Exploring Effective Therapy Activities for Teens

Therapy activities for teens are beginning to take hold and emerge as a successful option in treatment for depression and anxiety. For mental health professionals, it is proving to be crucial to make therapy fun for kids and teens experiencing mental health conditions. Therapists are using innovative approaches to offer teens ways to access challenging emotions and feelings while in a safe and supportive environment. Learning the importance of building positive coping mechanisms and encouraging personal growth are critical factors in the success of these activities and in preventing the use of harmful coping mechanisms.

Common Issues Addressed in Teen Therapy

Depression and other mental health conditions are difficult to cope with without understanding the fundamentals of what they are and why they occur. Teens feel the overwhelming symptoms of mental health conditions and do not know how to feel better. The symptoms can be very disabling, and many teenagers feel alone in their emotions and feelings. Many teens are afraid to ask for help.

Teenagers today carry high levels of stress, experience environmental and family trauma, and experience extreme challenges with social media. There is an outcry for mental health awareness today, but a strong negative stigma still surrounds mental health conditions. Mental health professionals have solid data and research to understand that reaching teens with therapeutic activities for youth with depression is a pressing matter. Suicide continues to be a constant threat in the teen years.

Why Adolescents Need Activities

Therapy activities for teens are potent tools for promoting positivity and well-being for those experiencing depression. Depression activities for youth encourage teens to express themselves and offer a safe place to reveal their genuine emotions and feelings. Therapeutic activities can validate, equip teens with coping mechanisms, and offer new ways to navigate life with a mental health condition. The programs will increase self-awareness and self-esteem while teaching healthy communication skills. 

Depression activities for teens focus on using directional activities to offer ways to identify and express feelings and emotions positively. Aside from individual therapy, which may seem threatening or boring in the beginning, therapeutic activities for youth with depression appear to be less intimidating and are more fun. The goal is to provide a safe environment that encourages participation and fosters personal growth. Embracing others who are experiencing depression and sharing experiences is immensely beneficial.

The benefits of depression activities for youth include:

• Better mood or outlook and fewer depression symptoms
• An increase in physical activity positively affects chemicals in the brain
• Increases self-confidence while building a healthy sense of esteem
• Lowers stress and pressures
• Teaches positive and healthy coping mechanisms
• Builds relationships with peers and family

Therapy Activities for Teens

Depression activities for youth may involve participating with other teens experiencing depression or other mental health concerns. Playing games builds community, such as learning to express gratitude by creating a gratitude tree. The teens can write things they are grateful for on the leaves and then glue them onto the tree. Allowing themselves to be vulnerable is a positive step in relationship building. 

Teens use a bag of M&M’s to play a color-coded game, attaching emotions and feelings to a particular candy color. As the candy is doled out to each person, they take turns explaining what makes them angry about a red candy or jealous of a green candy. Identifying emotions and feelings is essential to coping with and processing them positively. Take the game further to discuss how they cope with the feelings they describe.

Depression Activities for Teens

Depression activities for teens are often available in treatment centers that offer various adolescent treatment programs. Teens are ahead of the game if they learn holistic mental health treatment methods such as mindfulness, meditation, and breathing exercises. These activities are free, available anytime, and easy to understand. Practicing these activities will teach teens how to be in the present moment, which will offer an instant respite from challenging or anxiety-producing situations. 

Outdoor activities such as walking, hiking, running, or relaxing in nature are very beneficial. Exercise produces endorphins, or feel-good chemicals, in the brain that promote feelings of well-being while contributing to physical health. Some activities, such as gardening and cooking, can work hand-in-hand. They don’t sound like therapy activities for teens, but nurturing a garden and learning to utilize the herbs and vegetables from the garden by cooking with them promotes a sense of accomplishment. 

Therapeutic activities for youth with depression include using creative energies, such as journaling, reading, painting, drawing, or making music, which is very healing. LinkedIn’s article, The Healing Power of Creativity, explains how using creative energies helps manage stress, build confidence, and increase a sense of self. Dancing is another therapeutic activity that releases stress and lifts mood.

How to Recognize the Need for Professional Help

Changes in behavior are crucial in recognizing a teenager’s need for professional help. Teenagers experience volatile times in life, with changing hormones, social pressures, and traumatic situations. Family dysfunction, economic pressures, and educational competition are other factors that may lead to mental health concerns. Teens who self-isolate or change their peer group may be struggling with depression. Other significant signs of a need for professional help are the use of drugs or alcohol. Parents who believe their teen is using a substance to cope need to find help immediately.

Depression Treatment for Youth

Parents who feel their teen is experiencing depression need to seek professional help. A healthcare provider can perform an evaluation and assign a diagnosis. Innovative treatment centers offer adolescent programs that address mental health concerns and also provide family therapy. Medication may be helpful in symptom control, and if there is a substance use disorder dual diagnosis, there are programs that include depression activities for teens.

Adolescent Programs Include Depression Activities for Teens in California

Seeking help for a teen who is struggling with depression or another mental health condition may also be using substances to cope. Sierra Health + Wellness, located in California, offers a comprehensive adolescent program to treat dual diagnosis or mental health concerns. The whole-person treatment approach is not limited to adults; teens can benefit from this form of treatment approach as well. Contact Sierra Health + Wellness to understand the benefits of depression activities for teens and their treatment programs.