A steady adult who is not going to repeat it at dinner.
Therapy with teenagers, alongside their families. Anxiety, self-worth, identity, conflict at home, boundaries and the place screens have taken in the week, with a parent or guardian involved from the first conversation.
Adolescent work, done as family work, because that is what it is.
I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and part of that training is adolescents in the context they actually live in. A teenager is not a small adult with a private caseload. They are one person inside a household, a school year and a friendship group, and the useful work usually involves more than one of those.
What comes through the door here is ordinary and serious at the same time. Anxiety that shows up as stomach aches and sleep. Self-worth that is being decided by a feed. Identity, which is the actual developmental task of these years rather than a phase to be waited out. Conflict at home that has settled into the same argument every week. Boundaries, in both directions. And the hours a phone takes.
Work with anyone under eighteen involves a parent or guardian. Consent and the limits of confidentiality are discussed with the family before we start, so that everybody knows the arrangement before anyone is asked to be honest inside it. A teenager needs enough privacy for the hour to be worth having; a parent needs to know about real safety concerns. Where that line sits is something we set together and say out loud.
Sessions are in person at the Long Beach office or by telehealth anywhere in California. I am licensed in California only. Se habla español.
Written for the parent reading this at eleven at night.
Open whichever line lands. None of them has to describe your family exactly to be worth a conversation.
Four things that are true of every family I work with.
From the parent’s phone call to the first hour that is genuinely theirs.
No timelines are promised here and no outcome is guaranteed. This is simply the shape the first stretch usually takes.
The call
Fifteen minutes with a parent, free
You describe what is going on and what you have already tried. I tell you honestly whether I am the right person, and if I am not, I will point you elsewhere rather than book the appointment.
What parents ask on the consultation call, in roughly the order they ask them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Start with a call, not a form
A free 15-minute phone consultation with a parent or guardian. Describe what is happening at home and I will tell you plainly whether I am the right person for it.