Teen Issues

Brain development, peer and relationship issues, sexuality, independence seeking and family conflict, impacts of social media, school, depression, lack of motivation, anxiety, achievement and perfectionism

I've always loved helping adolescents through a stage of life that can be overwhelming, exciting, terrifying, and formative all at the same time. That love fueled my decade as a high school and middle school educator, and continues to inform my therapeutic interests, framework, and practice. My background in gender- and sexuality-affirming educational and therapeutic work is also often useful in helping adolescents through challenging development stages.

It is hard to be a teenager today. I work with families and their teens to find ways for the teen to better cope with life stressors and pressure of today. I work with teens that have anxiety, depression, issues with peers and mood changes.

I work with adolescents striving to develop their own independence and sense of identity. Navigating your peer and family relationships, managing your own thoughts, beliefs, and feelings, and cultivating your own sense of self while looking ahead to the future can be extremely complex tasks. I am here to help you begin to understand who you are, what you want in life, and to help navigate relationships with people who matter to you.

Navigating adolescence presents a multitude of challenges for teenagers, and providing a supportive, empathetic environment for them to explore and process these experiences is essential. I specialize in working with teens dealing with stress and anxiety, depression, navigating peer relationships, coping with academic pressures, exploring identity and self-esteem, and addressing family conflicts.

Even when family members and friends are supportive, teens and their families can benefit from additional help. Teens often feel misunderstood by those around them, afraid to burden the people they love with their emotions, or shy to admit the thoughts/feelings they think no one else have. Counseling provides a safe space where young clients can speak honestly about their experiences without fear of judgment and develop healthy coping skills to deal with sadness, anxiety, and stress.

I have been working with teens for almost a decade working through depressive symptoms, anxiety, family dynamics and their relationship to queerness. Adolescents often tell me that I have a direct, warm and easy-going approach that allows them space to talk openly.

While I work with adults, I also work with children from ages 9 and on.

I’ve worked with teens in varying levels of treatment including residential treatment, intensive outpatient programs, and outpatient therapy. I love working with teens because of the unique experiences during this phase of life. The teens I help struggle with school, family relationships, peer relationships, and finding who they are and who they want to be. I help teens build confidence in all areas of their lives.

I have specialized training and experience in working with youth. I started my career in School Counseling and have worked in both a middle school and high school setting. I am well versed in the issues facing youth today.

Most of my career has been working with youth in foster care, mentoring, and in residential placements for youth who have been adjudicated and are on probation or parole. I am experienced working with youth with behavioral struggles, figuring out their identity, dealing with substance abuse, legal problems, or emerging mental health disorders. The clients I've worked with have expected me to be someone they can relate to as well, and I am goofy, a gamer, sometimes inappropriate and patient.

Specializing in evaluating teen issues, I blend psychological expertise with educational consulting to guide parents of wayward teens. My focus is on thorough assessments, uncovering underlying issues and crafting tailored strategies. I help navigate the complexities of adolescence, providing clarity and direction for parents seeking the best path forward for their teens. My role as an assessor is pivotal in identifying unique challenges and opportunities, ensuring your teen has a path forward.

At Newport Academy, we believe that true transformation occurs as our teens learn to see themselves as beautiful, bright, and powerful people who can take control of their own lives. In order to help our patients achieve that goal, we maintain the highest possible standards for our services, and commission third-party evaluations of our programming. By consistently gathering and analyzing data related to our outcomes, we’re able to make more strategic and tailored decisions for our patients.

Depression, anxiety. LGBTQI+, non-binary, substance use

Since I was a trainee in my Master's program in the 1990s, my heart has been working with adolescent girls (ages 13-19). During that time I have also raised two amazing daughters and still love this population!

I enjoy working with adolescents and their families. I believe family therapy is very powerful and can lead to significant understanding and change. I have worked with adolescents during my entire career and believe I am able to build rapport easily and support them with their goals for growth.

Working as a therapist in high schools was an eye-opening, and very rewarding, experience, and I bring that experience to my private practice. Adolescents today face unprecedented stressors and navigate worlds that are hugely challenging for developing minds. But adolescence is also a rich time in which so much joy and growth occurs. I love to work with adolescent girls who are finding their place in the world.

I have spent many years working with teens as a teacher, camp counselor, facilitator, and now therapist. I love supporting teens in growing in their identities, finding their individual values, and becoming more independent.