Adolescent
Counselling

Sudden spurt in hormones in adolescence/teenagers results in rapid physical, sexual & emotional changes. The changes are so sudden & so rapid that most teenagers are caught off guard & find it difficult to cope up with them unless specifically counseled.

The changes in boys include hoarseness of voice, development of hairs on face (moustache & beard), in arm pits & pubic area; sudden increase in the size of Testes, chest & chin; arms becoming longer than legs leading at times to awkward movements, sudden increase of sexual libido, a strong urge to masturbate, spontaneous morning erections, night emissions etc.

Girls too go thru lot of changes like development of hairs in arm pits & pubic area; sudden increase in the size of breasts; deposition of fat in certain areas like hips & breasts giving contours; increase in the size of breasts; firmness of breasts; setting in of menstruation; development of sexual feelings; increase of sexual libido; a strong urge to masturbate etc.

Unless they have been given an effective Adolescent counselling, teenagers fail to understand the feelings & changes, resulting in lot of misconceptions, confusion, trauma, guilt & even shame. Menstruation to an uninformed girl may be traumatic presuming it is a disease or a punishment or a curse. She may have a sense of guilt- even shame. So may be the case with night emissions or bed wetting in case of boys. Both boys & girls may feel guilty for being attracted towards opposite or the same sex, and for the sexual feelings they develop. Masturbation may look a sin leading to shame & guilt. So may be with spontaneous morning Erections & wet dreams in case of boys.

Added to this, they are ignorant about sex. Whole lot of questions torment them. Whether they should be sexually active or not? If yes, then when! What is safe sex? How to avoid pregnancy? What are the implications of early pregnancy? What is safe abortion- is it legalized?

Girls tend to be having bigger stakes. It is mandatory for them to learn how to be assertive & say ‘no’.

In effect, inability to understand own body & its needs, sexual curiosity, sexual myths, inhibition about talking of sexuality, non-availability of credible info, peer pressure, proneness to risky sexual behavior because of hormonal surge, urge for sexual experimentation & sexual misadventure- all lead to confusion, anxiety, awkwardness and at times- low esteem in adolescents. Most adolescents, unless given the right kind of knowledge & awareness find themselves completely lost.

The concerns of the adolescents need to be addressed with glove hands & sound knowledge. Counselling should be confidence-inspiring, discrete, confidential and at times, unobtrusive. Counselor should be easy to converse with, have empathy & be able to break Counselor-counselee barrier effortlessly.

Adolescent Counselling arms the adolescents with the strength of knowledge that goes a long way in their growing into responsible & confident adults. Irrespective of who imparts this- whether the parents, the teachers, the doctors, the counselors, the social workers or even ‘daadi’ (the grand-mother), the irrefutable fact is that this kind of counselling is absolutely necessary.

​