If your teen is diagnosed with a chronic illness, it is normal for them to experience grief. Teens may grieve the experiences they will miss out on in life, their physical and mental wellbeing that has been put in jeopardy, and the goals and dreams they had for their lives that might not play out exactly as they hoped.
While there may be nothing your teen can do about their chronic illness, they can take steps to mitigate their grief and the other painful emotions they are experiencing.
One of the most critical steps that your teen should take after receiving a chronic illness diagnosis is attending therapy.
Here is how therapy can help your teen during this time:
Providing a safe space to share feelings
In addition to feelings of grief, your teen may have other complicated emotions that arise after receiving their diagnosis.
Going to therapy will give your teen a safe space to share any and everything they are feeling without judgment.
While friends and family members may try to understand and validate their feelings, teens may not feel comfortable sharing all of the thoughts and feelings that they have about their diagnosis with the people in their immediate circle.
However, if they bottle these emotions up and aren’t able to share what they are going through, it can lead to disastrous outcomes and negative behaviors.
A therapist will have experience hearing about the full gamut of emotions that someone with a chronic illness may feel, and they will be able to validate your teen’s feelings and show your teen unconditional positive regard as they get big feelings off of their chest.
Teaching radical acceptance
Unfortunately, teenagers can’t have complete control over their chronic illness. While there are actions they can take and behaviors they can practice to help alleviate the negative symptoms of Type I Diabetes, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, cystic fibrosis, or other chronic health issues, they cannot eliminate these chronic illnesses.
Although this may be difficult to come to terms with after a diagnosis, it is important for teens to learn how to practice radical acceptance. They must learn to accept that even though life isn’t going the way they may have planned, it is still worth living.
Instead of letting their pain become suffering, they can accept that although they do not like their diagnosis, their lives can still be happy and full.
Dialectical behavior therapists can help teens practice radical acceptance. They will teach your teen strategies for acknowledging their negative feelings, using “accepting” self-talk and other acceptance activities, and envisioning how their lives would look if they learned to accept their chronic illness.
Improving self-advocacy
Sometimes teenagers feel uncomfortable advocating for their needs when they have a chronic illness.
They may be too afraid or embarrassed to ask a teacher for extra bathroom breaks to manage their Crohn’s disease. They may feel uncomfortable explaining why they have to wear an insulin pump or that they need to eat extra snacks throughout the day to manage their Type I Diabetes.
However, even if your teen feels uncomfortable speaking up, their needs still need to be met.
Therapists can help teens improve their self-advocacy and become more comfortable with being assertive and expressing their needs. This way, your teen will be able to take care of the physical needs surrounding their chronic illness without allowing worries or embarrassment to get in the way.
Sharing positive coping strategies
Therapists will help teens learn positive coping strategies that will help them handle the negative mental and emotional experiences that teens may face after a tough diagnosis.
Teens will learn about how physical activities like going on a run, taking a walk, or engaging in daily exercise can help provide physical, mental, and emotional health benefits.
They will also be exposed to a variety of other healthy coping strategies:
Mindfulness and mindful meditation
Drawing
Journaling
Guided imagery
Creating and/or listening to music
Stretching
Deep breathing and practicing breathing exercises
Quiet reflection
Practicing a hobby
Eating a healthy, balanced diet
Carving out time to relax and destress
Therapists can help teens develop and maintain lifelong coping strategies. These coping strategies can help prevent teens from engaging in unhealthy or risky behaviors when they are feeling overwhelmed with negative thoughts or emotions surrounding their diagnosis.
Your teen can significantly improve their quality of life as well as their physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing by attending therapy after they receive a life altering chronic illness diagnosis.