Therapy for Depressed Teens

For teenagers with anxiety or depression, there’s an effective form of therapy you may not know about. It’s called acceptance and commitment therapy, or ACT. “Acceptance” here means accepting that you have negative thoughts and feelings — they don’t need to be avoided or changed. “Commitment” means choosing to make positive changes in your life. Put together, this approach means that painful feelings don’t need to stop you from taking action to meet your goals. In ACT, kids learn to acknowledge those emotions and move on.

In a new piece on childmind.org, we explore ACT — how it works, who it’s for, and how it’s different from the more common cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). We also look at how anxiety and depression affect teenagers, including some whose most noticeable symptoms are irritation and anger. And we round up what you need to know if you’re considering medication for anxiety or depression for your child.