Specialized Mental Health Care for Teen Girls
Growing up as a girl means becoming someone while being constantly watched, which shows up as pressure around body image, self-esteem, friendships, academic performance, and the endless comparison that social media makes unavoidable. I work with teens on these issues directly, in a space that belongs to them rather than to their parents or their school, helping them build a sense of self that does not depend on approval or achievement, and grounding that work in an understanding of how the adolescent nervous system responds to pressure that has become relentless.
Signs Your Daughter May Need Support
She is doing well on paper, with the grades and the activities intact, while falling apart privately in ways that only surface at home.
Her standards for herself have become punishing and unattainable
She is comparing herself constantly, usually to people she has never met, and her sense of her own body has narrowed to something she monitors rather than lives in.
Friendship conflict is consuming her, and the intensity of it seems out of proportion to anyone watching from outside.
She is irritable, shut down, or explosive at home while remaining composed everywhere else, which is often a sign of how much she is holding all day.
She is experiencing sleep difficulties
She has said she is fine so many times that you have stopped believing it, and you are not sure how to ask again without making it worse.
You are worried about the big transition to college and the removal of all the external supports she has grown accustomed to at home
Our Approach to Therapy with Teen Girls
A first session focused on her rather than on the referral question, because nothing else works until she decides this is her space.
Clear expectations about confidentiality shared with both of you at the outset, so she knows what stays in the room and you know what will be brought to you.
Cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety, perfectionism, and the thought patterns underneath both.
Dialectical behavior therapy skills for emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness
Exposure and response prevention when OCD, panic, social anxiety, or school avoidance is part of the picture.
Parent consultation as a distinct part of the work, so you are supported and coached rather than only updated.
Assessment for ADHD, which is routinely missed in girls who are inattentive rather than disruptive.
Collaboration with schools, pediatricians, and prescribers when it helps