Teen & Adolescent Therapy

Thank you for your interest in teen and adolescent therapy. If you would like to schedule an initial consult, please feel free to call or email me directly, or you can click over to the scheduling page to request a consult time that works for you. For more information on teen and adolescent therapy and what to expect, feel free to read more below.

What is teen and adolescent therapy?

The bridge between childhood and adulthood is one that is fraught with a lot of physical, emotional, and psychological changes and challenges. Peer issues, puberty, growth spurts, increasing independence, and dealing with parental oversight despite increasing desires for freedom are just a handful of the things that might arise during teenage years. In addition, teens and adolescents are often faced with difficult choices about substance use, sexuality, caring for their bodies, how to treat peers, how to respond to peer pressure, and what types of future they might envision for themselves as they plan for adulthood.

Teen and adolescent therapy can help young people work through some of the struggles, big emotions, mood changes, and life adjustments of middle school and high school. I aim to function as a confidante and advisor who can help guide decision-making and careful consideration, as well as mindfulness in navigating big decisions and relationships. We will work on identifying and upholding foundational and guiding values and priorities, and help your teen to establish a working sense of self and identity that they feel proud of. We will also help them to make behavioral choices and decisions that they can stand behind and feel proud of. We will help them consider and work through different social dynamics and personalities to help develop a strong social foundation for themselves and for discerning and understanding the behavior of others, and build good foundational life skills to move forward confidently into the wider world. For teens who have struggled with difficult emotions or behaviors, we will work to get back to basics and re-build trust in themselves and their relationships.

How can adolescent therapy help my child?

Teens can benefit immensely from strong, supportive adult role models, and can always benefit from adding another caring adult to their support team. Therapy offers a safe space to have honest conversations, grapple with uncertainties and confusion, and to gain comfort with self-expression and self-assertion in a practice setting, without the fear of social consequences that can seem so unforgiving in teen life. We will engage together with the teen as a participant in their own decision processes and choice-making, as we help them craft their discernment capabilities and their abilities to recognize emotional tumult and develop self-regulation and self-soothing strategies. We will also work on healthy and reasonable expectations of others and the craft of empathy. Together we will consider the teen’s strengths and interests, and what they may wish to pursue more of, and to cultivate within their lives, as they move into considering big choices like college, living away from home, dating, and more social independence.

What to expect in adolescent therapy

Teens and adolescents may present to therapy on their own accord or with the support of their parents. To begin therapy as a teen, the first step is to have a brief consult call to discuss what you’re looking for and assess fit. You can schedule that here or call or email me. This initial call will be 15-20 minutes, for us to get to know one another a bit, and explore what you’re looking to get out of therapy. Either the teen or the parent(s) can make the initial call, and we’ll have a discussion about what everyone’s involvement will look like from there.

Next, we will schedule a first appointment, at a pre-established rate. I will send you some paperwork in advance, in order for us to dive right in at your first appointment into what’s going on. Provided you wish to continue working together, I request that initial sessions take place at least every other week while we get to know each other, before we determine whether to move to a more sporadic schedule. That said, all of this is up for discussion at anytime and voicing your needs is encouraged.

Weekly sessions for teens revolve around a combination of talk therapy, play therapy, artwork, and collaborative activities like playing a board game or card game. In the process of building rapport and trust through these activities, I will gradually weave in the topics that are a source of struggle, whether they be emotional, behavioral, social, or academic. I will integrate each session with some degree of teaching and learning alongside any activities we do together.

Teens can be very open in their skepticism about therapy, and that is okay. We can continue to work together as long as you like, provided you are finding benefit in the process. I will periodically check in to see how you think things are going, and what you might wish to focus on if it seems we are plateauing. My goal is to ensure that our time together is intentional and worthwhile for you, even if sometimes that means starting session unsure what you want to talk about and being open to what might arise spontaneously.

Confidentiality and parental involvement in adolescent therapy

The topic of confidentiality in therapy is an important one, and therapy is traditionally a protected confidential space. For therapeutic work with teens and adolescents, it is important to have clear agreements with the teen and the parents about how confidentiality will work. I will work with you to tailor an agreement and style of check-in that works for your family.

I look forward to hearing from you if this sounds like a potential fit!

(323) 688-6771 // hello@nicpas.com