AVAILABLE IN-PERSON AND ONLINE IN CALIFORNIA
Therapy for Teens in Redondo Beach
Parenting is hard. So is being a teen. But you don’t need to do it all alone.
You've given your teenager every advantage. So why does it seem like they're falling behind?
You work hard to build a good life for your family—sending your kids to good schools, providing vital opportunities, and setting a good example. You want your teenager to succeed, and you've done everything you can think of to set them up for it.
But the kid in front of you isn't quite the one you once knew, or the one you know they could be. They're withdrawing from you and their friends and losing interest in the things they once enjoyed. You're losing sleep over it, second-guessing your parenting decisions, and running out of ideas. No matter what you try, the distance between you keeps growing.
You might have a teenager who...
Was once motivated and engaged but has gradually stopped caring about school or the things that used to matter to them.
Has become irritable or emotionally volatile in ways that feel out of proportion to what's happening around them.
Is panicking more and more often about school assignments or making choices for their future.
Has experienced something big—a painful breakup, bullying, a social falling out, a big move, a change in school—that they refuse to talk to you about.
Is expressing their pain in ways that have genuinely scared you, like self-harm, dangerous behavior, or conversations about not wanting to be here.
Turns to harmful coping methods to manage their difficult feelings. Maybe you smell alcohol on their breath, have found drugs in their room, or see them skipping meals when they think you aren’t looking.
This isn’t a parenting flaw.
It means they're in a place where love and good intentions alone can't reach—and it’s time for a different approach.
THEY HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE TELLING THEM WHO THEY SHOULD BE…
Your teen needs a mentor who actually gets who they are now—and can show them just how far they can go.
Most teenagers who end up in my office aren't there because they want to be—at least not at first. They come in guarded, skeptical, and fully prepared to wait out the hour. The moment they realize I'm not going to talk around the hard stuff, won’t talk down to them, and won’t judge them, they begin to open up. Once that happens, I can give them real tools for what they're going through.
This isn’t a space to vent—it’s where meaningful and lasting work can get done so your teen can experience true progress and success.
I've built companies, served our country, navigated major life transitions, and come out the other side with a clearer sense of who I am. That's not something I keep to myself in sessions. It's something I bring in deliberately. I want them to understand that I know what it's like to operate under high expectations, pressure, and uncertainty about the future—and they can do it too.
I include you in the process as needed. The most effective outcomes happen when parents understand what's driving the behavior they're seeing and how to respond to it in ways that help their teen feel supported and capable.
I help adolescents struggling with:
Anxiety
Depression
PTSD & trauma
Relationships
Grief & loss
Self esteem
Emotional dysregulation
ADHD
Disordered eating
Addictions
Procrastination
Goal setting
Life transitions
Self harm
Identity development
Isolation & withdrawal
Methods We’ll Use
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Look at your teenager as an individual, and as part of a larger family system—because what's happening with them is almost never happening in isolation. We examine the patterns, dynamics, and roles that have developed within your family and work to shift the ones that are making things harder for everyone.
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Identify the thought patterns that are driving your teenager's behavior and replace them with more accurate, useful ways of thinking about themselves and the world around them. Your teenager walks away with practical tools they can use in real situations, not just in the therapy room.
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Build the emotional regulation skills that help your teenager handle intense emotions without shutting down, lashing out, or making decisions they'll regret. DBT gives teenagers a concrete set of skills for managing what's happening on the inside so it stops running the show on the outside.
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Explore the earlier experiences and relationship patterns that have been quietly shaping how your teenager sees themselves and the world. Understanding where those patterns came from is often what makes it possible to change them.
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Teach your teenager how to slow down, tune into what's happening inside them, and respond to pressure and discomfort instead of reacting to it. For teens who are frequently overwhelmed, mindfulness builds an internal steadiness they can return to as needed.
TEENAGERS WHO MAKE THE MOST PROGRESS ARE THE ONES WHO FIND THEIR OWN REASON TO MOVE FORWARD
Therapy can help your teen...
Understand what's driving their persistent worry or their need for perfection—so they can walk into high-pressure situations like exams and college interviews without falling apart.
Process the painful past experiences that have been shaping their behavior so they can finally move forward.
Build the emotional regulation skills that keep them from burning bridges, shutting people out, or making impulsive or reckless decisions in moments of intensity.
Develop a strong enough sense of who they are that the opinions and expectations of everyone around them stop determining how they feel about themselves.
Learn to say what they actually need—to you, to their friends, to their teachers—so that conflict stops being the only way they know how to be heard.
Rebuild the relationship with you and allow home to feel like a safe place again instead of another environment where they're performing for someone else's expectations.
THE TEENAGER IN FRONT OF YOU RIGHT NOW IS NOT WHO THEY’RE GOING TO BE FOREVER
The potential you see in them is real. Let’s help them see it, too.
In-person in Redondo Beach and online in California.
Frequently Asked Questions
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I hold a Master of Clinical Social Work from USC, where I graduated with Department Honors, and I'm trained in the evidence-based approaches most effective for teenagers. I show up to sessions as a mentor. I draw on real-world experience as a veteran, an executive, and a father to help teenagers find their footing in a way that feels relevant to their actual lives. The teenagers and young adults I've worked with have told me that having someone in their corner who could speak to both the clinical and the real-world sides of what they were going through was what made the difference for them.
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Reach out anyway. Most teenagers who come in reluctantly find that the experience is nothing like what they imagined—and they keep coming back. If your teenager is resistant, we can talk through how to approach the conversation at home in a way that's more likely to land without turning it into a battle of wills.
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Confidentiality is an important part of building trust with a teenage client, and I take it seriously. The exception is safety—if your teenager is in danger, I will always let you know. Outside of that, what they share stays in the room, because that's what makes it possible for them to open up.
I typically have a parent consultation session once every 4-8 weeks during which we will focus on helping you understand what's driving the behavior you're seeing at home and how to respond to it in ways that help.
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That depends on what your teenager is working on and how deep the work needs to go. Some teenagers make significant progress in a focused engagement around a specific challenge. Others benefit from longer-term support as they navigate the ongoing pressures of adolescence. We'll figure out what makes sense for your teenager specifically and adjust as we go.
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If your teenager is expressing suicidal ideation, engaging in self-harm, or in immediate danger, please contact a crisis line or emergency services first. Once the immediate situation is stabilized, I'm here to do the deeper work that can give your teenager the tools to navigate what they're feeling in a healthier way.
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Most teenagers who didn't connect with a previous therapist weren't resistant to therapy as much as they were resistant to that particular therapist. The relationship is everything with teenagers, and if the person across from them doesn't feel credible, relatable, or trustworthy, no amount of clinical technique is going to bridge that gap. What I bring to this work is a combination of evidence-based clinical training and the kind of real-world experience that earns a teenager's respect and builds rapport and trust.