Adolescents

I learned two very important lessons in the five years during which I was the director of an inpatient psychiatric unit for adolescents in New York. Expect reluctance and be genuine. Adolescents tend to have very little patience for adults who use a lot of words and talk AT them. I find that they also don’t appreciate it when we make assumptions about how they feel. I listen carefully when they use the F word (“I’m fine”) and work to establish trust and develop rapport to help us navigate what vulnerability might lie underneath.