Topic
Child & Teen Therapy
Watching your child suffer is its own kind of crisis.
Adolescence concentrates emotional intensity into a period when the brain's regulatory systems are still developing. Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A) was designed for this specific mismatch: teens who feel emotions at high volume and lack the skills to manage them, and parents who want to help but don't know how. This practice offers DBT-A at multiple levels of support, from a free parent skills course through comprehensive family-based treatment.
Resources
Personal Reflection Inventory (For Parents)
Understand your own psychological patterns to strengthen the family therapy process. Helps parents see how their stress responses interact with their teen's behavior. Free, private, about 15 minutes.
Take the assessment → CourseDBT Skills for Parents
A free, 7-module course teaching parents the core DBT skills they need to support an emotionally intense teen. Mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and validation.
Start the course → ProgramChild & Teen Therapy Program
Stepped care from parent education through individual DBT-A therapy to comprehensive multifamily skills groups and phone coaching.
View program details → Free ChecklistIs My Teen Ready for Therapy?
A downloadable guide to help parents assess whether their teen's emotional or behavioral struggles warrant professional support.
Get the free checklist →Articles
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Summer Slide: Why Teens Sometimes Get Worse When School Ends
Some teens deteriorate in summer due to lost structure, social isolation, and disrupted sleep. Learn how to maintain therapeutic gains without overscheduling.
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College Application Season and Teen Mental Health
College application pressure pushes teens toward anxiety, depression, and perfectionism. Learn when academic stress becomes a clinical problem and how to help.
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Navigating the Holidays When Your Teen Is Struggling
Holidays amplify whatever is already happening for teens in treatment. Learn how to maintain skills, reduce pressure, and protect therapy progress over break.
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Back to School Anxiety: When Nervous Becomes Something More
Some back-to-school anxiety is normal. Persistent sleep changes, stomach aches, and avoidance signal something more. Learn when to watch, when to act.
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What 'Evidence-Based' Actually Means and Why It Matters for Your Teen's Treatment
Not all therapy is equal. Learn what evidence-based treatment means, which therapies have the strongest research for teens, and how to ask a therapist the right questions.
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How DBT Helps Teens Who Feel Everything Too Intensely
DBT's biosocial theory explains why some teens feel emotions more intensely. Learn how DBT teaches emotion regulation skills and how parents can create a validating environment.
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How to Talk to Your Teen About Therapy (Scripts That Work)
Practical scripts for talking to your teenager about therapy. What to say for anxious, angry, withdrawn, or self-harming teens, and what to do when they say no.
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Emotion Regulation 101: What Your Teen's Brain Is Actually Doing
The adolescent brain has a fully active amygdala and an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex. Learn why teen emotions feel so intense and what parents can do.
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Screen Time and Teen Mental Health: What the Research Actually Says
The link between screen time and teen mental health is more nuanced than headlines suggest. What the research shows, what it doesn't, and practical limits that work.
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My Teen Won't Go to School: Understanding School Refusal and What Helps
School refusal is anxiety-driven avoidance, not defiance. Learn the triggers, the avoidance cycle, graduated exposure, and when your child needs therapy or a 504 plan.
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Self-Harm in Teens: What Parents Need to Know (Without Panicking)
A parent's guide to understanding teen self-harm: why it happens, what not to do, how DBT helps, and when to seek emergency care. Includes crisis resources.
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5 Signs Your Teen Might Have an Eating Disorder (Beyond Weight Loss)
Weight is the least reliable indicator of an eating disorder. Learn 5 behavioral signs parents should watch for, including ARFID, and why early intervention saves lives.
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Is My Teen's Moodiness Normal or Something More? When to Seek Help
Learn the difference between normal teen mood swings and clinical depression. Covers adolescent brain development, the PHQ-A, and when to seek professional help.
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What to Expect in Your Teen's First Therapy Session
Demystifying the first therapy session for parents and teens. Covers confidentiality, what the therapist assesses, mandated reporting, and how to prepare your teen.
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Signs Your Teenager Might Need Therapy (And What to Do Next)
Learn the observable signs that your teen may need professional help, from withdrawal and sleep changes to self-harm. Includes when to seek urgent care.
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When Your Teen's School Counselor Isn't Enough
School counselors do important work under impossible conditions. But there are specific clinical situations they are not trained or resourced to handle. Here's how to tell when your teen needs more.
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What Is DBT for Teens? A Parent's Guide
DBT for teens teaches mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal skills. Learn how DBT-A works, who it helps, and what treatment looks like.
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Why Your Teenager Shut Down (And What They Need You to Understand)
When teenagers withdraw, stop talking, or seem fine on the surface, the silence is not emptiness. It is communication. This post examines why adolescents build a false self, what performative compliance protects them from, and how parents can recognize the difference between healthy individuation and shutdown that signals real distress.
Schedule a Consultation
If your teen is struggling with intense emotions, self-harm, school refusal, or crisis behaviors, a consultation can help determine whether DBT-A is the right fit. No pressure, no obligation.
Request a consultation