Children and adolescents face many unique challenges today.  Pressures at school, problems at home, and dealing with peers can be overwhelming.  Sometimes they feel misunderstood, alone, or confused.  They may feel angry or sad.  It is not always easy for children and teens to express what is bothering them.  They may not know or understand why they are feeling the way they do.  Oftentimes they act out with behavioral problems or symptoms.  The following is a brief description of the key issues underlying the growing need to counsel children.

 

Domestic Violence:  In 2010, there were 74,244 domestic violence offenses reported by the police in New Jersey (a 1 percent increase from 2009); Children were involved or present during 31 percent of all domestic violence offenses occurring in 2010.  According to the U.S. Department of Justice, domestic violence is one of the most chronically underreported crimes, with estimates as high as 80% of all domestic violence incidents going unreported.  Counseling is often essential to help those who have experienced domestic violence in all of its forms, including physical, emotional and sexual abuse.  Both individual and group counseling can assist survivors in healing from the trauma of domestic violence.

 

Divorce:  One out of every two marriages today ends in divorce and many divorcing families include children.  Divorce can be misinterpreted by children, who often experience fear and confusion by the threat to their security.  Children often believe they have caused the conflict between their parents.  Many children assume the responsibility for bringing their parents back together, sometimes by sacrificing themselves. Vulnerability to both physical and mental illnesses can originate in the traumatic loss of one or both parents through divorce.  Young children may react to divorce by becoming more aggressive and uncooperative or by withdrawing.  Older children may feel deep sadness and loss. Their schoolwork may suffer and behavior problems are common.  As teenagers and adults, children of divorce can have trouble with their own relationships and experience problems with self-esteem. With care and attention, however, a family's strengths can be mobilized during a divorce, and children can be helped to deal constructively with the resolution of parental conflict.

 

Bullying: The experience of being bullied can devastate a young person.  In addition to the social, emotional, and/or physical torment of the actual bullying experience, victims are also more likely than students who have not been bullied to suffer from high levels of anxiety and emotional distress, more actual and perceived (psychosomatic) health problems, and enduring mental health problems. Their everyday life is characterized by fear, their self-concept is beaten down, and their efforts to avoid confrontations with their tormentors deprive them of many important and healthy experiences.  More 8 to 15 year-olds identified teasing and bullying as "big problems" than those who picked drugs or alcohol, racism, AIDS, or pressure to have sex.  Higher levels of depression are common among bullying victims, with suicidal ideation being four to five times as common among victims as non-victims. For many, the psychological effects of the bullying experience are long-lasting.  In fact, research has found that former victims of bullying still had higher levels of depression and poorer self-esteem at the age of 23, despite the fact that, as adults, they were no more harassed or socially isolated than adults who had not experienced bullying in their youth.

 

Suicide:  Suicide ranks as the third leading cause of death for young people ages 10 to 24; only accidents and homicides occur more frequently.  Nearly ten percent of middle and high school student in New Jersey report that they attempted suicide.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fewer than 25% of suicide attempts are reported and more than 40% of suicide attempts by minors are second or subsequent attempts.  There are few events in the life of a school that are more painful or potentially disruptive than a student suicide.  Young people are especially reactive when the victim is a peer, and "contagion" and other maladaptive coping responses are more common in adolescents and young adults.  An effective response to sudden, violent death in the school community often requires community-wide counseling, an intervention beyond the scope of the school system.