Adolescent Therapy (Ages 13-18)

Janet has a deep compassion for the adolescent facing huge life transitions. It is a time of navigating peer relationship versus family cohesion, it is a time of self-discovery and emergence of the emotional, social, and sexual self. Janet is interested in helping the family transition from childhood to launching a fully prepared adult. She prefers to work not just with the adolescent, but with the whole family to accomplish these goals.

Amy works to provide a space where teens can safely explore what’s happening in their world – internally and relationally – and empower them to effectively manage challenging circumstances. Adolescence is a time of immense transition and change, and therapy can help increase stability and support during this season. Amy takes a collaborative approach with teens and family members to address root causes of distress and increase healthy connection and mood management.

Rosie believes that adolescents present symptoms of frustrating or confusing behavior when there is an unmet need in their environment. Rosie’s goal in working with adolescents and their families is to discover the function of the behavior (what is the unmet need?) and develop healthy behaviors to get that need met in an appropriate way. Rosie believes this is the most important step in creating communication and relationships between adolescents and their support network which are supportive, bonded, and loving. Rosie has experience working with high risk adolescents, as well as their families and members of their social environment, as a Therapeutic Behavioral Services Clinician and Functional Integrative Therapy Clinician.

Edwyna has been working with adolescents for nearly 20 years and—although she enjoys all of her clients—teens are her favorite. She finds them authentic and open—except for 14y/o boys who won’t open up until she gives them permission NOT to talk. Teenagers are rebellious at times, challenging at best, energetic and sometimes exhausting, complicated, enigmatic, and wonderful. Adolescence is a time of exploration and independence. However, with limited life experience and a brain that will not be completely developed until 25, adolescents can be very creative at getting into unimaginable trouble. And that is usually when therapy begins.

Teenagers! The most challenging and rewarding population in my practice!

In the book, She Voice Lessons for Parents by Wendy Mogel, Ph.D., she states at that no other phase of life are conversations between parents and children more difficult. She further points out that nothing a teenager says is personal or predictable.

As a therapist to teens, I try to view them with interest and curiosity. Even though most of them like to blame their parents (always a conversation starter), they need their parents. Their behavior and temperament are not unlike 2 year olds …. except now they drive!

Boys typically withdraw and are often uninterested in anything you as a parent does unless it involves food or transportation or buying things they “need.” Girls tend to treat rules and the word “No” as if they are human rights violations. Mothers are a favorite target!

These characteristics are what I enjoy as their therapist. They are brutally honest except when they aren’t. They are loving and emotional and creative except when they say they hate you or shut down.

I strive to accept teens for who and where they are in life. By listening and acceptance, I can gain their trust and open new ways for them to hear and see. This leads to open exploration of options, possibilities and new strategies for living.

Michelle knows how tough adolescence can be for both the child and the parents. Teenagers face many challenges ranging from anxiety to depression to low self-esteem. While these issues are not uncommon for teens to face, they can cause them to struggle which can lead to conflict and concern at home. Michelle believes in the importance of providing a safe space where teens can be open and feel heard while also keeping the parents involved in reasonable and productive ways. Michelle believes through developing empowerment, creating a network of support, building resilience, and strengthening coping skills, teenagers can feel confident and generate positive change in their own lives.

How many movies have been made, or stories written about the events and changes that occur in the life of a teenager? All these stories about this phase of growth point to its importance in shaping the foundation of life as an adult. This is the time when your children truly begin choosing the course of life for themselves. From an adult’s view, it becomes easy to think that the conflicts and struggles of a teenager are “immature”, or are “kid stuff”. However, as adults supporting them, we must remind ourselves that conflicts that upset or hurt our teens are the most significant problems they’ve ever attempted to navigate on their own. The way we respond to these struggles in a teen’s life will send messages to them about whether we accept them as they are, and about our opinion of their value and abilities. Teens posses the flexibility of a youthful mind, and many of the strengths of reasoning that we share with them as adults. If we work together to create the right environment, teens can become active participants in achieving positive change.

Kyle believes that teens and adolescents are tasked with navigating through a difficult road that includes the beginning of figuring out life for themselves. The many transitions that they will face include a maturation process and independence that can be a challenge. Teens have to deal with the pressure from many internal and external stressors. Difficulty handling these transitions is not unusual and can result in many symptoms such as depression, anxiety, anger, and misconduct. Dealing with these outcomes can be stressful for the teen and the family involved as well. Therefore, therapy becomes a tool for the teen and family to explore coping skills to work through their situation.

Steve uses a variety of approaches in helping adolescences through the stress of teenage life. He has worked in helping people with anxiety disorder for more than 30 years and has developed approaches that have shown themselves to be effective. Education about anxiety is usually the first step, teaching how stress affects the body and mind and also teaching some skills to deal with stress from the first day of therapy. In the long term, DBT therapy, hypnosis, EMDR, and talk therapy are used. Hypnosis and EMDR are especially helpful when trauma is a part of the stress being experienced.