Adolescents

As a clinical psychologist with a specialization in children and adolescents, I have extensive training in working with pre-teens and teenagers 11-18 years old.

Many adolescents have difficulty recognizing or being aware of their emotions. A disconnect often occurs between how their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are related to one another. This disconnect can manifest differently in each child such as through anxiety, panic-attacks, depression, anger, poor academic performance, social withdrawal, explosive tantrums, acting out, and problems concentrating, focusing, and/or socializing. I work with adolescents struggling and suffering in one or more of these areas to help them adjust to and transition through their developmental life stages.

Through my specialized training with adolescents in a variety of settings including outpatient mental health clinics, hospitals, day treatment centers, school systems, and private practice, I am able to meet the individual needs of your son or daughter in an environment in which they feel safe to express or learn to express themselves. This, in turn, provides them a greater sense of self-confidence, awareness, and control in their worlds.

Adolescents can be difficult. In particular, many parents find communicating with their adolescent to be frustrating. This is often because the changes and challenges of teenage life leave teens emotionally dysregulated and uncertain of themselves and the world around them. My specialized training with adolescents integrating psychodynamic and interpersonal techniques will assist in an increased sense of identity and understanding of themselves, resulting in greater communication with you and others. In conjunction with or as an alternative to individual therapy, I offer groups for adolescent girls and adolescent boys.

As part of my work in helping adolescents work through their problems to achieve their goals, I incorporate parental guidance and consultation into the treatment on an as needed and on going basis.

Specialized treatment areas include:

  • Academic Problems
  • ADHD/ADD
  • Anger
  • Anxiety
  • Bullying and being bullied
  • Depression
  • Divorce and Family Struggles
  • Grief
  • Low Self-Esteem
  • Problems with Peers
  • Peer Pressure
  • Separation anxiety
  • Severe shyness
  • Sexual concerns
  • Traumas