Teen Counseling

Adolescence (12 -24 years old) is a time in human development that can be fraught with an immense amount of identity exploration/confusion, emotional turmoil and marked increases in risk-taking behavior. These aspects or the teen/early-adult years can predispose both the individual experiencing the development and those responsible for the care of the individual to high amounts of stress. What both the adolescent and the caregivers need is a professional whose experience and education can provide a roadmap towards better understanding by way of authentic connection and genuine communication. My years of clinical experience working in outpatient community health centers, adolescent residential hospitals, and private practice offices has established me as the effective professional ready and passionately willing to help guide your family/teen.

My approach to counseling with a teen/young adult is to first and foremost create a trusting and authentic therapeutic relationship. Getting your son/daughter to agree to come to counseling can be half the battle, and I honor anyone who has agreed to walk into my office and explore what counseling could possibly do for them. I create a foundation for positive change by creating an atmosphere in my office where your son/daughter can be 100% themselves and explore their passions, drives, emotions, and behaviors in a nonjudgmental and clinically informed environment. I also find it important to educate the family system on the neurobiology of the adolescent brain, not in an effort to shirk responsibility from dangerous/disrespectful behaviors but to shed light onto the difficult “brainstorm” that your son/daughter might be experiencing. Building upon the foundation of a working rapport and collective education we then begin to identify emotional motivation behinds behavior, increase emotional intelligence, develop adaptive executive functioning, raise goal-oriented behavior and positive personality identity development. I place a heavy focus on relationship skills in working with adolescents, due to the fact that how an individual creates and maintains relationships is a powerful factor in lasting mental health and wellbeing. By using creative, simple, measurable, integrative and attainable goals I believe that I can help facilitate lasting positive change for your teen/adolescent. Let’s get to work!