Teen Talk: a year old and going strong

BY LESLIE SULLIVAN
SPARTA — Teen Talk, a psycho-educationally based life skills and coaching class for Teens in Sussex County, celebrates its one-year anniversary this January. Dejaye Botkin, a psychotherapist and life coach in Sparta, is the founder of the program. The inspiration for the program was sparked early last January 2016, when Botkin noticed a desperate need for more than just talk therapy in Sussex County. She then started Sparta Teen Talk in order to bring teens together and teach them leadership and life skills. The mission of the group is to mentor teens that are struggling with mental health, family, school, self-esteem, or social emotional concerns.
Teen Talk is currently managed and owned by Carissa Horuzy. Horuzy is a certified stress management coach currently working on her B.A. in Psychology. Botkin still works closely with the program as a consultant and attends class meetings, along with running her private practice, DJB Counseling.
“After being a part of this program and meeting the young individuals that come in who are completely open and raw about what they've been through, I was blown away." Horuzy said. "I wish that I had been in a program like this at that age, because I would have seen that I was not alone. Sharing your story, no matter how insignificant it may feel is incredibly powerful.”
Middle school teens are the primary group participants and the high school and college students help with mentoring and co-facilitating classes. Rather than avoiding problems, mentors and counselors teach the teens how to walk through the problems by providing them with methods, techniques and tips gained from life experience in order to prepare for future conflict. A common technique the group mentors focus on is helping participants look at various life scenarios from different perspectives using their ‘wise brain’ and ‘emotional brain.’ Some of those sample life skill discussions have included Rational vs. Irrational Thinking, Working Through Resentments, Practicing Gratitude, Team Building and Communication Skills and Defense Mechanisms.
“As someone who remembers the struggles of middle school and high school all too well, I understand the need to teach life skills and coping skills at a young age," Horuzy said. "At that age, I never would have agreed to joining a group like this because I figured that I was the only one who felt the way I did.”
Classes are held each Saturday at $30.00 per class attended. Teens can start at any time and are not required to attend every week.
The objective at Sparta Teen Talk is to encourage participants to open up and share their stories, and in return give them the tools to move forward. This is done through classes, activities, worksheets, group discussions, psycho-educational lectures, and art therapy.
“Confidentiality is extremely important to us and we make sure everyone understands that before they enter the program,” Horuzy said.
Many of the mentors and co-facilitators are psychology students and graduates who are passionate about mentoring teens who are struggling. Special guests and lecturers are often in recovery themselves and have struggles and hardships to share that the teens can learn from. These mentors believe in the concept of paying it forward and helping those who are feeling stuck to learn resilience and be able to bounce back from a crisis.
Teen Talk is currently recruiting middle school participants, high school mentors, college age volunteers, and guest speakers.
“We work together processing our concerns and strengthen each other with group support," Horuzy said. "This year I’m looking to expand our meetings to twice a week. And also hope to host events such as an open house or parent night dinner.”
Teen Talk is open to teenagers 11-18 from Sussex County and other surrounding counties. For more information on meeting times and location visit www.spartateentalk.com.