Therapy for Teens
The typical line goes that high school is supposed to be “the best time of your life.”
Yeah, right.
Being a teenager is hard.
These years aren’t always “the best” — especially when nervous systems are overloaded. Today’s teens lived through the COVID pandemic, virtual schooling (which was great for some and horrible for others), and rapidly shifting social trends and expectations. Teens navigate academic pressure, social expectations, identity development, and a constant stream of information. They are doing all this while still learning how to understand and regulate their emotions. It’s common for teens to feel overwhelmed, misunderstood, or unsure how to put words to what they’re experiencing.
Because face-to-face talking can be intense for teens, they often choose a fidget or activity to do while talking
“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”
A Note for Parents:
Reaching out for therapy can feel really hard. I value parent’s involvement in the process. You know your kid best, and I appreciate your insights. I strive to balance a teen’s need for privacy with appropriate parental involvement. I’m happy to answer questions about what therapy might look like for your teen and how parents can be supportive throughout the process.
How I support teens:
I offer a non-judgmental space for teens to get curious, learn meaningful skills, and strengthen positive identity. I meet teens where they are at and try to “look out their window" to see their perspective. I progressively support a teen’s growing emotional awareness and vocabulary (initial skills for emotion regulation). As they build on their ability to communicate their experiences, I help teens make connections between situations, bodily sensations, emotions, and thoughts. I encourage positive social interaction, communication, and boundary-setting skills.
I help teens who are exploring aspects of their identity, such as gender and sexual orientation. I engage teens in self-compassion work, by encouraging caring understanding of all aspects of themselves (even the harder to love parts).
I recognize the importance of openly discussing self-harm and suicidal ideation with teens. They rarely bring up these topics on their own, and need a clear message that these topics are safe to discuss. I focus on the immediate safety, which includes parental involvement. As immediate safety is established, we can look more into the deeper contributing factors.
I work collaboratively. This may mean communicating with academic team, other providers, and helping identify needed accommodations. I also help by providing referrals for appropriate additional services as needed or requested (e.g. groups, activities, psychiatrists, evaluations, high level of care programs). I do not push medications for anyone. I know this is sometimes a fear of parents. Instead I’m here to talk with parents are their thoughts, perspectives, fears, hopes, and expectations. Let’s work together to help support your amazing teen!
Neurodiversity-affirming therapy for teens
I focus on understanding each teen’s nervous system, strengths, and unique way of making sense of the world. When I look at your child, I don’t see them as needing to be fixed. I see their love of music, how deeply they care about the environment, the way the try so hard in math even though it takes them more time. I work to see the full picture.
Looking at the whole person
The nervous system goes throughout the whole body. Our bodies are not just pieces stuck together. Everything is connected. Autistic and ADHD teens often experience other physical and mental symptoms. Some common ones include: anxiety, mood symptoms, challenges with eating (e.g. AFRID), Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), seizure disorders, etc. These experiences are frequently interconnected and reflect nervous system stress rather than isolated problems.
Falls Church City Hall