Therapy for teens
Adolescence can be complicated. Therapy can offer a place to slow down, make sense of what’s happening, and feel more understood.
I provide individual psychotherapy for teens navigating anxiety, relationships, self-esteem, identity, emotional difficulties, and the many changes and challenges that come with growing up.
Sometimes it’s difficult to know when a teen needs more support. Adolescence naturally brings changes in mood, relationships, sense of identity, and independence. But sometimes parents notice that something feels different. More conflict, more anxiety, withdrawal from family or friends, more irritability, less confidence, or simply not seeming like themselves.
Other teens may appear to be doing well from the outside but privately struggle with pressure, self-doubt, relationships, and keeping it all together.
Therapy can provide a space where teens don’t have to have everything figured out before they arrive.
How I work with teens
Teenagers are often brought to therapy because the adults around them are worried. While those concerns matter, I believe it’s equally important to understand the teen’s own experience of what is happening for them.
My approach is relational and collaborative. Rather than only focusing on symptoms or changing behaviors, I help teens become more curious about themselves and the patterns that may be difficult to make sense of on their own.
Over time, therapy can help adolescents develop a stronger understanding of themselves and greater flexibility in how they navigate emotions and relationships.
How I work with parents
Parents can be an important part of adolescent treatment. At the same time, teens need enough privacy to develop trust and a meaningful therapeutic process of their own.
I work collaboratively with parents to understand their concerns and support their teen while being thoughtful about the adolescent’s need for growing indepdendence. How parents are involved will depend on the teen’s age, needs, and circumstances.
When helpful, I also collaborate with schools and other providers to coordinate care.
My experience
Working with adolescents has been central to my work throughout my career. Over the last 12 years, I’ve worked with youth and families in schools, community-based programs, intensive treatment settings, and private practice settings. Over that time, my approach has been shaped as much by what I’ve learned from the teens I’ve worked with as by my clinical training.
My work is also informed by advanced training in psychodynamic therapy and Mentalization-Based Treatment for Adolescents (MBT-A).