I don’t know if any of you had the same experience as me, but I tried therapy when I was a teenager living in an abusive household and thought it was a waste of time. Ultimately my biggest problems (dad) were beyond my control and no amount of coping would make them better. Now that I’m an adult with actual control over my life and don’t live with my dad anymore therapy is MUCH more helpful.
If any of you had bad experiences with therapy when you were younger it may be worth it to try again now.
THE SAME GOES FOR MEDICATION!! I tried meds as a teenager and they were powerless to help much due to my living situation being horrible. I thought that meant medication didn’t work for me. Now that I’m out of that situation and trying agajn I can really see a difference.
Such a large part of therapy depends on having some control over your life! Therapy isn’t just talking to someone and they make everything go away. They give you tools to master your problems! And if you can’t use them, they aren’t of any use. And it’s the same for meds! If they let you be more productive or creative but you have no outlet for that, the end result is the same. If your meds help you see the positives but there are no positives to see, you won’t notice the difference.
Sometimes you get the wrong tools. Sometimes there’s no space to use them. Sometimes the hardware store sucks. Try again with different tools, in different locations, at a new store.
Also if your parents are part of the problem, they likely will be the one picking your therapist. Which means that, like me, you might end up going to a bunch of Christian “counselors” who recommend prayer and reading your Bible, or other unhelpful types. So therapy not working for you as a teen does not mean it won’t ever work for you.
