Therapy for adolescents
Two people usually read this page, and each deserves a direct answer.
If you are the adolescent
You may not have chosen therapy. You do not have to disclose everything in the first appointment, and you are allowed to decide whether I am someone you can speak with honestly. Establishing that is legitimate work, not time wasted.
If you are the parent
You may be worried, frustrated, or receiving very little information at home. I will explain how confidentiality works before treatment begins. Your child needs genuine privacy for therapy to be useful; you also need to know how concerns about safety will be handled and how you will remain appropriately involved.
What brings adolescents to therapy
I work with clients ages 11 and older dealing with anxiety, depression, ADHD, perfectionism, eating and body-image concerns, school pressure, friendship difficulties, identity questions, family conflict, and the effects of trauma.
Anxiety often functions as a prediction treated as fact. Avoidance brings immediate relief, which can make the prediction more convincing and gradually narrow a young person's life. Treatment combines practical methods for reducing escalation with careful, tolerable opportunities to discover that anxiety does not have to make every decision.
Depression in adolescence may appear as irritability, withdrawal, declining grades, disrupted sleep, or loss of interest rather than obvious sadness. Therapy addresses the daily conditions that maintain low mood while also taking seriously the conclusions the adolescent has reached about effort, belonging, and the future.
Online life is considered without caricature. Digital friendships can be real friendships. Screen use can provide connection, competence, escape, or simple recreation. The relevant question is what it is doing in this particular life and what, if anything, it has displaced.
Family sessions may be included when the same exchange repeatedly ends in argument or silence. The purpose is to change the sequence, not to establish which person is the problem.
Appointments are available in Cumming, Sandy Springs, and by telehealth throughout Georgia.