Therapy for Teens
There’s too much pressure.
It is not easy being a teenager in today’s world. Social media puts huge pressure from a young age to make friends, find your passion, and succeed at everything you try. Colleges demand more each year, and you may feel like even with taking lots of AP courses, playing sports or doing several extracurriculars that it’s still not enough to get into the college or university you’re hoping for. For teens who have experienced a traumatic event or a big drop in your mental health (like feeling depressed, anxious, unable to get out of bed, or not sleeping), you may feel like your whole world is falling apart and you’re trying to figure out how to put the pieces back together. The version of yourself you once knew is gone, and now you’re struggling in ways you never thought possible. What’s worse, it can feel like you don’t have anyone who truly understands what you’re going through. You’re worried about yourself and know you need to get help.
How do I actually start to feel better?
There is so much information available today designed to help, everything from social media accounts to books to podcasts. Maybe you have a lot of knowledge around your particular struggles or mental health challenges, have figured out your self diagnosis, or you’ve tried some strategies already but you’re not sure what to do next. It can take time to find the right strategies and tools that can help you get back on track. Together, we’ll go through everything that you’ve learned about and tried, and I’ll help you sort through the latest research-based strategies and tools so that we can make a plan to help you start feeling better right away.
Getting the support you need
My goal for my teen clients is to help them feel seen and supported right away so you can feel better immediately and start making changes to get back on track. As a teenager, it’s so hard to find someone who understands you, and that can feel so lonely and disorienting. I will be someone who listens, offers strategies and ideas to help, and if what we come up with together doesn’t work at first, I will keep trying until we find something that does.
In our first session, I’ll meet with both you and your parent, family member or guardian to get an idea from both of your perspectives what has been happening and what you’re hoping to get out of therapy. Then, I’ll meet 1:1 with you to get a more detailed idea of what you’re experiencing and what your biggest stressors are. Together, we’ll come up with a plan that involves talking through problems, building new skills for how to address your symptoms right away, and maybe even doing some creative work (like drawing or creative writing) if it’s helpful. As part of our work together, you and I will talk about which parts of your session will remain confidential, and which parts will be shared with your family or guardian so that you can get more support outside of our sessions.