Course Project Task III

Working with Adolescents Interview

TONY WILLIAMS

ARGOSY U

DR. Debra Pearce

14 July 2018

Working with adolescents in the 10-19 age bracket comes with several challenges because of the emotional and physical changes they experience in this phase of development. As a result, gaining practical knowledge and professional experience of a counselor who has worked with children in this age bracket (adolescents mostly) is important in gathering adequate insights on some of the most important aspects that should be considered (Best, 2017). As stated earlier, I would want to work with the teenagers (10-19 years) as a counselor, and therefore the interviewee in this questionnaire is a professional counselor who has worked with the target age group.

Dr. Michelle Bolyn is a Counseling Therapist who has worked with teenagers for the last two decades. Her speciality is family and children counseling. Her children counseling is however restricted to the 10-19 years’ age bracket. Over the last twenty years, she has offered her practical knowledge and professional service to adolescents both from junior and senior high school. In some instances, she has worked with adolescents in college. When we meet for the interview, the first question on the questionnaire will be; would you please indicate your name and title?

Teenagers (or adolescents) go through serious challenges as they transition into adulthood. They struggle with multiple issues than younger children or even adults, like struggles with identity, extreme peer pressure and the pressure to fit into the society. They are often faced with the dilemma of being independent and leaning on parental or any other form of guidance (Sampson, 2017). Since they are likely to make bad decisions than adults, understanding their developmental problems is important for therapists. The second question will be: Which age-group do you serve? And why are you interested in this age group? These questions are answered above.

Why did I select the age group? Growing up, the adolescence period was the most challenging phase of my life. I had a normal childhood, with supportive parents and a nice neighbourhood. My siblings treated me well and offered me cordial support. However, when I transitioned into adolescence, I started feeling immense pressure from both inside and outside to behave in a certain way.

As I experienced some physical developments in the body, friends from school and community started piling pressure on me to act in a certain way. I had self-esteem issues. I constantly felt embarrassed walking past girls and could not have any meaningful conversation with most of them. However, when I approached the school counselor, she helped me regain my self-esteem and overcome the challenges that I was going through, and this is why I want to serve this age group as a professional age group.

References

Best, J. (2017). Troubling children: Studies of children and social problems. Routledge.

Sampson, R. J. (2017). Family management and child development: Insights from social disorganization theory. In Facts, frameworks, and forecasts (pp. 63-94). Routledge.