There is nothing more frightening than seeing your teenager struggle and not know how to help. As parents, our guiding principle is always love. I believe in curiosity and open-mindedness as foundations for family cohesiveness. I often encourage parents to try and remember when they were younger and still trying to figure it all out. Adolescence can be challenging and sometimes people around us are not kind. Our bodies are constantly changing and we struggle to understand why we feel different than those around us. We are surrounded by prestigious schools with high expectations and little room for mistakes.

As developmental challenges ensue, our teenager may shut down and isolate. Maybe they are spending extra time on their cell-phones and upstairs with their door shut. Maybe we try to intervene and seek for additional information and there is a screaming match or a flow of tears that follow. Maybe, in a desperate attempt to better understand their state of mind and safety concerns, we read through their phone. Maybe, they find out we did this. Trust is broken and tensions are high. Or, maybe there was infidelity and/or a difference in values in the marriage and our teens are struggling to comprehend and communicate their feelings after a divorce or separation.

Parent-Teen counseling offers a space to make amends and encourage autonomy of our teens while also acknowledging family roles and promoting respect for physical, emotional, technological, and spiritual boundaries.

Areas of focus:

• Differences in opinions

• Poor communication

• Changes in family dynamics (e.g., divorce, infidelity)

• Teen experimentation

• Perfectionism

• Religious differences

• Boundaries