A Faith that Unfolds: A Developmental Perspective of Faith in Adolescence

Experiences in Adolescence/Emerging Adulthood

As a therapist, I often find myself working with teens and emerging adults. During those years of development, there are so many changes, adjustments, and opportunities that go on. One of the big emerging tasks I often explore with teens is related to identity development; that is, the process of forming a coherent, stable, and personally meaningful sense of who one is. A person’s emerging identity shapes their self-concept, agency, continuity across different environments, and sense of belonging. While in the midst of this process, teens start asking questions they didn’t ask before, they notice things within themselves that feel different from others, or they wonder things like “Who am I?” or “What is important to me?” These types of questions come up with regards to all sorts of aspects of life, including aspects of spirituality and faith.

For some, these questions emerge after something painful or disappointing happens. For others, these questions emerge more subtly but can feel quietly pervasive. For a lot of people, these experiences and questions can be a place where anxiety sets in, wondering if their community will be able to tolerate things like honest questions, doubts, or disbelief. From a developmental perspective, however, this movement is not unusual and in many ways can be expected. While this can include feelings of growing pains, worries, or adjustment, moments like these can also be rich potential for growth and development. When a teen notices that their spirituality feels different than it used to, it might not immediately mean that they’ve lost their faith. It could mean that their faith is approaching a turning point that prepares for new experiences and new understandings of faith. 

Fowler and Faith Development

Over the years, psychologists have described processes and experiences related to faith development. One of the popular models that inspired research on faith development comes from James W. Fowler’s Stages of Faith. Fowler describes faith development as something that is nonlinear, develops through different stages, and continues across the lifespan. While more recent research has moved away from stage models to understand faith development, Fowler’s stages can still be a helpful starting point to better understanding aspects about maturation and faith development. I often notice the conversations with teens can fall somewhere between Fowler’s third and fourth stages of faith development. 

In the third stage, teens tend to organize a sense of values, meaning, and purpose that is shaped by significant others in their lives, often via family members and communities with which they are raised. In this stage of development, faith initially feels steady and grounded in the norms established by the community, but it can also face challenges if spiritual life feels vulnerable to conformity. You might think of a teen in this stage who has learned the rules or expectations of what to believe or how to participate, but their faith doesn’t yet feel like something they’ve owned for themselves. A potential risk for teens around this stage is a sense of over-identifying with the community beliefs and norms, such that they don’t feel able to develop a faith or spiritual life that also feels personal for themselves. A marker of growth in this time includes the developing teens' increased sense of autonomy and agency while continuing to live in communities that cultivate connection and belonging. In the developmental period of adolescence, teens are often beginning to negotiate and take on increased responsibilities and independence, which often presents opportunities for adaptive autonomy to emerge more in their lives. A teen’s curiosity could show up wondering things like: 

“I have been taught something, is it something I truly believe?”

“Why do different religions (or denominations) believe different things?” 

Or “Why does God sometimes feel close and other times feel distant?” 

I also work with teens and emerging adults who resonate with tasks related to Fowler’s fourth stage. During this phase, a person takes on more ownership of their beliefs and identity through critical reflection and adaptively differentiating their worldview from their community, while gaining increased autonomy and clarity. From this, experiences of faith may not only be about what has been inherited from others, but also about what helps faith feel personal, relational, and distinct, which can increase a sense of belonging for many teens. Around this stage, risks a teen may navigate include isolation or over-intellectualizing experiences of faith. For example, a teen may feel increased isolation if they find themselves as the only one asking questions, which can feel existentially lonely. Faith could also be understood cognitively, or as something to analyze in this stage, which may come with risks of emphasizing logical consistency and potentially reducing faith to propositions. Helping a teen explore aspects of embodied, relational, and participatory faith can help cultivate a fuller understanding and experience of faith in these moments.  A parent’s own experiences of this development can impact their ability to help facilitate this for their teens, as well. Curiosities at these phase may sound like the following:

“What parts of my faith do I stand firm in, and where do I still wrestle?”

“What kinds of authority do I put my trust in?”

Or “What expectations do I have for myself in a life of faith?”

Positive Youth Development Perspectives on Faith

An area of research I also think about in connection with faith development is Positive Youth Development. During my time as a graduate student, I gained insights from mentors who highlight teen years as so much more than storm and stress, but also as a rich time to cultivate capacities of identity, agency, purpose, and belonging, that allows faith to become more personally owned and meaningfully lived. Part of positive development for teens is to recognize and engage in ways they actively shape and get shaped by their environments and context. During adolescence, relationships develop in ways that become more complex, more intimate, and are increasingly influenced from the roles of peers, mentors, and communities. These reciprocating relationships provide chances for teens to explore, build and sustain communal connections, question or understand norms, and actively cultivate their unique strengths and capacities. Through these interactions, teens get to explore more of who they are, including their belief systems, roles, as well as other aspects of life that feel meaningful that they want to commit themselves to. Faith that develops in this context can cultivate a sense that a teen feels greater agency, increased connection, and that they can create relationships that feel mutually beneficial to themselves and others. All this together can be so powerful and supportive in the task of cultivating identity and purpose. 

Relationships as a Container for Faith Development

All this considered, I find it a valuable reminder that aspects of identity formation, including faith, are not formed in isolation, but are shaped and reshaped by valued relationships. For teens, and really for anyone who resonates with themes of faith, doubt, questions, and wrestling, having relationships that provide space for questioning without rejection can be powerfully transformative. This may look like connecting with mentors who don’t panic at doubt, communities who allow for exploration as a part of development, and relationships that communicate belonging even if someone is feeling unsure about their faith. These experiences of spiritual development can be normal, but they can also be overwhelming, especially if you feel alone in them. Some people find it helpful to have a dedicated space to explore these questions. It may be especially helpful to seek support if you notice:

• Anxiety or guilt around faith feels chronic
• Your evolving beliefs are straining relationships
• You feel shame related to sexuality, doubt, or past religious experiences
• You have experienced religious community conflict or spiritual trauma
• You feel lost rather than curious

If your teens faith is different than it used to be, it may not be that something has gone wrong. They may be in the middle of something still yet unfolding.

Sean Noe, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow at Coastal Therapy Group. He works from a relational psychodynamic orientation with teens and emerging adults, with a particular focus on identity and faith development across adolescence. His research background centers on how young people navigate questions of belief, belonging, and meaning during these formative years. He sees patients across CTG's Encinitas, Carlsbad, and Vista offices.