Gifted students come from all ethnic, economic, and cultural backgrounds. Gifted students usually perform at levels higher than their peers. They also tend to be a few years ahead of their same age peers in their maturity level making it challenging sometimes for them socially.
Gifted teens and gifted young adults need access to learning environments that help them realize their potential. Most gifted students benefit from extra support and guidance to develop socially and emotionally.
Students with special gifts and talents can benefit from teen counseling or young adult therapy. This can help them navigate their asynchronous development and their emotional intensity.
Gifted students can learn social skills and other important coping mechanisms in teen therapy or young adult counseling. Since gifted students usually present as "little adults", it is easy to forget they are still children with important needs.
Gifted students need scaffolding to help them process their intense emotions and help navigating the complex social world. Choosing the right teen counselor or young adult therapist for your gifted child is very important. Not all therapists have experience or training working with gifted children.
Choosing the Right Teen Counselor or Young Adult Therapist for Your Gifted Student
As you seek the right therapist for your gifted student, consider the following:
Trust
The relationship that's established between the teen or young adult and the therapist is the most important factor. Therapy is a relational process and will only be effective if your gifted student feels they can trust their counselor.
If your gifted student thinks positively about their therapist, they will want to put in the effort to make therapy effective.
Training
It's important the teen counselor or young adult therapist has proper mental health training and the appropriate license to practice in their state. Besides these, parents should look for training in social skills therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, neurodiversity therapy, and existential psychotherapy.
Experience
It is important the therapist has experience working with gifted students. A therapist who has worked with gifted students will understand that misdiagnosis is common.
Gifted students typically display advanced self-awareness, existential thinking, and intense excitation that are not inherently problematic. At the same time, gifted students can be so intelligent that they mask other difficulties.
It's important that a teen therapist or young adult counselor can differentiate between an aspect of a child's giftedness and a pathological struggle.
Explore
It's important to find the best fit for your gifted student. This may require that you schedule an initial session with two to three therapists to discover the right fit. As a parent, make sure that you speak to each therapist and get a sense of their training and experience working with a gifted student.
Also consider the therapist's approach to working with the entire family. The therapist may want to incorporate family therapy to help you learn the skills and tools the teen or young adult is learning. There may also be the need to help your gifted student better relate to their siblings.
It's also very important your gifted student feels they can relate to their teen counselor or young adult therapist and open up about their struggles. Gifted children often feel ostracized from their peers. They can experience intense bullying at school.
Developing a quality relationship with their teen therapist or young adult counselor can help them strengthen their self-esteem. Therapy can help them flourish into the wonderful human beings you know them to be!
Katy Teen & Family Counseling: Teen Counseling & Young Adult Therapy for Gifted Students
Many of the teens and young adults we work with at Katy Teen & Family Counseling, are in the gifted and talented category. Teen counseling or young adult therapy for gifted students requires a different approach and skill set from their therapist.
It's not uncommon for gifted students to experience depression, anxiety, social anxiety, panic attacks or other struggles. At times, gifted students put a lot of pressure on themselves to be perfect which impacts their emotional state.
If your gifted teen or gifted young adult is struggling, we can help. At Katy Teen & Family Counseling, we have 50+ years of combined experience in young adult and teen counseling for gifted students.
If you are ready to start your healing journey with one of our young adult counselors or teen therapists, you can follow these three simple steps:
Contact Katy Teen & Family Counseling
Meet with one of our caring and experienced therapists
Help your gifted teen or young adult maximize their potential by helping them overcome the emotional or social challenges they are currently experiencing
Other Teen Therapy, Family Counseling, & Young Adult Therapy Services Offered at Katy Teen & Family Counseling
At our Katy, Tx location of Katy Teen & Family Counseling, we also provide other services in addition to therapy for gifted students. We have therapists who also specialize in Marriage counseling and couples therapy.
While not intended, it can be stressful parenting a teen or young adult who is struggling. Our hearts break as parents as we gather all our resources at our disposal to help our young adult or teen.
As a result, it can sometimes create strain on the relationship. Our marriage counselors and couples therapists can help.
We also provide other counseling and therapeutic services for teens, young adults, & families at our Katy, Tx location:
Board Certified Neurofeedback
Peak performance (optimal academic brain performance)
Peak performance (optimal athletic brain performance)
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR Therapy)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
About the Author
Quique Autrey is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). Quique specializes in teen therapy and young adult counseling. He helps gifted students build upon their innate strengths while developing skills and tools to overcome depression, anxiety, social anxiety, panic attacks, ADHD, and more.
Quique views each individual through that lens and provides therapy for the family system which includes: teen therapy, young adult counseling, family counseling, marriage counseling & couples therapy.
Quique also has a passion for helping teens, young adults, and adults who may be on the Autism Spectrum. He has a talent for connecting with and helping people with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
If you're ready to start your healing journey in teen therapy, you can call us at 346-202-4662 or email us at info@katyteenandfamilycounseling.com.
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