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Adolescents' Views of Helping Professionals: A Review of the Literature

NCJ Number
219889
Journal
Journal of Adolescence Volume: 30 Issue: 4 Dated: August 2007 Pages: 639-653
Author(s)
Helen Freake; Val Barley; Gerry Kent
Date Published
August 2007
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article reviews 54 papers that examine adolescents' views of their interactions with doctors, mental health workers, and other "helping professionals."
Abstract
The review identified 12 themes in the 54 studies. Confidentiality emerged as a theme in over half of the qualitative studies reviewed. Many adolescents are not aware that they are entitled to a confidential service from professionals. Adolescents agreed with the statement that confidentiality should not be absolute when a young person is at risk, however. A second theme is adolescents' desire for professionals to share their knowledge, which youth view as being valuable for their welfare. This is balanced, however, by a third theme, i.e., their desire to share with professionals their own personal knowledge about themselves and their health concerns. They want professionals to listen to them. A fourth theme is adolescents' desire that helping professionals be kind, caring, sympathetic, and understanding. A related theme is their need to trust that professionals will act in the best interests of their clients/patients. A sixth theme is the need for confidence that doctors and counselors are qualified, experienced, and competent in dealing with youths' problems. A seventh theme is teens' dislike of doctors or counselors who patronize them and treat them as children. Girls' preference for a female doctor in dealing with their medical issues emerged as an eighth theme. Remaining themes are preferences for professionals who are nonjudgmental and with whom comfortable conversations can be conducted; being able to see the same professional at each visit; and needing to feel they are viewed as individuals and not just clients who are part of the professionals' job. The publications reviewed dated from 1981 to 2004, and they were searched in July 2004. 3 tables and 60 references