In this section I will discuss my experience working with teens and their parents.

My first seven years were in chemical dependency. Six of those years were at New Horizons just south of Columbus. I primarily worked with teens and parents, doing group, family and individual counseling. Even though the context was usually drug abuse, the family counseling was relationship work.

As a New Horizons counselor, I also worked in all of the county high schools helping to set up and supervise peer counseling programs. I was also on staff at Teenage Institute for five years. Teenage Institute is a state run conference at Kenyon College each summer, involving about 500 teens from across the state. The teens participate in five days of workshops and are in a "family" group with eight or nine others. The group meets twice each day and is essentially a gestalt growth group. The focus of the week is on personal growth, learning about chemical dependency, and returning home to participate in peer counseling programs. 

As staff, I would conduct workshops and lead one of the "family" groups. 

With that initial experience, I have continued to work with teens off and on throughout my counseling career. 

​Parent/Teen Relationships

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