Adolescents

Adolescent Mental Health Services

We like teens and teens like us! Unfortunately, the adolescent phase of development is often misunderstood as a time of turmoil and trouble. Teens are perceived as risk takers and rule breakers. What many parents do not realize is that 25% of American teenagers suffer from anxiety. This may go unnoticed because anxious teens internalize their feelings and may not want to bother others. The teens who cause trouble may mask the anxious and depressed teens who are suffering the most.

Adolescent Mental Health Professionals

Most teens do not request to see an adolescent mental health professional. As a result, they may be reluctant to attend counseling. Our first job is to establish a rapport with the teenager and establish the groundrules governing who participates in the sessions and how confidentiality works. We often ask teens to perform a self-assessment after they have agreed that they want to continue in therapy. This may lead to more comprehensive psychological testing to rule out a mood disorder, an undiagnosed learning disability or AD/HD. We also perform vocational testing to help teens determine how their interests, aptitudes and personality characteristics may influence their career decisions and choices for post-secondary education. For teens with a history of learning or attention disorders that may qualify for accommodations for standardized testing, we use tools that are accepted by the College Board and universities throughout the country.

We have some special services for adolescents on the autism spectrum. Our staff is qualified to administer the Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale, the gold standard for autism assessment. We also perform state of the art learning disability assessments, as learning disorders frequently occur alongside ASD. We offer specialized social skills training programs which are based on the latest research. Parents participate in the program in order to help the teen transfer skills to the school and social environments. One group is specifically for middle school students (Secret Agent Society) and one is for high school students (PEERS.) Visit our “Contact Us” page for more information.