Teen Counseling in San Diego
It's a safe space for teens to open up.
At Estes Therapy, we offer teen counseling in San Diego, California.
Sometimes as adults we have trouble navigating through life or are met with trauma, anxiety, grief, depression, anger management issues, or family/relationship conflict. Our teens face difficulties and complications as well. It’s important that we talk about it with them, and work through the obstacles they are facing. It’s essential to help them feel validated and develop the tools to work through their issues, both those they are facing now, and the tools to work through any issues they may face in the future.
Help your teen navigate their struggles.
Every day, teens are facing new obstacles and learning how to interact with peers and authority figures. Whether your child is struggling with academic success, behavior in school or at home, anxiety, depression, past trauma, disordered eating, communication, self-esteem, stress, grief, or understanding their own emotions – we are here to help.
Through our San Diego teen counseling, your child will learn the skills necessary to face and overcome their unique obstacles as well as the skills to face new experiences in the future.
Ultimately, through overcoming these obstacles, therapy can help strengthen the bonds of your family.
For Teens: Hello There!
If you’re reading this, your parent may have asked you to give counseling a chance, and you’re here to check us out.
Counseling is a form of treatment to support you and your mental health. Adolescence is one of the toughest life stages of an individual, impacted further by the current events we face these years.
Teen counseling offers a neutral, third-party perspective—free from family or school influence—to help you navigate challenges with clarity, objectivity, and support.
Imagine yourself as Luke Skywalker. Your counselor would be Obi-Wan Kenobi, guiding you through your trials in a judgment-free space where you gain new insights and embrace your unique strengths to become the hero of your story.
Let’s help you write a new chapter in your story with adolescent counseling in San Diego, CA.
How Estes Therapy Helps Teens With Counseling
At Estes Therapy, we support teen mental health with various talk therapies, from CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) to EFT (emotion-focused therapy) in relaxed and collaborative sessions. With this approach, teens reap the following benefits.
A Confidential and Judgment-Free Space to Explore Their Thoughts and Emotions
The assigned teen counselor offers a safe and nonjudgmental space to help teens process their thoughts and emotions by expressing them in words. We understand the importance of privacy and will ask the teens’ permission before sharing any specific record details with their parents or guardians.
Manage Anxiety, Stress, and Other Experienced Symptoms
Counseling as a mental health treatment helps teens manage and heal from anxiety, depression, and other symptoms that may be holding them back from succeeding in school or building healthy friendships. We equip them with coping skills and resources, from relaxation techniques to constructive conflict resolution skills, to help them deal with stressful situations and regulate emotions that stem from them.
Consistency With Convenient Therapy Sessions
Kids, no matter the age, benefit from stability and consistency. While we offer in-office therapy sessions for teenage counseling in San Diego, California, we also provide secure online therapy. If individuals are more comfortable having counseling at home, our therapists can counsel through video or live sessions to maintain consistency and support their progress.
Sarah O'Leary - Teen/Adolescents
Sarah accrued hours at the UCSD Eating Disorder clinic working with adolescents and their families. Sarah works from a biopsychosocial perspective. She works to get a holistic view of each teen that comes for a therapy session with her. Your teenage years are formidable – and complex. You are exploring yourself, the world, and future opportunities. You are breaking away from past roles and creating new ones. You are learning about yourself in a new way – your inner world and your outer world. You are exploring new relationships, and re-examining existing ones – peers, friends, teachers/coaches, family. All this exploring and learning is on top of your school work, sports, and extracurriculars! That’s a lot!
Sarah is here to cultivate a safe space where you can be unequivocally yourself. To feel fulfilled and successful in your daily life, and be able to set goals for yourself. This takes time to figure out! And there will be a lot of changes along the way. You’re not in this alone. Together, Sarah works with her adolescent and young adult clients to meet goals they create together.
Joe Salvati - Teens
Joe Salvati is a compassionate and grounded therapist who supports teens through some of life’s most challenging experiences. As a father of three children in San Diego, he deeply understands the heartbreak and helplessness parents feel when their children struggle with battles that won’t go away.
With a background in intensive-outpatient care, Joe specializes in counseling teens facing grief and loss, domestic violence, child abuse, and severe mental health diagnoses. He works closely with both teens and their guardians, helping young clients process difficult emotions, thoughts, and memories while equipping caregivers with practical tools to support healing at home.
Joe has extensive experience working with grieving teens, having served as a counselor at The Elizabeth Hospice’s weekend-long grief camps, Camp Spero. He also worked for 18 months as a primary therapist at the Discovery Mood and Anxiety program for adolescents (ages 11-19), which provided intensive outpatient (IOP) and partial hospitalization (PHP) services for adolescents with higher levels of mood disorders and safety concerns. In this role, he consistently incorporated parents into the treatment plan, recognizing their essential role in a child’s success.
Drawing on his expertise in conflict resolution, EMDR therapy, anger management, and communication skills, Joe creates a safe and empowering environment where teens can rebuild trust, reconnect with others, and grow beyond the struggles that have held them back.
Liz Barajas - Teens
Liz brings a wealth of experience in working with adolescents, blending her background in mentorship, coaching, and teaching with her therapeutic skills. While her current caseload primarily includes adults and couples, she has a deep understanding of teen development, having worked with young people in various capacities.
Before becoming a therapist, Liz spent 12 years as a teen leader and sports coach for the City of Los Angeles, guiding youth through team-building, leadership development, and emotional support. Her experience spans diverse communities, including Spanish-speaking populations in LA. She also spent two years teaching high school in Spain, broadening her insight into adolescent growth and academic challenges.
Liz has a special passion for working with LGBTQ+ teens, having volunteered with the LA LGBTQ Center to support young people navigating identity exploration and coming out. She integrates Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) and Narrative Therapy to help teens build self-esteem, regulate emotions, and navigate family dynamics. Whether addressing attachment wounds, identity development, or emotional regulation, Liz creates a supportive space where teens feel seen, heard, and empowered.
Schedule a free 10-minute matching call with our Care Coordinator today and start healing.
All the Ways Therapy Helps Yourself and Others
Here you can browse the different ways we help couples and individuals in San Diego county, California. We provide in-person/face-to-face counseling sessions and virtual/telehealth sessions.
Individual Counseling
Couples/Marriage Counseling
Premarital Counseling
LGBTQIA+ Counselng
Military Counseling
Infidelity and Affair Counseling
Child and Teen Counseling
Affordable Counseling
Online Therapy (Telehealth)
Meet our San Diego Area Relationship Therapists
Think of us as your consultants in recovery. We are the neutral third party that can help you untangle the emotions and figure out what’s really going on.
We want everyone, including children, to walk in our door and get the necessary tools. Our psychotherapy sessions are relaxed, collaborative, and effective for both individuals and couples. We want to hear your story. Each of our licensed marriage and family therapists is dedicated to ensuring you’re in a comfortable space to feel safe and supported when you tell your story. With the help of an Estes therapist in San Diego, you and your partner can heal with empathy and move forward with lasting results. We’re not here to put a band-aid on any different issues. We’re here to get to the root of the issue to facilitate lasting change and success in your goals with couples therapy.
Meet our Founder, Jennine Estes Powell
It’s been nearly 20 years since I first became interested in studying psychotherapy. I began practicing scientific approaches to psychotherapy in 1997, and I have been hooked since then.
I earned my Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family psychotherapy in 2004, and am currently licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist MFT (LMFT #47653) with the Board of Behavioral Sciences (BBS).
I focus my practice on empirically based and proven research methods such as emotional-focused therapy (EFT), eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
I’ve seen these techniques consistently get results, and I truly believe they are the most effective at creating positive, long-term change.
Have a question about fees or insurance?
It is common to have questions before starting therapy. Visit our Frequently Asked Questions page to get all of your questions answered.
