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How can I explain to my Nurse Practitioner how I’m feeling?

I am a 15 year old who takes talk therapy and takes medication for Anxiety. My nurse practitioner who I see once a month is trying to persuade me to join her club that involves other teens. She runs a youth program that includes some of her patients and other teenagers. She feels I need to be in contact with my peers and to develop responsibility and leadership skills to help the community. My feelings about this are very confused due to the session which was intented to be for discussion of my well being had turned into 90 minutes of her explaining to me about the benifits for joining her group. She expected a yes or no answer right there but I wanted time to think about it. She gave me a week to think it over saying it was a privilege and such to be given this offer. During the session I jad barely gotten in my thoughts let alone any questions about it and I feel now very pressured and anxious over this. I don’t know what answer to give her because of the fears I have if I join the group. The majority of the teens are 16 and above and make major decisions that happen for the group. There is volenteer work to be done for the community and events. I have no problem with this and am willing to help and contribute. Yet, my concerns are that my opinions do not matter due to my one year age difference in important matters. I feel my talents and ideas won’t be taken seriously and I will simply be put to take care of younger peers in the group of the ages of 7 and younger. As well as more physical labor for my time being apart of the club. I feel this because of the way my practitioner deals with me during sessions. She dominates the conversation and takes the majority of the time until another client shows. Since she is in charge of the group I think this situation will happen with me. She has many events and duties she is committed to and barely has time for herself which wears her out. It is as if when she speaks with me about this and other problems she has I carry her problems. Like the roles of care are revesed. I would be grateful for any advice given to help me in this situation, thank you.
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973741 tn?1342342773
Gosh, I'm sorry therapy went down like that.  I have a 15 year old boy and while I think he'd benefit from not feeling alone and like no one else suffers like he does, asking him when he is in a spot desiring to work on himself to do what she is asking you is a bit much.  Sounds semi self serving.  However, there are a lot of therapists that believe and may be right that volunteering is a form of therapy.  It makes us feel good.  I know psychiatrists as well that have this as a recommendation to many of their patients and it can lift mood.  Give purpose.  Give much needed contact with others.  But you should be able to choose how you volunteer your time. Asking you to be a peer leader in her group . . . hm.  If that is not your cup of tea, it's not.  No shame in that. And she wasted your parents money I guess going on about that.  Personally, I'd have your mom give her a call.  I'm a mom of a 15 year old son (did I say that) and while sitting in on his sessions isn't what I would do, I do oversee his care and I pay for his visits so have every right to discuss something like this with his therapist no matter what the therapist thinks.  :>)  (mama bear here).  

Okay, reading further into your post, which always helps . . . I see she isn't providing mental health therapy to you.

So, let me turn back my original comments that I'm leaving just in case you are ever in that situation and saying this is actually a pretty awesome opportunity.  I had my son volunteer at a camp this summer for severely disabled kids and young adults.  Wow, what a learning experience. And he was not sure either what he was getting into.  And some days were hard. BUT, he grew quite a bit from it.  He had to step up.  And he got to understand a bit more about life.  And he got to be the person in charge and lead.  All of this really helped his self esteem.  AND, he gets to put that on his credentials that he will use this year to get into National Honor Society, fulfil a graduation requirement of service hours and eventually make his way into colleges.  This would look great on your 'resume' so to speak as well.  I would wonder if you couldn't try it to see if you like it.  If you don't, then you can discontinue it.  My son did the full week and then is doing a day here and there and will do a weekend day once or twice a month during the school year.  HIS choice because he really liked how the experience made him feel.  You might not. But then you know.  :>)))  
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I think Mom makes great points.  Volunteering, or working for low pay doing something you truly believe in, are great experiences, but I could be wrong but I'm reading into Mom's reply a concern I share, that it's just a little creepy to me that you're being pressured to volunteer only in an organization your NP runs.  It might be fine, now way for me to know, but again, I'm smelling something not quite right.  Also not sure why you would see someone to supervise your meds so often-- I've never seen an NP for that, I've always seen a psychiatrist, and I'm assuming the only thing the NP knows is what the psychiatrist told her, but once you're settled into a med and aren't having problems with it and aren't planning any changes, there isn't usually a great need to see your psychiatrist often.  That happens when there are problems.  As for her dominating the conversation, I don't know about that, she is the professional so that can be a good thing or not depending on the situation.  I think she's right about you connecting with other teens, but it's your life.  There is a progress in maturation, if you want to call it that, and it's harder to go through the normal stages of life if you're not around others going through them as well.  That's the beauty of public school, it throws people who are different but going through similar things together and you can learn a lot by watching and listening.  The strength of a great school is less the teachers than the high quality of the student body, as you can learn from one another.  Your lifetime friends will be made with others of a similar age, as you bond by going through life's stages together.  But people are different.  I hope it all works out, and I would give Mom's reply a good read.  All the best.
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It's your life, not hers.  Clubs are great for some, and for others not so much.  I would worry any time someone pressured me to join a club, however -- I'd investigate very thoroughly, for example, is this a religious thing to evangelize people?  I'm also not sure why you see a nurse practitioner once a month  -- they are not highly trained in anything and are adjuncts to physicians and other health professionals to handle minor problems.  If you want talk therapy you want it with a psychologist, not a nurse practitioner.  Essentially, nurse practitioner and physician's assistants are trained up to handle some of the minor things that busy doctors no longer have time for.  If it's anything complicated, you will be referred to a doctor, or should be.  That's why I'm confused as to why you're seeing one every month.  Now, this club might be something she thinks would be good for you because of problems you're had in your life and could be a great thing for you, but again, make sure.  More explanation of this relationship might help others give you better advice, including why you're seeing this particular kind of practitioner on a regular basis and what the club is all about.
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Thank you for your answer back I appreciate it. Well to explain the purpose of the club itself it has no specific ties with a religious group or any of the sort. The practitioner has created a sort of youth community center in the town and hand picks a limited number of teens of the ages 13 to 18. Of what I’ve seen personally she has so far picked the majority of patients at the mental health facility she sees on a monthly basis. Her role in seeing me I would say is to ***** and to check up with me on the medication she perscribed. Those would be the main things and not other treatment than this. I do see a therapist every other week for the Psychotherapy. My main concern was that she deliberately took over the majority of the session for this specific purpose and had briefly spoke with me on how I’m feeling on the medication and any issues I was having with it. I do not have much knoledge of the jobs the Nurse Practitioners and therapists have to help me, I only became a patient this past January. So any information of what the treatment procedures are would be very helpful. And for the club itself I would not say it is nearly organized based on what I’m hearing from her. She bought a building only this year and wants to create classes for youths to pay for and attend. My role would be one of the main volunteer heads of the group who help younger ones and the community. I am expected to help in whatever tasks need to be done in the main house center and meet once a month for a group discussion in what improvements can be made at the house. There are some questions I have that I wasn’t able to ask due to her taking over of the conversation which she regularly does. She feels I have no connections with teenagers, however this not entirely true. Simply because I have not friends my age does not mean I can’t associate with them normally or have things in common with them. I choose to be more inverse with adults rather than teenagers due to my level of maturity and my own personal experiences. I have trouble making friends because of my difference of thinking vs the average teen. I would love to have a friend and have tried to but many of which have taken advantage of me emotionaly and of my own things. I try to be very cautious when making friends even in my own school. I got to an online public school and have never been to a brick and mortar school. I’m fine with that because the kids in my town are not people I want to be around or hang out with. I plan on finishing and going into the medical field and was hoping to do some volenteer work in a hospital but the measles outbreak prevents me. So I looked to volenteer at my town community center. Then my Nurse practitioner offered me volenteer hours and a letter of recommendation for joining thr club. I find it a great opportunity but at the same time I have no idea what I’m getting into. I plan on talking my therapist about it and see what advice she can give. I spoke to my family about it and they don’t think it’s a good idea but I should ask the questions I want first before making my ultimate decision. I have no idea how long she plans on having me in the group, if there is long term commitment or not. There are an equal amount of negative and positive aspects to this and I'm too concerned and confused on who else to seek advice from.
Sorry that word should be assess.
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