Teen Issues

I have spent many years working with teens as a teacher, camp counselor, facilitator, and now therapist. I love supporting teens in growing in their identities, finding their individual values, and becoming more independent.

I've worked with teens my entire career, starting in the foster care system. Being a teenager is tough, and it's gotten tougher since I was one! Every teen deserves as a safe place to explore their beliefs, challenges, develop a healthy identity, and set big goals for the future.

I have worked with teens as a teacher, camp counselor, tutor, and facilitator. My many years of working with teens has given me key insights into youth development and life transitions. I value engaging young people in claiming their identities and building independence, key parts of adolescence.

Working as a therapist in high schools was an eye-opening, and very rewarding, experience, and I bring that experience to my private practice. Adolescents today face unprecedented stressors and navigate worlds that are hugely challenging for developing minds. But adolescence is also a rich time in which so much joy and growth occurs. I love to work with adolescent girls who are finding their place in the world.

Everyone knows that the teen years can be fraught with challenges. I see teens as incredibly capable, resilient, and thoughtful people who need an immense amount of support and encouragement as they navigate the tumultuous years of building valuable relationships, identity, and independence.

I provide a mutual space in which each person has a voice to express troubled emotions and be given an opportunity to feel heard by loved ones in your family. It is a place where awareness and reflection are met with hard work and unaccustomed change. Sessions are focused on positive communication and strategies to help build a future of changes desired by both the parent and teen.

Your teen isn't always going to feel comfortable approaching you with hard topics. A lot of my clients discuss their discovery of sex or drugs with me whenever rapport is built, and I always want to foster open communication and trust regarding those topics. I always tell my clients that I wasn't their age too long ago and how

I have formal training in Child Centered Play Therapy and Jungian Analytic Sand Tray Therapy. I also have experience in youth advocacy and adolescent counseling.

I intricately and intimately understand the unique challenges that accompany childhood and adolescence. I know how to relate and build rapport with kids and teens. I believe that the greatest gift we can give to our children is the gift of nonjudgmental understanding, and it can be extremely helpful to provide them with an objective third party support. I specialize in helping younger individuals successfully manage their growing pains and navigate through the complex challenges of life.

Helping with peer issues, Trauma, Depression and Stress Management

Growing up today is harder than at almost any other time in history. Teens are experiencing anxiety and depression in record numbers at a time when they have less resiliency than ever. Academic pressures, peer pressure, and FMO (fear of missing out) can be more than one can handle. Parent/teen relationships are often the toughest and yet most important to navigate. I can help teens who struggle with anxiety and depression to put things into perspective and learn coping skills to deal with life's pressures. I also work with parents in creating a healthy environment for and relationship with their teen. This age doesn't last forever--there can be light at the end of the tunnel!

Relationships Bullying Self-Esteem Trauma Anxiety Depression ADHD Developmental Concerns Peer Relationships

I have extensive experience working with adolescents from variety of backgrounds. I am able to build unique connections with adolescents that enhance their therapeutic experience. I have ongoing experience working with teens who have experienced chronic or acute trauma, attachment difficulties due to early childhood trauma, those who have struggled with anxiety and depression, teens who are or have been in the foster care system, and those who have difficulties with social skills.

I've served in a wide range of academic environments including universities, as a professor and counselor, in nonprofits, and as a teacher in a performing arts high school. I also teach and counsel adults, and older adults in midlife or retirement transitions.

Teenagers and young adults face many challenges in today’s world due to academic, social, parental, and societal pressures. Although everyone encounters times when they feel badly, if your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are negatively impacting your quality of life, this could be a sign of a mental health issue. Psychotherapy with a qualified professional provides teens with a safe place to explore personal challenges, identity/sexuality questions, social issues and family relationships.

Peer pressure, bullying, cyberbullying, anxiety, depression, stress, low self-esteem, family conflict, issues at school.

I work with adolescents striving to develop their own independence and sense of identity. Navigating your peer and family relationships, managing your own thoughts, beliefs, and feelings, and cultivating your own sense of self while looking ahead to the future can be extremely complex tasks. I am here to help you begin to understand who you are, what you want in life, and to help navigate relationships with people who matter to you.