Teen Issues

Everyone knows that the teen years can be fraught with challenges. I see teens as incredibly capable, resilient, and thoughtful people who need an immense amount of support and encouragement as they navigate the tumultuous years of building valuable relationships, identity, and independence.

Teens currently have a unique combination of social/emotional/academic stressors, issues related to technology and social media, and a lack of typical development due to the pandemic. This has resulted in a tremendous uptick in teens accessing mental health services, often due to stated anxiety and stress and often including issues of depression and/or safety. Our clinicians are well-versed in these issues and strive to support teens while maintaining a balance with parental involvement.

The teen years...am I right? No longer children, but not yet adults. A lot of teens struggle with feelings of anxiety, anger, depression and overwhelm. As an adult in their life you want to help but may not know how or have done what you can. I work with teens to develop coping skills, build confidence and to get to know themselves in a way that sets them up for the future. I give them a safe and accepting place to explore life and learn healthy ways to move forward.

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

Many of my clients are adolescents and I strive to give them a voice and help build confidence. Adolescence is a pivotal time in life that is full of transition, relationship (family, friends, etc.) navigation, and finding oneself. Therapy is a great resource for adolescents to have during this time in life and when given the proper tools, they thrive like no other.

From struggles with confidence and the pressures of success in school, sports, and home to social media and technology; teens are surrounded by a world sending them confusing messages causing anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, stress and more.

Not only did I struggle at a teenager growing up here in the USA, but I have 3 years experience working with adolescents and their parents to help young people feel more confident about themselves, improve performance levels at school, and develop meaningful goals. Working with adolescents is one of my favorite groups of people to work with.

I have 15 years of experience working with adolescents and find that I build rapport easily with this demographic

I have extensive experience treating adolescents from a variety of backgrounds. I am able to build unique connections with adolescents that enhance their therapeutic experience. I have worked with a variety of teens with attachment difficulties stemming from early childhood, acute and chronic trauma, teens in the foster care system, teens who have been impacted by domestic violence or teen dating violence, and teens struggling with anxiety, depression and mild autism spectrum disorder.

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.

Adolescents face many challenges, as their bodies and minds transition into young adulthood. The pressures and challenges that today's teens face are complex, ever-present, confusing, and more intense than ever before. With social media now being an integral part of daily life, I work to support teens to identify and uphold healthy boundaries and realistic expectations as they navigate social pressures.

Adolescence is such a time of transition! For many, this transition results in anxiety, questioning of identity, and maybe a few mistakes. I have years of expertise helping teens to turn this time into an exciting exploration and expression of who they are becoming. Whether there have been concerns about drugs or alcohol use, sexual experimentation or pregnancy, or skipping school, I am confident that I can help both your teen, and yes, you, too, moms and dads!

In addition to experience working as a high school counselor, I have been seeing teens in my practice for 20 years. I have parented two teens (very different from one another) and my personal experience has given me a depth of understanding, compassion and humility that my clients find comforting and real.

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 provide a mutual space in which each person has a voice to express troubled emotions and be given an opportunity to feel heard by loved ones in your family. It is a place where awareness and reflection are met with hard work and unaccustomed change. Sessions are focused on positive communication and strategies to help build a future of changes desired by both the parent and teen.

Pre-teen and teenage years can be filled with various unique stressors. Having a safe person to listen to you without judgement as you navigate this stage in life is very important. In sessions you get to be the leader, which is not always the case in school or at home. This means that I believe you understand what you need and my job is to simply provide you with the tools so that you can meet your goals.

I have worked with 5-year-olds to seniors in high school for most of my career. I do very well with kids, and they seem to be very comfortable and open with me. We discuss therapy goals with parents/guardians and get to work. But I promise you we have fun reaching the therapeutic goals!