This site is optimized for Version 4 and newer browsers with JavaScript enabled. Social workers Nancy Anderson and Shelley Stewart say that sensitivity to a teen's unique developmental needs is vital to rehabilitation. School pressures, sexual awakening, and new relationships all set the stage for a challenging and exciting time. Together with their parents, adolescents negotiate new territory as they explore such issues as privacy, independence, trust, and safety.
Adolescents feel invincible and yet are terribly vulnerable.
A blemish on the face, the wrong clothes, or a bad hair day can be disasters for image-conscious teens, for whom difference is intolerable. Imagine the impact of a spinal cord injury. And yet, adolescents and their families can be remarkably resilient and courageous. A supportive and sensitive rehabilitation program and teamwork that includes the adolescent and family and friends can help them successfully rebuild their lives. These include establishing an identity, making relationships outside the family, achieving independence, and finding a meaningful vocation or activity to pursue.