Therapy for Teens and Families
Teen & Family therapy in Denver
Something’s changed with your teen. Maybe it has a name already. Maybe it’s just a difference you can’t unsee. Either way, you’re the one carrying it, and you’ve probably been carrying it for a while.
Some of this is normal adolescence. Some of it is more. You don’t have to know which before you call. Helping you tell the difference is part of the job.
- Teens & families Individual, family and parent sessions
- Psychiatry on staff Coordinated with your teen’s therapist
- In person or online Lakewood office, telehealth statewide
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Rather just call? (877) 355-3999
Maybe some of this looks familiar
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School slipping
Grades slipping, or the effort behind them gone.
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Behind a closed door
More time alone in their room, less of everything else.
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Anger, or flatness
Anger that arrives fast, or a flatness that does not lift.
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Sleep and appetite
Sleeping and eating patterns that changed and stayed changed.
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Friendships shifting
Friends who disappeared, or new ones you are not sure about.
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Something you found
Something you found or overheard that scared you.
Typical teenage behavior, or something more?
Every parent of a teenager asks this question, usually at night. Moodiness, privacy, and pushing back on rules are part of the job description at this age. So how do you tell the difference?
You are not imagining the scale of this, either. In the CDC’s most recent national youth survey, about 4 in 10 high school students reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless. Whatever is going on in your house, it is not rare and it is not a reflection of your parenting.
And if you read all that and still cannot tell? That is what the first call is for. Describing what you are seeing is enough. You do not need a theory, and you definitely do not need a diagnosis.
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How long it has lasted
A rough week is a rough week, but a rough couple of months is a pattern.
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How big it is
Slamming a door is one thing. A rage that scares the household, or a sadness that swallows whole weekends, is another.
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How far it reaches
When the struggle shows up everywhere at once, at school, at home, and with friends, it is carrying more weight than ordinary adolescence.
Source: CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 2023.
Why teens and parents come to us
Teenagers rarely announce what is wrong. It shows up sideways, in school, in the house, in who they are becoming online and off. Our therapists work with teens on:
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Anxiety, worry and panic
See anxiety therapy.
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Depression and low mood
See depression therapy.
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School stress and avoidance
School stress, school avoidance, and burnout.
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Social struggles
Bullying, and the pressure that comes with a phone.
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Self-esteem and identity
Working out who they are, and whether that is allowed to change.
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Anger and conflict at home
The fights that keep repeating, and what sits under them.
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Grief and loss
A death, a divorce, a move, a friendship that ended.
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ADHD and focus
Attention, organisation, and the schoolwork that never quite lands.
- Talk to someone today
If you are not sure where your kid fits on that list, that is fine. Most parents are not. Call and we will help you sort it out.
Care for your teen. Options for the whole family.
A struggling teenager is rarely the only person in the house who is struggling. We build care around what your family actually needs, and it usually looks like some mix of these.
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Individual therapy for your teen
One-on-one sessions with a therapist who works with adolescents. A private space where your kid can say the things they will not say at the dinner table, and learn tools that actually get used.
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Family therapy
Sessions together, working on the patterns that keep the same fight on repeat. Not about assigning blame. About changing how the house works.
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Parent guidance
Sessions for you, without your teen in the room. What to say, what to stop saying, and how to hold limits without losing the relationship.
Some families need one of these. Many use a mix, and the mix changes as things improve. Your therapist will tell you what they recommend and why.
How we work with teens
Getting a teenager to show up is one thing. Getting them to engage is the actual work, and it is a skill our therapists have built careers on.
It starts with the relationship
No teenager opens up to someone they think is an extension of the principal’s office. The first job is earning enough trust that your teen talks. Our therapists are direct with teens, do not talk down to them, and do not pretend the rules of the house do not exist. Teens can tell the difference, and they respond to it.
Cognitive behavioral therapy, built for how teens actually think
CBT is one of the most researched approaches for adolescent anxiety and depression. Teens learn to catch the thought spirals, test them against what is real, and respond differently. It is concrete and skills-based, which matters, because vague talk therapy loses a teenager fast.
Skills that leave the room
Managing a panic spike before a test. Getting to sleep without the phone winning. Handling a friendship blowup without it wrecking the week. Small tools, practised until they are automatic.
The family system, when it is part of the picture
Sometimes the most effective change is not in the teen, it is in the pattern around them. Family sessions work on communication, expectations, and the loops everyone is tired of. Parents are usually surprised by how much moves when the whole system shifts a little.
What getting better looks like
Parents rarely describe a dramatic turnaround. What they notice first is smaller. An answer at dinner that is longer than one word. The bedroom door open in the evening. A test that got studied for. A Sunday without a blowup. Your teen does not become a different kid. They become more like themselves again, and the house gets lighter with it.
In person in Lakewood · Online across Colorado
Not sure whether this is therapy-level or just a phase?
That is exactly the kind of question we answer on a first call. Tell us what you are seeing and we will help you read it.
What you’ll know, and what stays in the room
This is the question parents ask most, so here is the straight answer.
Therapy works when your teen trusts it. That means the day-to-day content of their sessions stays between them and their therapist. It also means you are never in the dark about safety. If there is a risk to your child, you will know. Before anything starts, we will walk you and your teen through exactly where that line sits, together, so nobody is guessing.
You stay a partner in the work. Parent check-ins, family sessions, and a therapist who tells you what they can share and what they cannot, plainly.
The same standard of care adults get
Teen therapy is often treated as a lighter version of the real thing. Not here.
Licensed therapists who work with adolescents
Your teen is matched with a clinician based on what they are dealing with, not whoever has an open slot.
Psychiatry in the same practice
If medication becomes part of the conversation, our psychiatric providers and your teen’s therapist coordinate directly, and nothing happens without you.
Evidence-based approaches
Cognitive behavioral therapy and other methods with real research behind them for adolescents. Your teen’s therapist will explain what they are using and why.
In person or online
Office sessions in Lakewood, or secure video from home. We schedule around school where we can, and online sessions help on the weeks driving does not work.
Most insurance accepted
Billed directly, verified before your first visit.
For the parents holding all of this
A struggling teen takes a toll on the people raising them. Sleep goes first, then patience, and somewhere in there a lot of parents stop talking about anything else, including to each other.
You count here too. Parent guidance sessions give you a place to think clearly and a plan for the hard moments. And when the stress has crept into your marriage, that is common, and it is workable. See couples & marriage counseling.
Taking care of yourself is not a detour from helping your kid. Steadier parents are the single best thing a struggling teen can come home to.
What happens when you call
The first call is private, and it is a conversation, not a commitment.
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You talk, we listen
Tell us what is going on. We will ask a few questions, answer yours, and check your insurance while you are on the phone.
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We match your family
You are paired with a therapist who fits your teen and your situation. We will talk with you first about how to bring your teen in, especially if they are not sold on the idea.
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The work starts
A first session that is mostly listening, then a plan you are part of. You will know what we are working on and how to tell if it is helping.
What our clients say.
Couples therapy here genuinely turned things around for us. We finally have tools to talk through conflict instead of shutting down.
Amanda Peterson
Marketing Manager
March 2026
Being able to switch between in-person and online sessions made it realistic to actually keep going. My therapist never made me start over.
Daniel Kim
Software Engineer
January 2026
I came in during one of the hardest stretches of my life and, for the first time, felt genuinely understood. It made all the difference.
Melissa Rodriguez
Elementary School Teacher
February 2026
They checked my insurance on the very first call and I had an appointment that same week. No runaround, no long waitlist.
Jordan Ellis
Registered Nurse
April 2026
My anxiety used to run the show. My therapist helped me understand what was driving it and gave me real strategies that actually stick.
Priya Nair
Data Analyst
March 2026
After years of putting it off, starting therapy here felt easy. Warm, professional, and never once did I feel judged.
Marcus Webb
Small Business Owner
February 2026
Having a therapist and a psychiatrist coordinating in the same place meant my medication and my sessions finally worked together.
Rachel Donovan
Project Coordinator
April 2026
We came in for our teenage son and left with a plan the whole family could follow. They really understood how to reach him.
Steven Alvarez
Operations Manager
January 2026
The trauma work I did here was hard but life-changing. I finally feel like I am living in the present instead of the past.
Hannah Brooks
Graphic Designer
March 2026
Straightforward, compassionate, and no games about billing. I always knew what my sessions would cost going in.
Anthony Russo
Financial Advisor
February 2026
Online sessions from home meant I could keep up with therapy even during a hectic semester. It fit my life instead of fighting it.
Sofia Martinez
Graduate Student
April 2026
They helped me get honest about the connection between my drinking and my depression, without ever making me feel ashamed.
Kevin Tran
Sales Representative
March 2026
Teen & Family Therapy FAQs
What if my teen refuses to go?
Call anyway. Reluctance is the normal starting point, not a dead end. We will help you figure out how to raise it, and a parent guidance session is a real way to start when your teen will not come in yet. Teens also tend to soften once they learn the therapist is not reporting their business back home.
Will I know what happens in my teen’s sessions?
You will know about safety, always. The day-to-day content stays between your teen and their therapist, because that privacy is what makes therapy work. We will walk both of you through exactly where that line sits before anything starts.
Do we all have to be in therapy?
No. Some teens just need their own therapist. Some families do their best work in the room together. Most land somewhere in between, and the mix can change as things improve.
What if my teen will only do online sessions?
That works. Plenty of teens are more comfortable talking from their own space, and secure video sessions are a real starting point, not a lesser one. Some switch to in-person later. Some do not, and that is fine.
Will therapy interfere with school?
We schedule around school where we can, with after-school times and online sessions that cut out the drive. Most families find a rhythm within the first couple of weeks.
Can my teen get medication here if they need it?
We have psychiatric providers on staff, so if medication becomes part of the conversation, it happens inside the same practice, coordinated with your teen’s therapist. Nothing is prescribed without your involvement.
Do you work with younger kids too?
Our focus is adolescents and their families. If you are not sure whether your child’s age is the right fit, call and we will tell you honestly, and point you in the right direction if we are not it.
How long does it take?
It depends on what is going on, and anyone who promises a number before meeting your kid is guessing. What we can promise is a straight read after the first few sessions and honest check-ins about progress after that.
Is teen therapy covered by insurance?
Usually, yes. We accept most major plans, including Aetna, Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Kaiser Permanente, and United Healthcare, and we bill your plan directly. Call and we will verify your coverage while you are on the phone.
If you’re worried about your teen’s safety right now
If your teen is talking about suicide or hurting themselves, do not wait for an appointment. Call or text 988 now. The Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is free, answers 24 hours a day, and takes calls from parents too. If there is immediate danger, call 911.
You noticed. That's the first step.
Most parents wait longer than they wish they had, and almost none of them regret calling. Talk to a real person, ask anything, and decide from there. In person in Lakewood or online anywhere in Colorado.
Rather just call? (877) 355-3999
In a crisis or emergency, call or text 988 or dial 911. This form isn’t monitored around the clock.
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