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Teen Therapy
Online therapy for teens aged 16–18 who need somewhere to talk, make sense of things and feel understood
The teenage years can bring a lot of change very quickly.
School. Friendships. Relationships. Family. Identity. Social media. Expectations. Decisions about the future. The pressure to fit in while also trying to work out who you are.
For some teenagers, everything can start feeling like too much.
They may become anxious, overwhelmed, frustrated, withdrawn, emotional or less confident in themselves.
Sometimes parents notice the change first.
You may feel that your teenager is struggling but not know exactly what is wrong. They may be talking to you less, becoming more reactive, worrying more, losing confidence, or finding school, friendships or family life harder than they used to.
You want to help, but sometimes the more you ask, the less they want to talk.
Therapy can give teenagers a space of their own to talk about what is happening, understand themselves better and work through things with someone outside their immediate family.
When your teenager is struggling
It is not always easy to know when something is part of adolescence and when your teenager might benefit from some extra support.
You may notice that they seem:
anxious or worried
emotionally overwhelmed
stressed by school or study
less confident in themselves
more reactive or frustrated
withdrawn or disconnected
caught up in friendship or social difficulties
unsure of themselves or their identity
overwhelmed by changes or decisions about the future
struggling to communicate at home
frequently caught in conflict with parents or other family members
Sometimes there is a clear issue they want help with.
Other times, they may simply know that they are not feeling like themselves.
They do not need to have the right words for what is happening before coming to therapy.
Part of the work can be figuring that out together.
A space for your teenager
Teenagers are at an important stage between childhood and adulthood.
They still need support, emotional safety and guidance, while also needing increasing independence, privacy and space to develop their own identity and voice.
Therapy needs to respect both.
My role is not to lecture your teenager, tell them what they should be doing, or automatically take the parent’s side.
It is to build a relationship where they can feel comfortable talking honestly about what is happening in their life.
Sessions are relaxed and conversational.
We might talk about school, friendships, family, emotions, confidence, relationships, identity, stress or whatever feels important to them.
Sometimes we may explore patterns or situations that keep becoming difficult. Sometimes we may work on practical ways of managing emotions, communicating, coping with stress or responding differently when things become overwhelming.
Most importantly, I want teenagers to feel listened to and understood.
My approach to teen therapy
I do not see anxiety, anger, withdrawal, conflict or emotional reactions as isolated problems.
Behaviour and emotions usually make more sense when we understand what is happening underneath them.
Teenagers are developing within a much bigger world around them.
Family relationships, school, friendships, social media, identity, expectations, stress, developmental changes and experiences from the past can all affect how they feel and respond.
My background in social work, child development, neuroscience, relationships and family dynamics helps me look at that bigger picture.
Rather than asking only, “How do we stop this behaviour?”, I am interested in understanding:
What might be happening underneath it?
What is this young person experiencing?
What are they trying to communicate?
And what support might help?
From there, we can work together toward helping things feel more manageable.
Teen therapy may support young people with
Therapy may help with:
anxiety and worry
emotional overwhelm
self-confidence and self-esteem
school and study stress
friendship difficulties
family communication
parent-teen conflict
identity and sense of self
life transitions
emotional regulation
understanding thoughts and feelings
communicating needs
coping with pressure
navigating growing independence
making sense of difficult experiences
Every teenager is different, so therapy will not look exactly the same for everyone.
The work is shaped around what is happening for the young person and what they need support with.
Supporting parents while respecting your teenager’s privacy
Parents remain an important part of a teenager’s life, even as teenagers begin wanting more independence and privacy.
Where appropriate, I can help parents better understand what may be happening for their teenager and think about ways to support communication and connection at home.
At the same time, teenagers need to know that therapy is a space where they can speak openly.
At the beginning of therapy, I will explain clearly how confidentiality works, what information remains private, and the circumstances in which I may need to involve a parent or another person because of concerns about safety.
The aim is not to shut parents out.
It is to create a balance where the teenager has enough privacy to build trust in therapy while parents can remain appropriately involved in supporting them.
When communication at home has become difficult
Sometimes the reason a family reaches out is not only because the teenager is struggling individually.
The relationship between parent and teenager may have become difficult too.
You may feel like every conversation becomes an argument.
Your teenager may feel criticised, misunderstood or controlled.
You may feel shut out, worried or unsure how to reach them.
Often, both people care deeply about the relationship while becoming caught in patterns that leave everyone feeling more disconnected.
Where appropriate, part of the work can include supporting communication between teenagers and their parents.
This is not about deciding who is right.
It is about helping each person understand what may be happening underneath the conflict, while supporting the teenager’s growing need for independence and the parent’s role in providing care, guidance and safety.
What teen therapy sessions are like
Sessions are warm, relaxed and conversational.
Your teenager does not need to be particularly good at talking about feelings or know exactly what they want from therapy.
We can start wherever they are.
I may ask questions, help them slow things down, explore different perspectives, understand emotional reactions or recognise patterns they had not noticed before.
Depending on what they need, I may also draw on approaches including CBT, ACT, DBT, Narrative Therapy and mindfulness.
Therapy is collaborative. I bring my knowledge and experience, but I also respect that each young person is the expert in their own experiences.
The goal is not to change who they are.
It is to help them understand themselves, navigate what they are experiencing, and feel more confident and supported as they move toward adulthood.
Is teen therapy the right service?
I currently offer online therapy for adolescents aged 16–18.
This service may be appropriate for teenagers experiencing anxiety, emotional overwhelm, self-confidence difficulties, school stress, identity concerns, life transitions, family communication difficulties or challenges within the parent-teen relationship.
Online teen therapy is not suitable for crisis support or situations involving active self-harm or suicide risk, eating disorders, psychosis, severe substance use, child protection investigations or court-related matters.
If you are unsure whether this service is appropriate for your teenager, an initial consultation gives us an opportunity to discuss what is happening and whether I am the right person to support them.
