Parenting can be hard, especially when your child or teen struggles with their mental health, has trouble controlling their emotions, or has problematic behaviors. Your child/teen may already be in therapy, but you're wondering if there is anything else you can do to support them.

Children and teens with mental and behavioral health challenges often need a lot of support. Sometimes, individual therapy may not be enough to support them. Many parents/caregivers ask if there is anything else they can do to support their child or teen. Gaining additional skills or tools can be really useful for parents to help support their child/teen's well-being. Sometimes, it can be helpful to have another perspective, try new approaches, and talk through the concerns you have for your child/teen.These may even be the same strategies that their child/teen is learning.

I offer support and consultation to parents/caregivers who are wondering what else they can do to support their child/teen's mental health. These services are often time-limited (i.e., 8 sessions or fewer) and focused on a specific problem, such as maintaining safety after your child/teen's acute psychiatric hospitalization, navigating a major life change, managing challenging or risky behavior, managing social media use and screen time, or navigating school challenges. Parent support is based on cognitive behavior therapy and dialectical behavior therapy principles, which are treatment approaches with a strong base of supportive evidence.

Parent/Caregiver support is a highly tailored service and can look different based on each family's needs. We will often start by discussing how parents' own mental health is affected by their child/teen's challenges. We often discuss strategies you can use to improve the relationship and communication with your child/teen, and how to support your child/teen's emotional needs. If you're concerned about your child/teens behavior, we'll discuss strategies to create lasting behavior change, including how to increase desired behavior and decrease problematic or risky behavior. In many, but not all cases, it is strongly encouraged that your child/teen is also seeing their own therapist. 

These sessions are typically 45 to 50 minute sessions billed at my standard rate of $170 per session. In some cases, 30-minute sessions (billed at the rate of $102.50 per session) may be appropriate. I am happy to have a brief free phone call (15- to 20-minute) to discuss whether this service would be appropriate for you and your child/teen and to answer any questions. This service is designed to be short-term. Sessions can typically be held virtually or in-person at our office.