Therapy for Teenagers & Families in San Diego
Compassionate Teen Counseling for San Diego Families
In the sunny beach city of San Diego, CA, Estes Therapy provides teen family counseling in San Diego, especially for families who want to support their teen in a safe and guided setting.
While we offer individual therapy for teens, involving the family in therapy can help transform negative dynamics into positive, empathetic connections that strengthen secure attachments. Teens are going through so many changes with hormones, social pressures, and developmental stages. It can feel like an emotional rollercoaster for the parents. Family sessions also give teens the support they need by helping family members better understand their challenges, guided by the mediation skills of a licensed and experienced therapist.
Why Estes Therapy Is Different in Supporting Teens and Families
We provide teenage and family counseling in San Diego using a relaxed and collaborative approach. We aim to get to the root of what’s impacting family connections. By fostering a culture where families can address issues with compassion and clarity, we aim to create lasting changes to help with the teen’s growth and development.
To Our Parent Clients
When parents approach us out of concern for their teen’s struggles, they are already experiencing an emotional toll. They have to watch their kid struggle with battles they won’t let you help with. Or if they did, it becomes overwhelming as they do everything they can to help their kid, yet the problems don’t go away.
New and complex inner conflicts can be overwhelming, especially for people of any age who are experiencing them for the first time. That’s why it can be difficult for teens to describe their inner experience.
Here is where Estes Therapy comes in. Together, we help your teen navigate and understand their inner world and where these thoughts and feelings are coming from.
To Our Teen Clients
If you’re reading this, your parents may want you to go to teen therapy with them, and you’re checking us out. I know it may feel like you’re alone in your problems, but we see so many teens in teen therapy struggling with the same or very similar challenges.
Did you know? According to the World Health Organization, 1 out of 7 10-19-year-olds experience depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. That doesn’t even include the common problems teenagers have, like wanting to be accepted by your friends or the approval of the people you look up to.
Asking for help can be incredibly difficult, but it’s also one of the bravest steps a person can take. The teenagers who came through our doors before you once doubted whether they could overcome their challenges. And yet, with support, they did.
In teen family counseling, we are here so you are not alone.
Common Struggles Teen Face that Family Counseling Can Address
The teenage years are one of the most challenging periods in life, even without emotional or behavioral struggles. Our teen therapists use various approaches in therapy such as Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for relationships, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) for certain diagnoses, eye movement and desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) for trauma, and more to improve family health.
Here are some issues we address through family and adolescent counseling in San Diego.
Strained Relationships
When relationships with the teen are becoming more argumentative and hostile, a trained and licensed therapist can identify triggers and negative patterns as a neutral third party. Teens might not have the words to express/explain what is going on because the prefrontal cortex is not fully developed. The therapist helps the teen learn how to put words to feelings and press the pause button to slow down and think about consequences. From there, they can help the family become aware of these dynamics and guide them to constructive communication and conflict resolution skills.
School-Life Balance Management
If their parents are worried about their teen’s grades dropping or are concerned about the choices their teen is making, a therapist acting as a mediator in communication can bring clarity to all family members.
Through a safe and nonjudgmental space that counseling provides, the parents and the teenager can identify the root causes of the problems holding the teen back. From there, the therapist can help them create accommodations and schedules for the teen to have a good school-life balance.
Trauma, Divorce, and Other Major Life Transitions
When people feel like their lives are upended, they try to cope to feel in control. They may withdraw or act out. Others may want to approach them, but don’t know how without possibly making things worse.
This can happen to both parents and teenagers. When parents divorce, when teenagers experience school or cyberbullying, it can cause people to feel alone. San Diego family therapy with teens can help bridge that rift.
Diagnosis Management
Whether the teen is diagnosed with ADHD, depression, anxiety, PTSD, or other conditions, the teen family counselor helps them and their family test and adapt methods to manage their symptoms.
With the family involved in therapy, the adults can empower their teens with support and equip them with skills to take control of their lives.
What Families Say About Their Experience
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How Family and Adolescent Counseling Works – And What to Expect
Your assigned teen and family counselor may begin by meeting with the parents and the teen separately to gather their individual perspectives. Most sessions, however, will involve both the parents and the teen together to encourage open communication and collaborative healing.
Each session can last 45 to 60 minutes. Counseling can take 6 to 12 sessions, but it may span longer if the issues are more complex. While we offer San Diego teen therapy with family in California, we also offer online therapy services for your convenience.
Cut the Guesswork of Choosing
a Teenage and Family Counselor
At Estes Therapy, our dedicated team of Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFTs), Associate Marriage and Family Therapists (AMFTs), and Associate Professional Clinical Counselors (APCCs) offers San Diego teen therapy with family to facilitate healing and more harmonious dynamics..
You can meet our team to find one to book an appointment with, or you can contact us for a FREE 10-minute matching appointment. During the appointment, your Care Coordinator will ask a few questions to help you match with a teen family therapist who will “click” with you and your family.
For example, a parent may want a queer therapist to support their trans daughter. Or they may be more comfortable talking in Spanish and need a Spanish-speaking counselor. We got you covered.
Book a Free Matching Appointment Today
San Diego family therapy with teens can bring clarity in conflict and solutions when teens and their parents feel at a loss. Ready for your family journey? Book an appointment with us today.