This post will provide you with various treatment goals you may want to consider when working with teens or adolescents. Even some preteens can benefit from these treatment goals.

Additionally, you will find potential activities or treatment strategies that you can use to work on these goals.

  • Treatment Goal Topics:
    • Shyness and Social Anxiety
      • INTERVENTION TIP: Help the teen to identify what situations make him anxious. Identify triggers (antecedents) and consequences for the anxious behavior. Help the teen to define what his or her “anxious” behavior looks like. Work on relaxation techniques and desensitization strategies to help the teen to feel more comfortable in situations that tend to increase his anxiety.
    • Executive Functioning
      • INTERVENTION TIP: Help the teen to identify ways in which he or she would benefit from being more organized. Create a task analysis to identify the steps necessary to become more organized. Provide reinforcement for improved organization. Provide reinforcement for longer periods of time staying focused on activities.
    • Stress Reduction
      • INTERVENTION TIP: Help the teen to identify situations that typically or can result in stress. Help the teen to identify strategies that reduce that stress (i.e. coping skills or relaxation strategies). Be specific with the strategies. Teach the youth to practice these skills frequently.
    • Social Success
      • INTERVENTION TIP: Teach the teen to identify and read social cues. Teach the teen to recognized his own strengths and personality style.

Consider purchasing any of the following books listed in the references to learn more about any of these treatment strategies for providing therapy or applied behavior analysis to teens (but be sure the interventions fall within your area of competence prior to utilizing the approach). (I don’t make any money from recommending these books. I just think they can be really helpful and I own them myself, as well. The books are full of useful information.)

References:

Shyness & Social Anxiety Workbook for Teens by Shannon, LMFT

Executive Functioning Workbook for Teens by Hansen, MSE, NBCT

Stress Reduction Workbook for Teens by Biegel, MA, LMFT

Social Success Workbook for Teens by Coope, MPS & Widdows, MS