Teen motivation is at an all time low.

For everyone, here in 2021. COVID is still happening. We’re still worried about the novel coronavirus. We’re still locked down. Schools are still mostly virtual. Meet ups are still mostly online. There’s a ton of stress, anxiety, and burnout roiling around for everyone.

So how on earth can you still be motivated, as a teen, during this pandemic?

Well, there are a few options - but it’s important, throughout this blog post, to remember that you can’t expect yourself to be as motivated as usual. Burnout is to be expected.

Finding a way to be a motivated student, even with anxiety and burnout:

We need to figure out how to still get enough done, in a good enough way - rather than focusing on getting everything done, and doing everything perfectly - a common issue for teens with anxiety.

Below, you’ll find tons of intervention ideas from therapists in the field, who specifically work with kids and teens, and who deeply recognize that things are different right now.

Thoughts feel so powerful, especially when you have anxiety.

Thoughts can get really loud, and feel really overwhelming. Thoughts can seem huge. Thoughts can cloud your judgement and get in the way of you moving forward.

But taking a step back, we recognize … thoughts are just thoughts. Your brain is just firing off neurons, and sending chemicals across different synapses. Thoughts are just a normal bunch of noise. They’re not all powerful or all knowing. They’re just there.

Your brain tells you that your thoughts are facts. But that’s not really the case.

If you closed your eyes, and thought about your brother’s hair turning blue, would that actually change the color of his hair? Of course not. Not all of our thoughts are believable or actually happening, but we often act as if they are.

Thoughts aren’t always important. Thoughts aren’t always wise.

Sometimes, our thoughts are just nonsense. Our thoughts can act like 5-year-olds, making up stories, telling us we’re being doo-doo heads, throwing tantrums, bossing us around, and just generally being ridiculous. Why on earth should we treat our thoughts as all powerful and all knowing?

College is an overwhelming time for both you and your teen!

It can lead to a lot of anxiety and nerves. We interviewed several college prep counselors here in St. Louis. These counselors have worked directly with students, and have first hand experience in what it takes to get them ready for this major transition in their life.

We are so excited to kick off our College Readiness series by sharing our interview with Joann Elliot! Joann worked as a highschool college counselor for many years before opening College Counseling Tutoring in 2014. She is also the author of When to do What: A Step by Step Guide to the College Process and The Honeycomb Approach: 6 Factors to Finding Your College Fit. Read more below about her experiences working with high schoolers gearing up for their big transition to college and about her latest book.

At one point or another, everyone will experience a loss or death - and some of us experience this in high school or college. So how do you deal with the aftermath? DABDA, social media, and reaching out - but there are considerations for everything. 

DABDA 

Many have heard of "the stages of grief"- denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. However it's crucial to remember that this isn't a linear progression. You may move through stages in a different order. You may circle back. All of these feelings are acceptable, but allow yourself to recognize that there isn't a correct way or correct order to go through the aftermath of a death or loss in your life. …

When you're looking down the road at another school year, fast approaching, you may be experiencing anxiety. For those of us with more anxious minds, our thoughts start spinning on to "what else can I do, what's coming next, what do I have to worry about, what is going to go wrong this year..."

That's stressful!

So what can you do about it? …

So, here are some tips for starting the school year off right.

Because I specialize in anxiety, I know how frequently addictive behaviors can co-occur.

I even have clients on my schedule specifically because of their media addiction, with anxiety as the underlying concern. So, I was so happy to talk with Huffington Post earlier this year on "going dry for a month" regarding tech, social media, and smartphones.

The reason addictive behaviors can occur so frequently is because anxiety is tough to deal with. And an anxious mind feels better when it’s distracting itself with media, sugar, or alcohol. All can be self-medicating behaviors.

I tend to work a lot with high performing teenage girls, who may be academically successful with good involvement in extra curriculars, while simultaneously suffering from severe anxiety and perfectionist tendencies. So what's the hardest part about being a teenage girl? Well... a few things. Including: Your expectations for yourself, people who think you're self-involved, and an ever-expanding to do list. Read more in this week's post!

Everyone you know will experience a loss, death, or crisis in their life at one point or another. You absolutely will go through the same thing as well. So when you have a friend experiencing a big drastic sad change in their lives, remember to think through how you would want them to react to you, in the same situation. Read here for more tips...

Interested in counseling? You should make sure your therapist is willing to get your feedback.

One of the things I do as an LCSW is incorporate my clients' feedback into session. At the start of each session, I have my client tell me how their week was, how stuff has been with family and friends, how work/school has been, and an overall score for the week on a 1 to 10 scale. I want to make sure that things are staying the same or improving for my clients week to week, because that's how we can track if I'm an effective fit for them. This is called an "Outcome Rating Scale."

Step 2: Let your therapist know how THEY'RE doing. Even if that's uncomfortable...