← All client groupsAges 13–17

Teens

A confidential, respectful space for teens to sort out identity, stress, and relationships.

Overview

Teens do best when therapy feels like theirs — not something being done to them. We build trust first, work at their pace, and involve parents in a way that respects the teen's privacy and the family's role.

Who it helps

  • Teens facing anxiety, depression, or self-esteem struggles
  • Academic pressure, social conflict, or identity questions
  • ADHD, executive functioning, or motivation concerns

What a session looks like

  1. 150-minute individual sessions with periodic family check-ins
  2. 2Direct, non-preachy, skill-building tone
  3. 3Coordination with school, prescriber, or coach as needed

Often paired with

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

My teen says they don't want to talk to a therapist. Should I still bring them in?
Often yes. Reluctance is normal — most teens don't run toward therapy — and the willingness to try can grow once they've met someone. It helps enormously if you frame therapy as support rather than punishment, and if your teen has some say in choosing their therapist. We spend the first session or two building rapport, not diving into hard material. If your teen leaves feeling like the therapist actually got them, they usually come back willingly.
How much of what my teen tells you will I get to know?
We hold teen sessions confidential except in cases of safety — self-harm, suicidality, abuse, or serious risk. We'll be clear about those limits with both you and your teen up front. For everything else, your teen gets a private space to think out loud, which is essential to real therapeutic work. We'll usually invite family sessions or parent check-ins periodically to keep you in the loop on themes and progress without violating trust.
How is teen therapy different from adult therapy?
Teens are in the middle of massive developmental change — brain, body, identity, social world — and their concerns need to be understood in that context. We take their internal world seriously without treating everything as pathology (some of what's hard about being a teenager is just the reality of being a teenager). We're also usually more collaborative and relational than agenda-driven. Rapport with a teenager is not optional.
Do you work with issues like social media, gender identity, and school pressure?
Yes. Social media, academic pressure, questions of identity (including gender and sexuality), friendship dynamics, and family stress are all part of what teens are actually dealing with. We approach these with respect for your teen and for you as parents, without pushing an agenda. Our job is to help your teen make sense of their world and build the internal resources to navigate it.

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