Ages 13 to 18 · Brentwood, Los Angeles
Teen Therapy in Los Angeles
Looking past the behavior
Our work with teenagers is psychodynamic and relational. Rather than starting with a plan to correct a behavior, we get curious about what the behavior is doing for your teenager, because most of what looks like attitude is a young person managing something they cannot yet name.
In-person therapy for teens at our Brentwood office, and online across California
That changes what happens in the room, because a teenager who is shutting down at home is usually guarding something, and we would rather understand what it is than train it away. We see teens in person at our Brentwood office and by telehealth throughout California.
For ParentsWhy parents reach out
Teenagers almost never ask for therapy. A parent makes the call, usually after weeks of wondering whether what they are seeing is ordinary adolescence or something more. The parents who contact us tend to describe one of three things.
01
Something specific has happened.
A panic attack before school. Grades that dropped in one semester. A breakup, a move, or a loss that your teen has not come back from. The door that is now closed every evening.
02
A pattern you can no longer explain away.
Anxiety that has started to decide what your teen will and will not do. A low mood that has lasted longer than a bad few weeks. Self-criticism that sounds harsher than anything you would say to them. Irritability that lands on everyone in the house.
03
You do not know how to reach them anymore.
Conversations that used to be easy now end in a shrug or a fight. You are not sure what is going on, only that your teen seems to be carrying something, and you have run out of ways to ask.
None of these mean something is wrong with your teenager. They mean something has become hard to hold alone, and an hour a week with an adult outside the family is often where it gets easier. If your teen’s safety is the concern, say so on the first call and we will tell you whether we are the right level of care.
Our ApproachHow we approach adolescent therapy
Behavior as communication
Irritability, withdrawal, slipping grades, and a running self-criticism are rarely the problem itself. They are what a teenager does when something has become difficult to hold, and they tend to ease once the underlying pressure has somewhere to go.
The relationship is the work
Teenagers have adults who instruct them and adults who evaluate them. Therapy offers something they have less of, which is an adult who is genuinely curious and has no stake in a particular outcome. The relationship is not a container for the work but the mechanism of it.
An hour outside the role they hold at home
Adolescents often carry a fixed role in the family, whether that is the easy one, the difficult one, or the one who holds everything together. Therapy gives them somewhere to try out being someone other than that.
The relationship is the work
Much of what an adolescent carries was in the family before they arrived. We pay attention to culture, migration, and the patterns a family has passed down, since a teenager’s struggle is often continuous with a story that started a generation earlier.
The ProcessWhat to expect from teen therapy, step by step
01
The first call
A parent usually makes it. We ask what you are seeing, how long it has been going on, and what has already been tried. Then we tell you honestly whether we think we are the right fit, and if a different level of care would serve your teen better, we will say so.
02
The first session
Your teenager meets their therapist, mostly to find out whether this is tolerable. Nothing is diagnosed or solved in that hour. Most teens arrive somewhere between skeptical and openly unwilling, which is a workable starting point and not a sign that therapy is doomed.
03
The first several weeks
Sessions are weekly. Early on we are learning how your teen thinks and where the pressure actually sits, which is often somewhere other than the complaint that brought them in. You will hear from us about how the work is going, in terms that respect what your teen has shared.
04
Ongoing
Some difficulties ease within a few months. Patterns rooted in family history or long-standing anxiety take longer, and we will tell you what we are seeing rather than keep you guessing about a timeline.
ConfidentialityWhere parents fit, and what stays confidential
What your teenager says in session is confidential, and that is what makes the room worth anything to them. A teenager who suspects their words will be repeated at dinner will manage the hour rather than use it.
Confidentiality is not the same as being shut out. We involve parents as needed, and needed is a clinical judgment we make openly rather than a door that stays closed. If your teen’s safety is at issue, we will tell you. If something at home is driving what we are seeing, we will want to talk with you about it, and we will let your teen know we are doing that.
Clients who have turned 18 are legally adults, and the confidentiality that applies to any adult client applies to them.
FAQFrequently Asked Questions on Teen Therapy
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Most do not arrive enthusiastic. We do not require enthusiasm, only that they show up, and the first task is usually to give a reluctant teenager some reason to think the hour is theirs. If your teen is refusing outright, the consultation call is worth having on your own, since how the idea gets raised at home makes a real difference.
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No, and that is deliberate. You will hear about how the work is going and what we understand to be driving it, and you will hear immediately about anything that concerns your teen’s safety, but you will not get a transcript of the hour.
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Thirteen through eighteen. For younger children, or for a family where the central issue is the family system itself, we are glad to point you toward someone better suited.
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It depends on what is driving it. Something situational, like a breakup or a move, may resolve in a few months. Self-esteem that has been eroding for years, or difficulty that traces back to family patterns, takes longer than a school semester.
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Yes, throughout California. Some teenagers talk more freely from their own room, and others need the hour to happen somewhere other than the house. We will figure out which one your teen is.
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We are out of network and provide a superbill you can submit to your insurer for reimbursement.
Let’s Get Started.
We currently accept new clients for both telehealth sessions and in-person appointments in Los Angeles at our Brentwood office.