Therapy for Teens in San Francisco

Therapy That Reaches Your Teen.

Help Your Teen Feel Heard.

It’s hard to stay confident as a parent when your teen is struggling. When they hurt, you hurt. CBT for teenagers helps your young loved one navigate the chaos of their age in a setting that’s warm and confidential, where they may explore the insecurities or difficulties they not discuss elsewhere.

The impact of CBT is strong, but only after your teen feels heard, understood, and important when they come to my office. Under these conditions, teens who initially refuse therapy at all costs tend to get on board.

How CBT-based teen therapy San Francisco helps teens manage emotions and build resilience

Seeing your teen struggle is heart-breaking

They’re pulling away. They’re frustrated and irritable. They’re struggling under the weight of depression and anxiety. They may be using substances to cope and don’t let you talk to them about it. They might stop talking altogether, leaving you at a loose end trying to connect with them.

CBT is designed to build skills quickly that last.

You were a teen yourself so you know how hard it can be, but explaining that to them falls on deaf ears. Since it’s tough to ask for help themselves, you want to guide them toward it. CBT is one of the most effective and concrete types of help available. It helps both you and your teen work as partners toward emotional health in a way that is structured, easy to understand, and practical.

A therapist for teens San Francisco helps your child feel stronger, safer, and more understood

You only want the best for them

Imagine they could learn how to be kinder to themselves. To ask for help when they need it. To have a go-to framework for navigating the tough stuff. That’s where CBT comes in.

CBT helps your teen make better choices.

Confidence and self-assuredness are hard to come by in the teen years. CBT can help you and your teen get on the same page, navigating issues like self-doubt, depression, anxiety, self-image, and other common issues without fighting about it.

Looking for Teen Therapist in San Francisco?

I’m Denis Barron, your teen’s guide to emotional health

As an experienced CBT therapist I’ve worked with clients of all ages, and have worked with teens since 2006. I know that teens in particular present parents with a huge challenge. Sometimes it feels like you’re not doing enough as a parent because, despite your best efforts, your son or daughter seems impossible to connect with. Family life becomes even harder when you’re trying to care for your own mental health and career at the same time.

Counseling helps you harmonize family life so that all of you get to feel your best.

CBT provides your teen with a proven framework for overcoming their struggles. It’s a safe space for them to talk about anxiety, substances, school, home life, and friends without holding back. They also learn real-life skills and strategies to meet hardship and frustration with resilience and confidence. Best of all, they’ll carry these tools with them into their adult life. Whenever possible I work closely with parents to help bridge gaps to sustain changes into the future. After all, I am but a temporary person in their lives while parents are forever.

Let’s figure it out together.

All parents want their teens to feel good and make the right choices. Reaching out is the first step to helping your teen thrive.

Find teenage therapists San Francisco using CBT to help teens grow

I’ve tried everything. How will CBT help my teenager?

When you feel like you’re bending over backward to connect with and help your teen, you end up feeling exhausted. CBT provides your teen with tools to help them regulate, and teaches you how to support them on their journey. CBT is not focused on simply talking about problems endlessly and wallowing in them. Instead the focus is on rapid symptom relief and measurable results.

Your teen’s behavior is worrying you. It may look like:

Shutting you out. Conversations are cold and distant or even non existent. It’s hard to have a conversation without frustration or conflict.
Over-use of technology. They’re glued to a screen more than what would be a normal amount. Phones and computers feel like a barrier between you and conflict ensues when you try and set a limit around usage.
Dropping grades. Your teen is bringing home grades that are lower than they are capable of. You know how important education is for them, but they don’t seem to share the same concern.
Mood swings. Irritability. You feel like you’re walking on eggshells around them.
Drug use. You’ve witnessed it or have noticed suspicious habits and behaviors.

Low energy, weighed down by their emotions. They seem trapped in sadness and anxiety and don’t seem to enjoy anything. The ways they are trying to get support just aren’t working.
Lack of Motivation. You’ve noticed significant changes in motivation, or doing things less that once brought joy or interest.
Avoidance. They avoid communication altogether. They’re reluctant to talk about school, friends, emotions, anything.
Anxiety. They avoid communication altogether. They’re reluctant to talk about school, friends, emotions, anything.

Here’s how CBT changes things for the better:

What can a teen therapist in San Francisco, help with?

Relief from anxiety

Anxious and depressive thoughts create overwhelming emotions. CBT teaches them to identify and challenge those negatively skewed and self defeating thoughts. They’ll learn to replace upset and frustration with balance and self-assuredness. They’ll develop the skills to not only face struggles, but to prevent them from taking over. I will practice alongside your teen, and then as confidence builds they will practice in the world to get real results and to experience success.

CBT for teens in San Francisco helps them grow with confidence and self-respect

Confidence and kinder self-view

Your teen’s self-image is sensitive. When they start doubting themselves, their confidence wanes. CBT will help them see themselves in a more positive and constructive way. They’ll learn to focus on their strengths rather than weaknesses, and their newfound confidence will reflect in their home, academic, and social life.

Struggling with school, isolation, or anger? Therapy for teen in San Francisco can help

Healthy coping skills

Harmful behaviors like substance use, isolation, avoiding school, aggression, and avoidance are often ways your teen is trying to cope with deeper emotions like stress, confusion, and self-doubt. CBT encourages them to look at these emotions and learn how to deal with them in constructive ways instead of resorting to behaviors that ultimately make things worse.

Find teenage therapists San Francisco who help teens express themselves and connect more deeply

Communication and healthy relationships

One of the biggest challenges teens face is healthy self-expression. They want to be heard but find it hard to talk about things. CBT helps them develop interpersonal skills such as voicing their needs, setting boundaries, and constructive conflict resolution. The more they communicate in healthy ways, the greater the quality of their relationships. In turn they experience the deep connection necessary to enjoy emotional well-being.

With therapy for teens San Francisco, young people learn to stay steady through stress

Peace and stability

Getting through the teen years is stressful. CBT won’t change the inherent chaos of being a young person in the world, but it will help your teen establish an inner sense of stability and peace. They’ll navigate school pressure, friendships and relationships, and self-view challenges with greater confidence and resolve, creating space to enjoy small moments and big wins.

Confidence in parenting.

Being a parent to a teen is humbling, to say the least. Let CBT therapy guide your kid through these tumultuous and restore your confidence that they will be OK.

Be part of the progress with parent-inclusive CBT for teens in San Francisco

What does CBT therapy look like for teens? How will I be involved as a parent?

CBT for teens offers opportunities for you as a parent to be an active participant in their journey. I work closely with parents when possible or warranted to help find ways to translate the work being done in therapy to your home and community. We can meet periodically to touch base, or even at the beginning or end of each session. You will know what we are doing and what’s working, so you can support your child at home into the future. In fact, some of the outside-of-session “challenges” you can try together. Many hands make light work.

You don’t need to blame yourself for your teen’s struggle

As a parent, you play a key role in your teen’s life. However, the more you stress over their behavior, the more difficult it becomes to support them effectively.

CBT for teens is for parents too.

Therapy provides your teen with the tools they need to face their challenges. It also helps you as a parent learn how to support them in a way that lets them feel seen and heard. When you start to see things improve for your child, you both will feel relief.

My teen doesn’t believe anything will help

It’s normal to doubt the process before they begin. You may feel apprehensive about therapy yourself. However, the first stop on our journey is creating a welcoming, non-judgmental space that puts all of us at ease. I work with adolescents at their own pace, starting with what matters to them. It’s totally normal for teens to not want to participate in therapy, so I start with what they will be invested in first. We will start with what they feel is important, and then get to what the rest of the world wants for them. Almost always, these things overlap anyway.

CBT is a collaborative process.

It’s not a matter of sitting in a room and just talking about what’s wrong week after week. There is deep respect for all involved, demonstrated through careful and active listening. Your therapist is there to support and encourage your teen’s self-exploration, and application of practical tools and strategies for insight and growth. Every session lets your teen feel like they’ve just done something meaningful.

When will my teen feel better?

It’s normal to feel impatient with your teen’s moods and struggles. Sometimes you want them to just snap out of it. The good news is that CBT can lead to noticeable changes in a matter of weeks, especially when family is on board.

CBT shows you how to encourage your teen’s growth and create a supportive home environment.

CBT is structured and goal-oriented, so while your teen might not change overnight, they’ll be making significant steps toward feeling better from their first session.

Stop fighting.
Start understanding each other.

Schedule an appointment to start building a strong parent-teen relationship, one of respect, mutual understanding, and shared goals.

Getting Started is Easy

1 Schedule a consultation

Book a call to demystify the process. I’d like to hear a bit about what brings you in, and I can share about how I help folks in general, and how we may apply these ideas to your specic issues. This way you will have good information to make an informed decision about how to proceed.

2 Begin Therapy

When you’re ready, we will start with your rst session. I’ll get some information about you, what brings you in, and other pertinent information. We will also begin to set some goals and plot the course forward.

3 Ongoing Support

I am just an e-mail or phone call away. I can provide ongoing support while you also practice skills outside of session to build mastery and condence. I am available for questions or to touch base as we progress.

4 Ending

We are ready to end once you feel “condent enough” in practicing methods outside of session to reach your goals. You’ve seen measurable progress toward your goals, and things are looking better.