For caregivers: It can be so difficult feeling like you don’t know what is going on with your child, or that you can’t help them in a way that they want or need to be helped. Adolescence is a time for individuation, when we start developing our identity outside of our family system and learning independence. And while this is a very adaptive and important milestone, it can also be full of challenges for both caregiver and adolescent. Although clients come to me with wildly differing presenting concerns, there always seems to be a thread that runs through: the transformative experience of having a confidential space in which adolescents can be met with genuine curiosity, care, and relentless patience for developing a trusting relationship. Folded into the therapy for the adolescent is also a confidential space for caregivers only: a space to express concerns and fears, understand how this situation is affecting them, honor their victories and failures as important parts of the process, connect with who they were when they were teens and internalized messages, and learn skills for their mental well-being as well as the adolescent’s.

For teens: Being open and developing trust in a relationship with an adult can be a difficult (and annoying) ask. Especially if it was not necessarily your choice to come to therapy. Whether my clients choose to come to therapy or are encouraged by a caregiver/school system, I meet them with curiosity and desire to understand. I know things are never what they seem to be, and I have a client-first approach: you are the expert in yourself and your situation, and I will trust and honor your position. It is hard enough to develop our sense of who we are, what we love, who we want to be… and also have to deal with outside expectations of how we should act or what we should care about. Not only that, but being an adolescent invariably means that you have a voice that often goes ignored or misunderstood, as well as plenty of responsibility with zero power. I am dedicated to providing a space that is open, non-judgmental, aware of power structures and oppressive systems, and truly caring. My adolescent clients have full privacy pertaining to what we discuss in session – meaning what happens in the office stays in the office. Confidentiality is broken only if the client wishes to share something with their caregivers, or we collaboratively decide to have a joint session, or if there is a risk to your life and wellbeing (or someone else’s). I absolutely love working with adolescents because I learn so much from them: from social media to the meaning of life, we usually strike a balance between fun and depth, connection and self-understanding.