Counseling the Contemporary Woman - Suzanne Degges-White

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This sparked a heated argument between Sofia and her mother. Her mother is forcing Sofia to get a job so they can afford to find their own place to live. Her mother’s employment is very inconsistent as she is undocumented and has difficulty locating a long-term, stable job. Sofia’s school counselor referred her to an independent living program for teenage girls, where Sofia met her clinical mental health counselor, Anna, who specializes in counseling teenage girls.

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      Adolescence is a period of significant development across multiple domains due, in part, to pubertal changes that occur as girls move from childhood into emerging adulthood. Significant development occurs in the areas of physical, cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and sexual development as many milestones are reached. Growth spurts, menarche, the development of secondary sexual characteristics, and other tangible signs of development are accompanied by inner changes that mark the passage from childhood into adulthood. These are visible in the areas of emotional, behavioral, and cognitive functioning.

      Emotional, Behavioral, and Cognitive Changes

      Due to hormonal changes that occur during puberty, emotional stability can be challenged and this can yield notable behavioral changes, as well. Increased levels of androgens and estrogens are produced, as these spur the development of primary and secondary sexual characteristics, and changes in the levels of serotonin and dopamine also occur, which yield heightened sensitivity to stress during adolescence (Walker, 2002). Moodiness, or extreme and rapid shifts in emotions, seem to be more characteristic of adolescence than any other developmental period. Hormonal changes are more likely to affect a young woman’s mood if they are combined with negative life circumstances (e.g., parental separation, academic problems). Moreover, moodiness seems to be associated with peer relationships, parental expectations, and an adolescent’s self-concept. Gutman, Peck, Malanchuk, Sameroff, and Eccles (2017) found that self-esteem levels tend to vary more for females than males during the adolescent years. Gutman et al. also found ethnicity was a key factor for self-esteems; African American adolescent females are less likely to show the decline that is typical of this period for European Americans. They also found that self-esteem tended to increase in early adolescence, from ages 12 to 15, but began dropping at age 16 and continued its decline until age 20 was reached. A combination of factors likely affect adolescent females’ self-esteem levels including gender-based discrimination, body image issues, lower expectations for success, not feeling supported by others, and an early onset of puberty. As adolescent females face these and other stressors, there is a greater risk for experiencing depressive symptoms during this period, as well. Hormonal changes may play a role in depressive symptomology, but studies have suggested that exposure to social media and screen time engagement may also account for the rise in depressive symptoms that are seen in contemporary adolescents (Twenge, Joiner, Rogers, & Martin, 2018). Girls might experience more depressive symptoms not only due to the number of stressors faced but also because of their tendency to adopt a co-ruminating coping style. Rumination is the practice of focusing attention internally toward negative thoughts and feelings, which increases in frequency throughout adolescence (Mazzer, Boersma, & Linton, 2019), and co-rumination is the practice of focusing on negative feelings and distressing events in conversations with friends. Adolescence is a period in which social status and social connections play a significant role in a young woman’s identity; building alliances based on mutual empathy and support can be efficacious, but when co-rumination is the primary focus of engagement, the end result may be compromised, not fortified, psychological well-being (Mazzer et al., 2019). While puberty alone does not necessarily cause a rise in depressive symptoms, the interactions between physiological changes and the role of social acceptance and fear of social rejection may cause the rise in depressive symptoms for older adolescent females (McGuire, McCormick, Koch, & Mendle, 2019).

      One benefit of the changes going on in the adolescent brain is the increased cognitive potential through acquisition and integration of new information. This allows adolescents to gradually reach the formal operations stage, Piaget’s last stage of cognitive development (Piaget, 1965). The gradual improvement in abstract reasoning skills is evident in adolescents’ advanced information processing skills, which yield greater processing speed and extended capacity of their working memory. The capacity for abstract thought in adolescent years can influence many aspects of teenage life, such as perspectives they take on sociopolitical climate, religion, relationships with parents and peers, and, finally, self-evaluation and self-identity.

      Identity Development

      Identity formation is a central task for adolescents to achieve. In fact, Erikson (1968) termed the central conflict during this period as “identity versus identity confusion.” This period is shaped by an individual’s ability to successfully overcome challenges that relate to solidification of a young woman’s identity. As adolescents seek to define their identities, they may face challenges in terms of acceptance by their families, peers, or significant others as they “try on” behaviors they feel congruent to the identity they are trying to portray. For instance, if a young woman is seeking to be accepted by a particular social clique, she may emulate behaviors and attitudes endemic to these peers. If these behaviors are not congruent with how the young woman sees herself or how close friends see her, and her efforts do not win her acceptance into the desired group, she may drop these behaviors from her repertoire.

      Using Erikson’s theory as a framework, James Marcia and his associates (1980) identitfied and labeled four discrete statuses that may be achieved during the identity formation process. These are moratorium, diffusion, foreclosure, and achievement. Identity moratorium occurs when the adolescent is exploring various identities to find the one that is most congruent with her true self, but is not yet committed to a final choice. Diffusion is marked by a lack of awareness that identity options are available for exploration. Foreclosure represents a status in which a young woman has not faced any type of identity crisis or has felt the need to explore identities beyond the one she currently possesses, which may likely conform to the expectations of others. Identity achievement is the result of having explored possible identities and having chosen the one that best fits how the young woman sees herself. Despite the fact that identity formation begins during adolescent years, as young people make visible strides in developing who they will be as adults, the formation of identity does not end in adolescence. Through ongoing growth and development, self-representation might change several times over the lifespan, and life stories may be revised by life circumstances.

      Even though Erikson’s developmental theory has been widely accepted, it faces some criticism that it is primarily centered on emphasizing separateness or autonomy, a significant feature of masculinity, and fails to emphasize connectedness as a healthy personality development, especially for women (Gilligan, 1982). Regardless of gender, having a sense of social belonging plays a key role in healthy identity development (Medina, Rivas-Drake, Jagers, & Rowley, 2019). Research suggests that relational issues are much more important for women’s development than they are for men; further, adolescent girls tend to have closer friendships than boys, which leaves them more vulnerable to distress when friendships end (Collins & Steinberg, 2006). In addition, females tend to value interpersonal, communal aspects of their identities more highly than males. As for whether identity development pathways are different for women and men, the question remains complex and lacks any definite answer at this point. Research suggests that the genders show more similarities than differences in identity development; however, the content of their identity choices might differ (Waterman, 1993; Collins & Steinberg, 2006).

      Sexual Identity and Sexual Activity

      With the onset of puberty, young adolescent girls typically begin to explore their sexuality and sexual identity (Collins & Steinberg, 2006). Sexual identity is often more fluid among adolescents than some might expect (Stewart, Spivey, Widman, Choukas-Bradley, & Prinstein, 2019). In fact, approximately a quarter of the adolescent girls in Stewart et al.’s (2019) study reported fluidity in their sexual identity over a course of three years. These adolescent females reported fluidity in their sexual and romantic attractions and this supports earlier findings from Savin-Williams and Ream (2007). They reported that around 50 percent of adolescents have

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