How Therapy Can Support Teenagers and Adults with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)—also known as ME/CFS—can be incredibly challenging. It’s more than just feeling tired. It’s a complex, long-term illness that can affect nearly every part of your life: your energy, mood, sleep, concentration, relationships, and even your sense of identity.
For both teenagers and adults, the emotional toll can be heavy—and that’s where therapy can help.
What Can Therapy Offer?
Therapy isn’t a “cure” for CFS, but it can offer powerful support in coping with the condition and improving your quality of life.
Here’s how:
1. Understanding and Validation
People with CFS are often misunderstood or not taken seriously. A therapist who understands chronic illness can offer a space where your experiences are believed, not questioned.
2. Emotional Support
It’s common to feel frustrated, anxious, isolated, or even depressed while living with CFS. Therapy gives you a safe place to talk about those feelings and develop strategies for managing them.
3. Managing Stress and Pacing
Stress can make symptoms worse. Therapy can help you:

• Learn pacing techniques to avoid overexertion
• Set realistic goals
• Manage the guilt or pressure to “push through”

4. Support for Teenagers
Teens with CFS may struggle with missing school, friendships, or feeling different from their peers. Therapy can help them:

• Build confidence and self-compassion
• Navigate school and social pressures
• Communicate better with family and teachers

5. Support for Adults
Adults may face work challenges, parenting while unwell, or navigating healthcare systems. Therapy can help with boundaries, grief over lost roles, and adjusting to a new pace of life.

What About Somatic Therapy?

For many with CFS, the body can start to feel like the enemy—unpredictable, limited, or full of discomfort. Somatic therapy offers a gentle, body-based approach that helps you reconnect with your physical self in a safe and supportive way. Rather than pushing the body, somatic work focuses on listening to it. This can help reduce nervous system overwhelm, release tension, and support a sense of calm. Over time, it may even help shift how you relate to your body, building a greater sense of trust and safety within.

You’re Not Alone

​Whether you’re a teen, a parent, or an adult living with CFS, therapy can be a lifeline. It’s not about “fixing” you—it’s about walking with you, helping you find your own tools, balance, and sense of self in the midst of a very real condition.
You deserve care, support, and a space where your experience is truly understood.

You can read more about Working with chronic illness in counselling in a recent BACP "Therapy today" article written by Lucy McDonald MBACP here.