Treatment for Teens (13-17)
Evidence-Based Strategies to Help Teens (ages 13-17) Overcome Anxiety
Anxiety, phobias, and chronic worry shouldn’t determine your teen’s future. Our compassionate care helps teenagers gain confidence and self-worth.
Anxiety affects nearly one in three adolescents.
Having treated hundreds of teenagers—and with many of our therapists being parents themselves—we understand how challenging both being a teenager and raising one can be. Your son or daughter is likely juggling relationships, school pressures, and shifting emotions. Add anxiety to the mix, and it can create stress for the whole household.
It’s common for parents to feel helpless and blame themselves for their child’s struggles. However, anxiety is a complex condition influenced by both biology and life experiences. What matters most is you’re taking that first step to help your teen!
Forms of Anxiety We Treat in Teens
Social Anxiety (Social Anxiety Disorder)
Teens with social anxiety often feel overwhelmed by the fear of being judged, making it hard to speak in front of a group, form friendships, or attend social events. With the right treatment, teens can begin to make friends with confidence.
Fears and Phobias (Specific Phobias)
Teens may develop intense, irrational fears of things like driving and public speaking. By addressing these through therapy, teens can gradually regain control over their lives and futures.
Chronic Worry (Generalized Anxiety Disorder - GAD)
Teens with GAD experience constant worry about everyday things like school, relationships, or the future. This can lead to physical symptoms like trouble sleeping. With therapy, teens can learn to manage their new responsibilities.
Treatments We Offer for Teens
Assessment
Every successful treatment starts with understanding. Our 80-minute evaluation is designed to provide clarity for teens and their families. This comprehensive session includes:
- A structured diagnostic interview.
- One-on-one time with the teen and discussions with parents or family members.
- A collaborative treatment planning process tailored to the teen’s needs.
Within 10 days of the evaluation, a patient care manager will follow up to share the treatment plan and help you schedule the first therapy session. It’s all about making the process smooth and supportive.
Standard Treatment
Sometimes, steady and consistent care makes all the difference. Our flexible standard treatment is personalized to meet your teen’s specific needs, blending evidence-based approaches with a caring and empathetic touch. These weekly or bi-weekly sessions last 50-80 minutes and can be conducted in-person or online, giving your teenager the flexibility to fit therapy around their school schedule. Most teens find significant progress in 5-20 sessions, and we’re always here for booster sessions if they need extra support.
One-Day Treatment
Big breakthroughs can happen in a single day! If your teen is struggling with a specific phobia, our one-day treatment might be the perfect solution. This intensive session lasts 3-6 hours and uses exposure therapy techniques to help teens confront and overcome their fears.
Parenting Sessions
Parenting teens can feel like navigating a roller coaster of emotions—but you don’t have to do it alone. Our parenting sessions are designed to support and empower you with tools to:
- Understand and respond to your teen’s behaviors more effectively.
- Build stronger, more trusting relationships with your teen.
- Create a calm and consistent home environment through positive discipline strategies.
These sessions are flexible, available in-person or online, and tailored to your family’s unique situation. When parents feel more confident, the whole family benefits.
Intensive Treatment
Our Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) is designed to help teens facing complex challenges feel better, faster. This program addresses severe anxiety, which is especially helpful when coupled with symptoms such as:
- Serious mood swings: Teens experiencing intense emotional highs and lows may struggle with irritability and sudden outbursts. This can make it difficult to maintain relationships and manage daily life.
- Chronic academic struggles: As kids transition into their teenage years, the expectation to perform in school grows. Anxiety can make one crumble under pressure, resulting in low grades or even missing school.
- Depression: Anxiety often coexists with depression. Struggling teens may experience a loss of interest in activities and turn to self-harming behaviors like cutting or hair-pulling.
Our IOP for teens offers personalized therapy sessions to help teens calm overwhelming emotions and build healthy coping habits. Available in person or online.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Anxiety clouds our judgment. For teenagers who are already navigating school pressures, social expectations, and shifting self-identities, anxiety amplifies negative self-thoughts. If you notice your teen is struggling with their self-esteem, we can help. CBT is designed to:
- Identify and change unhelpful thoughts.
- Build confidence and resilience in the face of anxiety or stress.
- Develop healthier coping mechanisms for everyday challenges.
Whether it’s social anxiety, chronic worrying, or something else, CBT is a proven method that can make a big difference. We offer sessions both in-person and virtually.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Emotional regulation can be a challenge at any age, and it’s especially true for teens, as they’re introduced to a new range of responsibilities. Our DBT is designed to help teens:
- Regulate emotions and cope with overwhelming feelings.
- Build stronger, healthier relationships.
- Manage chronic worries, social anxiety, and other challenges.
We offer an adolescent DBT skills group for adolescents aged 11-17. Sessions are available in-person or online, so no matter where you are, we’ve got you covered.
FAQs
How can I help my daughter or son with anxiety? Will therapy really work?
Yes, anxiety is highly treatable through therapy. For example, consistent evidence suggests that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is highly effective, and recent research suggests that its effects are long-lasting with continued practice. After an initial course of treatment, some patients come back for “booster” sessions as needed and/or decide to continue in treatment to target additional concerns. Many patients, however, don’t have any further need for treatment at all.
What if my teen doesn’t want to go to therapy?
It’s common for teens to feel apprehensive about starting therapy, and you may feel lost on how to help your teenager with anxiety. Our compassionate approach helps teens and parents feel at ease, and we involve your teen in their treatment plan to ensure they feel heard and supported.
What if therapy makes them feel like there’s something wrong with them?
This is a natural concern, and we address it by framing therapy as a tool for growth, not a sign of weakness or a problem. We emphasize that seeking support is a positive and empowering choice—much like getting help from a coach or tutor to improve a skill. Therapy provides tools and strategies to help your child better understand themselves, manage their feelings, and build confidence. We also avoid stigmatizing language and work to create a safe, accepting space!
I’ve tried therapy before, but it didn’t seem to help. Is it worth trying again?
In our experience, yes. Not all therapy approaches or therapists are the right fit for every child. In addition to taking extra care in matching your child with a therapist who suits their needs and personality, we personalize our evidence-based treatments like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to help your child make real progress.
10,000+ Individuals Served
Over 90% of our surveyed patients would recommend us to a friend
More than a decade of experience helping our community
Cost of Teen Anxiety Treatment
Like most local providers, we do not accept insurance. However, we aim to make care as accessible as we can.
- Patients may receive up to 100% reimbursement depending on their out-of-network mental health benefits. Our team can provide documentation to assist with reimbursement. We recommend checking with your insurance company to determine the exact reimbursement amount.
- Our focused, short-term treatment approach generally costs a fraction of other settings. Treatment is only as long as necessary, and our assessment tool helps reduce the length of therapy, lowering overall costs.
- No surprise fees or charges. We provide a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) before services to break down anticipated costs, and the duration of individual sessions is scheduled in advance based on each patient’s treatment plan.
Our Locations
Speak with a Patient Care Manager
You can start the intake process today by scheduling a time to speak with a Patient Care Manager. To contact us for general inquiries please click here.