A counselor can offer substantial help to adolescents experiencing difficulties that affect their academic performance. Some teens experience negative emotions like anger, sadness, and fear that interfere with their daily lives, schoolwork, and relationships. Counselors help teens make sense of these feelings and develop skills to manage them in different situations. Research shows that counseling can have many benefits, including improved academic performance. Teen counseling and academic performance go hand in hand, and there are several ways that a teen’s performance can benefit from counseling.
1. Confidence Boost
One of the ways that a teen’s academic performance can improve following counseling is because of an improvement in self-worth. Counseling allows teens to talk about their problems and goals with an unbiased person who has no ulterior motive besides helping teens improve their lives. People who have an increased sense of self-worth perform better in tasks, including academics.
2. Self-Care
The counselor-client relationship is focused on what is best for the client. This means that counseling sessions are not about lecturing, judging, or controlling the teen. Instead, the sessions are focused on helping teens learn ways to help themselves. Counseling helps teens create skills to manage their feelings and behaviors to make better decisions that help them in their academic performance. Many teens can improve their ability to take care of themselves following counseling sessions.
3. Improved Relationships
Without counseling, teens may engage in harmful behaviors like fighting, bullying, or acting out in class to get the attention they need. However, through counseling, a teen creates relationships with counselors and peers who are supportive and help them develop positive emotions. This process changes every aspect of their lives, including academic performance.
4. Academic Success
Don’t be fooled by the assumption that a teenager is not interested in school; the opposite is often true. Teens are often more interested than anyone in getting good grades and becoming successful adults. However, a teen may need help with the transition from high school to college or other post-high-school life. By providing counseling, counselors can help teens develop skills that help them perform better in their academic work.
5. Improved Executive Functioning
Another benefit of counseling is improved executive functioning skills in teens. Executive functioning skills include planning, thinking critically, and regulating emotions and behavior. Problems with executive functioning can cause many adolescents to struggle in school, such as having trouble organizing and prioritizing tasks. Counseling can help teenagers develop strategies to do these things.
6. Academic Persistence
Research shows that teens are more likely to give up on a course of study if they cannot cope with different types of demands at different points in their academic careers. Counselors can help teens learn to manage their anxiety to allow them to persist in their academic work even if they are experiencing academic difficulties.
Conclusion
Teen counseling is a valuable tool for anyone struggling with learning, academic performance, and life in general. Counselors can help teens create new strategies to reach their goals and become successful adults. Acknowledging the benefits of counseling can help teens be more comfortable opening up to counselors about their problems and begin to reach their full potential. At Colorado Counselor Training, we provide comprehensive training for counselors interested in providing these services to teenagers.