Therapy for Young Adults & TEENS

I am dedicated to helping your teenager navigate the twists and turns of life.

Teenagers are complex - caught between social pressures mimicking adulthood and confusion about how and when they want to grow up. They’re experiencing overwhelming and rapidly changing feelings however, most don’t yet have the skill set to express their feelings effectively, challenge their impulsivity and seamlessly execute a plan. The ways in which these experiences manifest can range from isolation and withdrawing to overt acting out behaviors.

I work with teenagers who are old enough and/or mature enough to engage in talk therapy. In our sessions, I work to make them feel at ease, changing my language some, often using humor, judiciously self-disclosing if it will build rapport {without compromising boundaries} and sometimes using simple tactics like sitting on the opposite side of the couch from them {as opposed to sitting across from them in my usual chair} so as to diffuse the intense eye contact. I try to give my adolescent clients a felt sense that I have affection and compassion for them {because I do - it’s rough being a teen!} which then allows me to hold them accountable without compromising our trust.

Adolescents often come into my office struggling with:

• episodic depression and anxiety

• body image

• friendships and intimate relationships

• parental relationships

• sibling rivalry

• mood swings

• feelings around intense scholastic pressure

• perfectionism

• academia

• irritability and anger

As part of my work with teenagers, I will periodically meet with the parents to discuss ideas about how to work with some of the themes unfolding in therapy {sparing the details}. I conduct this work from a place of deep respect for the never-ending efforts required of parents, while also protecting the trust I have built with my adolescent clients {without which therapy is ineffective}.