Strategies and Techniques for Counseling the Unmanageable Adolescent

While researching for research on how to counsel adolescents with discipline /behavioral problems, I found that all of the authors agreed that adolescents are the most difficult clients to work with in a counseling context. Adolescents already have their own set of problems with growing up, facing biological changes and peer pressures. Children and adolescents with behavioral or discipline problems present a formidable challenge to the most skilled counselors. There have been several strategies and intervention techniques developed on how to engage this group in treatment. There is not a lot of research on how to effectively with this group. This is partly due to the fact that many professional avoid the prospect altogether, preferring to work only with adults and young children. There is also a lack of training in counseling approaches with adolescents (Rubenstein & Zager, 1995). Even limited experience with these young people quickly reveals how crucial the therapeutic relationship i...