Can you believe you’re here?

Your child is officially a teenager. You’re parenting someone so familiar, yet so unfamiliar. You may no longer know everyone your kid is talking to, be utterly uninformed about what they’re posting on social media — much less what social media platforms are currently on trend — and wouldn’t even venture a guess about the thoughts in their head. And while COVID is largely behind us, your teen no doubt had a long series of missed landmark experiences. Reduced sports and other group activities, not to mention remote learning, disconnected them from the amount of face-time time so crucial to their development. Their academic motivation may have suffered and worsened any pre-existing social and mental health problems. Your teen may be spending a lot more time in their room on social media and be more anxious, irritable, preoccupied, secretive, apathetic, and down. Maybe you’re feeling some of the same things yourself. The last few years have been rough and you may be you’re long past ready to get your kid back on track.

I help tweens and teens who have a lot going on, inside and out, and need to talk to an adult who listens, understands, and is trained to provide solid guidance and strategies to cope.

The adolescents I see often struggle with social insecurity and loneliness, unsatisfying or difficult peer relationships, and shaky self-esteem. Many experience strong and variable moods, pressure to perform in school or athletics, academic challenges, and uncertainty about their future. Most need help with romantic relationships and some are navigating sexual orientation and gender identity concerns. Many of the teens I see spend way too much time on their phones, while others are beginning to experiment with and misuse substances. Given the accelerated brain growth in adolescence, some teens are experiencing the emergence of significant anxiety, clinical depression, and other psychiatric disorders. They may also be facing life-altering events like the death of a loved one or their parents’ difficult separation or divorce and the complicated family dynamics that often result.

I’m skilled at accurately zeroing in on the main problem — or the layered mix of problems — and utilizing clinical methods most likely to help your teen be their best during the powerhouse life stage that is adolescence.

No matter the issue, I lead with compassion and curiosity as I develop a treatment plan that provides direction and hope for positive change. I actively seek input from you about your teen’s struggles, getting your take on the different factors involved as well as your goals for their therapy. I honor your teen’s developing autonomy by asking them the same questions I ask you, encouraging them to reflect on the problems they’re dealing with and to identify what they want from therapy. Once I have a solid picture, I recommend the types of interventions that will target their unique needs and be the best fit for all parties. Sometimes that means weekly individual sessions with your teen along with intermittent parent sessions. Or the addition of some family therapy at key phases of the process. Or group therapy with every other week individual sessions. Regardless of where we start, I keep my eye on emerging needs and changing goals and make adjustments to keep the therapy moving forward.

How I can help.

• I’ll teach your teen to identify, understand, and more skillfully manage their powerful emotions, installing the capacity for greater stress resilience, self-awareness, and self-confidence. I’ll teach you how to gain insight into some of what’s going on in your teen’s inner world — by creating a relational climate where they feel accepted and understood — and to use that knowledge to makes steps towards open, authentic connection.

• I’ll help your teen make choices that strengthen their self-respect and align with their emerging identity and autonomy, which is the name of the game of this developmental stage. These tasks are governed largely by the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that connects the dots between present choices and future consequences. The more practice your teen has making these connections, the better, so I’ll teach you simple ways to reinforce it at home.

• I’ll show your teen how to communicate thoughtfully, clearly and assertively, whether that’s with you or their siblings, step-parents, grandparents, peers, romantic partners, teachers, and coaches. I’ll provide your teen with attuned therapeutic support so they can discover what they think, feel, and need as well as the skills to effectively translate this knowledge into language others can understand.

• I’ll help your teen learn how to create and sustain healthy peer and romantic relationships, since they’re mission critical to well-being in adolescence. I’ll teach your teen how to operate in relationships according the principles of sensitivity, fairness, and mutuality, laying the foundation for successful relationships now and in the future.