Dr. Robin Ohringer has over 40 years of experience in psychotherapy, and heads a private practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she sees patients facing many different psychological issues. For instance, Dr. Robin Ohringer helps adolescents dealing with the death of loved ones, as well as adults who lost loved ones during their adolescence.
While losing a close family member or friend is difficult for anyone, teenagers find dealing with such a loss especially traumatic. A number of factors contribute to this. For instance, many teenagers face losses that are sudden, especially in the case of the death of peers. And all losses in general can feel traumatic and unexpected to a person of this age.
Additionally, teenagers may have a harder time dealing with their grief because they often isolate themselves from others. Rather than reaching out to others for comfort and talking about their feelings, as younger children might, teenagers might feel uncomfortable revealing their emotions. They might also fear becoming a topic of discussion by their peers. As a result, they often project a false sense of normalcy to those around them. With so many challenges to dealing with their grief, many teenagers can benefit from talking to a mental health professional during this difficult time.