Therapy can vary from being extremely successful, to very challenging when working with adolescents. Some adolescents agreed to therapy and felt they wanted support, however some teens are in therapy not by their own choice due to parents or other systems enforcing it.  When a teen (or any client) doesn’t want therapy to begin with, it can be tough to get engagement from them as they struggle to gain control back. There are ways to get creative when engaging with teens, whether they are for or against coming to therapy.  Here are some activities that have been successful with to improve engagement in therapy with adolescents:

• Go for a walk
  • Getting out of the office and going for a walk with clients is very refreshing.  There is a scenic board walk across from our office which is great to walk down with teens, take a look at the pond and spot any turtles!  Finding a walk path, especially one with some sort of view, will be enjoyable to teens especially for ones who don’t enjoy sitting in the office for sessions.   

• Mindfulness coloring 
  • Using my “Mindfulness Coloring Book”, I have provided some time towards the end of sessions for teens who aren’t as talkative or weren’t in a talking mood to color.   This coloring book (or any mandala type coloring books) gets teens to be creative on what colors they use and how they want the picture to look.  It’s a great way for teens to practice being in the moment.  

• Diamond Art
  • For the teens who enjoy art, diamond art is a great way to keep them engaged and focused throughout the session.  If you have a larger picture, you can use this with several clients in separate sessions since it’s quite time consuming.  The end result is a beautiful diamond art picture that clients helped make together.  

• Worksheets
  • Worksheets aren’t always a big hit for teens as it can seem similar to school, however some teens do enjoy reading about skills and using worksheets to practice them.  This can be helpful for teens (or any client) who needs more structure in session and allows for the client and clinician to practice the skills together.  

• Listen to music 
  • Teenagers can be very expressive through the music they listen to.  I’ve had sessions where clients will play songs they listen to and use that as a gateway to discussing what it means to them and how it’s relevant to their life.  Sometimes they just like the song because it’s catchy, and others relate to lyrics or the artist.  

• Games 
  • Typically for the younger teens (12-13), I’ve played games such as Uno, Sorry, Words with Friends, and Jeopardy Labs.  Given that they are transitioning from child to teen, the twelve and thirteen year olds are typically still into playing games.  This has been helpful for teens to feel comfortable opening up and feeling more comfortable with being in therapy.  

• Meeting in the community 
  • Another great option for teens who don’t enjoy sitting in the office or need to move around more.  I’ve met with clients at Starbucks for coffee, parks to play basketball or in the neighborhood to take pets for a walk.  It’s also a way to practice social skills in public areas and normalize having conversations with people in the community. 

Similar to working with children, as a therapist we continue to find ways to be creative and find engaging ways to meet with teenagers.  There can be many more activities to use in sessions, and these are some that have worked great for me in building relationships with teens.  Using activities in sessions can show teen clients that we aren’t just more adults in their life telling them what to do, but a mentor and supportive person in their life.