My Son Thinks He’s Ugly – Self Esteem Troubles for Teens

Welcome to Teen Therapy Center. My name is Kent Toussaint. I'm the founder and clinical director.
We are a group private practice here in Woodland Hills, California. We are filled with therapists
who are fun loving, professional, warm, and we specialize in helping kids, teens and families
live happier lives. And we do that because we speak teenager and we speak parent. And we are often
the interpreter in between the two to help bridge those gaps to make sure that teenagers are
finally understanding parents, parents are understanding teenagers. And we're helping
develop greater communication, better empathy, healthier boundaries within the family.
But when we understand a kid or a teenager, we also have to understand what it's like to be a little
kid and a young adult and a parent. Because when you're a teenager, you're in this amazing transition
period where you got 1 foot as a kid and 1 foot in the adult world. And it's confusing and it's frustrating.
You know, I know we've been teenagers. Your teenagers

are going through it for their very first time. And so my job, or our job as therapists is to help
them go through that. We do that through individual therapy, family therapy, and sometimes
group therapy, depending on what your kids needs are. There are a variety of issues we deal with,
obviously. Self esteem issues, school motivation, anxiety, depression, attention issues,
autism spectrum, anyone who identifies multi, exceptional or two E. We work with those people
every day. Kids who are their families are going through divorces or even sometimes when they're
blending families together. Those can be very nuanced, complicated issues. And sometimes
having a therapist to help bridge the gap, help increase and develop better communication
is really helpful. Thanks for stopping by. Please check out our website. Give us a call. We're
happy to provide a complimentary phone consultation so you can ask all your questions. We can
provide you the answers so you feel comfortable choosing us. And

if somehow what you're asking for is outside of our scope, we're happy to provide you other resources
so you can find the referrals you need to get the help you need for you and your family. Thanks
again. My name is Kenta Tussant. This is Teen Therapy Center, and we look forward to talking
to you soon.

GOING TO THE SOURCE

Self esteem troubles for teens are really common. Almost every teen struggles with how they look. We as parents can relate. Everyone has got something about the way they look that they just don’t like. But we can’t exactly change the way we look, so what do we do? With teens, we have to try and address the deeper issues that are causing these emotions.

FEEDING THE NARRATIVE

Something that’s really important for parents to understand about self esteem troubles for teens  is that they might not be able to do it alone. You might need to look for outside support, be that therapy, your rabbi, a trusted family friend that can act as a mentor, etc. Parents risk falling into a trap that feeds the narrative even further and perpetuates the behavior. There’s a lot more to say about it, and we take that look in the mirror in this Tips on Teens:

“My son thinks he’s ugly and I’m really concerned about him. He’s really become self conscious over the last year. He doesn’t allow anyone to take pictures of him, and he kind of stopped socializing with friends recently. He still wears a mask out in public and even acknowledges that it’s not for health reasons. What can I do to help him turn this around?”

Clinical Director Kent Toussaint answers your parenting questions every Wednesday at 12:00pm in our weekly segment Tips On Teens on Facebook Live. Have questions about parenting kids and teens? Send them to: TipsOnTeens@TeenTherapyCenter.com. We love to hear from you!

Head on over to our Facebook page every Wednesday at 12:00pm to watch LIVE!  Check out our page here – https://www.facebook.com/TeenTherapyCenter/

If you have more questions or would like more information, please contact our Clinical Director, Kent Toussaint at 818.697.8555.