Therapy for Teens who feel anxious, stuck or alone.

You might be here because your teen is struggling, and you want to give them the support they deserve. Working with teenagers is some of my favorite work, and—if you are a teenager looking at this page—I’m really glad you’re considering therapy. For five years, I worked as an Activities Coordinator and Teacher (Computer Science, Leadership) at Kennedy Catholic High School. During that time, I had the privilege of working with hundreds of students—figuring out how to support them in becoming the best versions of themselves. Here are a few things I’ve learned about working with young people:

Teenagers have real passions, fears, dreams, heartbreaks, and emotions.
So often, I’ve seen adults invalidate young people by saying things like, “you’re just a kid,” or “when you’re older, you’ll get it.” These comments send the message that teen problems aren’t “real” problems—and that the emotions that come with them don’t matter. I strongly disagree.

I want to support teens in building a relationship with their emotions—learning to acknowledge and understand them, and to take insight from them without being controlled by them.

We will move at the speed of trust.
Teens often have a healthy skepticism of adults—and I think that makes sense. Before we get into any of the “deep stuff,” we’ll take time to get to know each other. My goal is for you (or your teen) to feel safe and comfortable, knowing you won’t be judged, lectured, or “tattled on” for sharing your real experiences.

You get to decide what I know about you, and when I learn it.

Learning works best when it includes some fun.
Our work will be real and meaningful—but it doesn’t have to be boring. In session, we might play games, tell stories, and laugh… or at the very least, you can cringe at my cheesy jokes.

DBT is a modality I love to use with teens.
It’s a practical, skills-based approach that helps build mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. You can learn more about how I use DBT here.