laid-back conversation to understand what’s going on and create a plan that actually makes sense for your teen’s life and schedule.

Getting them extra support is not as a sign that your teenager can’t cope, but it is giving them an extra tool in their toolkit during one of life’s toughest transitions. We’re here to help them build the resilience they need to weather this storm – and come out stronger on the other side.

Want to learn more about how our teen therapy services can help your family navigate this chapter? Get in touch with us. We’re here to support both you and your teen through this journey.

We have offices in 3 locations in the Philadelphia area–

Old City/ Penn’s Landing, Philadelphia

Center City/ Logan Square, Philadelphia

Main Line (Bala Cynwyd) Office

Coming soon to Collingswood, New Jersey!