Middle school and high school age youth are some of my very favorite clients. From my undergraduate days, I have been fascinated by child development and how we progress through all developmental stages of the human lifespan. Adolescence is a notoriously challenging stage of parenting, requiring unique parental support and relationship skills.

Counseling youth at this stage typically involves individual and family/parent sessions. Many times, although not always, the difficulties that appear at this point in development are a result of the interaction between teenage developmental tasks - that can actually be quite normal and healthy - and the expectations of parent(s) or caregivers. This unique time of life often requires extensive parent/child collaboration in a therapeutic setting.