Counseling youth

When you are counseling a youth over serious matters:

• Avoid being an armchair psychologist, unless you really are a psychologist.
  
• For most youth ministers our job is to determine the level of need and refer. We are triage.
  
• Keep the focus on immediate concerns and issues, unless you are trained and have the time for analysis.
• Keep in mind that youth get over most things very quickly. They may not need to keep rehashing old issues. In fact they may be done with a discussion before you are and want to get out of there.
  
• Remember the age and development of the youth. Deep psychological information probably will not be very meaningful or helpful.