Teens

Teens can benefit from building a relationship with an adult outside of the family and school system. I offer a safe space to build coping skills and increase communication skills that is free from judgement and separate from the drama of their lives. I help teens lean into their emotions so they can articulate reasons for their feelings. These skills help teens better manage anxiety and depression, which leads to less self-harm, more communication and happier teens.

Managing hard emotions

Research shows that the pre-frontal cortex (responsible for complex cognitive behavior and personality expression) is still developing into our mid-twenties. Teens are prone to seek novelty, risk, and a greater understanding of the world. These factors (amongst many others) means teens are prone to high emotionality. It is our job as adults to offer healthy coping mechanism and skills to manage emotions and intensity. Therapy can be an ideal place for this work because I am not part of the existing relationships and can provide insights from an outside perspective.

Self-Harming Behavior

This is part of managing hard emotions. I use elements of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy to encourage mindfulness, emotional regulation and distress tolerance. It is also important to help teens understand the drive behind self-harm.

What's next?! Planning for the future

Making choices about the future can bring on a great deal of anxiety in teens and parents. I offer a space to ask anxiety inducing questions, make plans for the future and make concrete steps forward. Questions generally surround education, work, financial responsibilities and passion!

Academic Performance

Academic performance is often an indicator of bigger issues. I am here to help drop into the source of the issue. I find that making change in other areas of life can have significant effects on school performance.

Gender and/or Sexuality Exploration

My goal is to increase authenticity by decreasing anxiety around being our most true selves. Therapy can be a safe space to ask questions and explore. I can help navigate parenting of gender-expansive and LGBQ youth, the role of gender in relationships and resource acquisition.

Evolving Friendships and Increasing Social Skills

Social skills are a huge indicator of a healthy adolescent life. Lots of distress can be eased with an increase of social skills and distress tolerance.

Everything else that makes being a teen challenging...

Adjusting to divorce, remarriage, separation, and reunification, Grief and Loss, Healing from Trauma, Dating, College-Prep, Acne!