Teenagers go through an extraordinary time of concentrated growth all whilst navigating their identities as students, friends, family members, and members of various communities. Working with youths in therapy can be an important resource to work through their stressors, and develop essential developmental tools like effective communication, emotional regulation, and self-expression as they grow into a more independent stage of their lives. Adolescence is the time when identity development and exploration are crucial for healthy growth.
At RTW, we work with family members alongside teens since most teens live in a family home. While your teen will be the primary/identified client, there will be sessions where they are joined by designated family members.
Your teen will get solo sessions to honor their identity as an increasingly autonomous individual, develop those essential tools, and then the designated family will come together for family sessions to support your teen and witness their wins. There will also be opportunities for parents to have parent-only sessions so that the therapist may collaborate on how best to support your teenager. The mission is to provide resources that set up your teen for success, and that is best done with the whole team!
Age of Consent
Washington state has determined the age of consent (or the age in which youth can consent to services and access their medical records individually) as 13 years old. At RTW, we work with clients as young as 11 years old. If the client is 11 or 12 years old, parents and guardians are legally required to sign consent forms alongside your child and have access to the medical record. If the client is 13+ years old, they can legally sign their own paperwork and have sole access to their medical record. If the child is a client before turning 13 years old and wishes to continue services, RTW will ensure proper documentation of such–this will include new signed documents by the client as the sole owner of the medical record. If, at 13 years old, the client wishes to continue including their family in sessions, then the client will sign a Release of Information (ROI) permitting the continued inclusion of family members in their therapeutic journey.
Please contact our admin team at admin@rinkertherapyandwellness.com if you have any questions about session structure, age of consent, paying for services or others.
