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Something has shifted. You can feel it, whether you're the teenager living it or the parent watching it happen. You're not sure what to do next.
TEEN COUNSELING · HOUSTON & TELEHEALTH
Teen therapy in Houston for ages 13 to 17. Evidence-based support for anxiety, depression, social difficulties, academic pressure, identity, and more. CBT and DBT-based. This page is for teens and their parents; use the links below to find your section.
Teen specialist
CBT & DBT trained
Ages 12 to 17
In-person Houston & telehealth
Anxiety & OCD specialist
ERP & I-CBT also available
Telehealth across Texas & NY
+ 40 PsyPact states
Free 15-min consult
No commitment required
A lot of teens feel like something is fundamentally wrong with them. Most of the time, that feeling is wrong. But it's real, and it's worth taking seriously.
FOR TEENS
Your brain is actually changing right now in ways that affect your emotions, your relationships, and how big everything feels. That's not an excuse for anything. It's an explanation for why this stage can feel so much harder than adults seem to remember. That same change also means your brain is particularly good at learning new ways of responding right now. The skills you build during this period tend to stick in ways they might not later. Getting support during this time gives you tools and more control over your own situation.
You feel overwhelmed a lot: by school, by social stuff, by pressure to have everything figured out before you actually do
Social situations feel stressful or exhausting. You overthink things people said, worry about what others think, or avoid situations that feel too exposing
You feel down, unmotivated, or unlike yourself. Not sad about anything specific, just flat, or like the things that used to matter don't as much
You're dealing with stuff you don't feel like you can talk to your parents about. Not because you don't trust them, but because it feels complicated
You're not sure who you are or who you're becoming, and that uncertainty feels bigger than it probably should
Things at home feel tense. Conflict with your parents goes in circles, you don't feel heard, or it seems like everyone is just waiting for you to mess up
A lot of teens feel exactly this way and assume everyone else has it more together than they do. They don't. And things can get better.
WHAT THERAPY ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE
Your sessions are yours. Here's what that means.
Sessions are one-on-one, just you and me. Your parents don't sit in unless you want them to. You decide what we talk about, and we move at your pace.
I'm not going to judge you, push you toward conclusions you don't agree with, or tell you what to do. But I will ask you to challenge how you think about things and consider different perspectives and responses. My job is to help you understand what's going on and give you tools that actually work in the situations you're dealing with.
About confidentiality: What you share in sessions stays between us. I won't tell your parents what you talk about. The exceptions are narrow and the law requires them: if I have serious concern that you might hurt yourself or someone else, or if there's abuse happening that I'm required to report. Outside of those situations, your sessions are private. I'll tell your parents that we're working on things and that you're doing okay, and I may share what topics we're working on and tools I've shared with you, but the details are yours.
If you want to bring your parents into a session at some point, that's completely up to you. Some teens find it useful. Your parents may also sometimes ask to join if there's something they want me to know or want help talking to you about, but most of the time it's up to you whether they join.
The approaches I use are active and practical, not just talking about your feelings indefinitely. You'll learn specific tools for the situations that are hardest for you:
CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
Learning to recognize the thoughts and actions that are making things harder: the spiraling, the self-criticism, the assumptions about what others think. And developing more accurate and helpful ways of responding to them.
DBT-informed skills
Skills drawn from DBT for when emotions feel overwhelming. How to handle hard feelings without making things worse, and navigate relationships and conflict more effectively.
FOR PARENTS
You know something has changed. You're not sure what to do with it.
Teenagers are designed to pull away from their parents as they develop independence — that's developmentally normal and healthy. But it can make it hard to tell when something is genuinely wrong versus just typical adolescent friction.
Early support during the teenage years is particularly well-timed. The adolescent brain is in a period of significant change, which also makes it unusually responsive to learning new skills and patterns. The work done now tends to have a longer runway than the same work done later. Some signs that what you're seeing is worth addressing:
A noticeable drop in grades, motivation, or engagement with school or activities they used to care about
Social withdrawal — spending increasing time alone, pulling away from friends, or avoiding situations they used to enjoy
Emotional outbursts, significant irritability, or mood shifts that feel out of proportion and are affecting the whole family
Signs of anxiety: perfectionism, avoidance, reassurance-seeking, physical complaints before stressful situations, panic attacks
Persistent sadness, hopelessness, or a teen who seems unlike themselves over a period of weeks rather than days
Conflict at home that has become the dominant pattern — battles over everything, a relationship that feels like all friction and no connection
You don't have to be certain something is seriously wrong to reach out. If you've noticed a change and your gut is telling you to pay attention, that's enough reason to have a conversation.
YOUR ROLE AS A PARENT
You're involved, but the sessions are your teen's.
Teen therapy works differently from child therapy. Your teen needs to feel that the therapeutic relationship is theirs: that they can say what's actually going on without it being relayed back to you. That confidentiality is what makes the work possible. It's not designed to shut you out. It's designed to give your teen a space that's genuinely safe for them.
In practice, this means: I'll check in with you briefly before or after sessions when useful. I'll let you know that things are going well or flag if I have a significant concern. I can suggest ways to support your teen at home based on what we're working on, without revealing the specifics of sessions. If family dynamics are part of what we're addressing, there may be sessions where you're actively involved, always with your teen's knowledge and agreement.
If the parent-teen relationship itself is a significant part of what's breaking down, parenting therapy may be a useful complement to your teen's individual therapy, or a standalone starting point. Learn about parenting therapy →
WHAT I HELP TEENS WITH
Anxiety
Worry, avoidance, perfectionism, panic attacks, and physical symptoms of anxiety. For OCD specifically, see the OCD therapy page.
Social anxiety
Fear of judgment, avoidance of social situations, difficulty with performance or visibility. Particularly common in adolescence when social evaluation is at its most intense.
Depression
Persistent low mood, loss of interest, fatigue, hopelessness, or a teen who seems unlike themselves over weeks rather than days.
Academic stress
Pressure around grades, college, performance, and the sense that everything is high stakes. Learning to manage the stress without burning out.
Identity & self-esteem
Questions about who you are and who you're becoming. Negative self-talk, self-criticism, and the feeling that you're not measuring up to some standard you can't quite name.
Social difficulties
Trouble navigating friendships, peer conflict, feeling left out or misunderstood, or difficulty building and maintaining the connections that matter to you.
Family conflict
Tension and conflict with parents that has become the default mode. Learning to communicate what you actually need and navigate the relationship as you both adjust to your growing independence.
Life transitions
Adjusting to high school, changing schools, moving, new family dynamics, or the pressure and uncertainty of figuring out what comes next.
These are the most common reasons teens come to work with me. Many teens are dealing with more than one of these at once. The work usually touches on several areas.
The teenage years bring a specific set of challenges.
HOW I WORK WITH TEENS
Skills-based, collaborative, and adapted to you.
Therapy isn't just talking about your problems. It's developing specific tools to handle the situations that are hard. I adapt my approach to the person — your age, your concerns, your personality, what actually helps you think and engage — and the work is practical and skills-focused throughout.
Understanding what's going on
The teenage brain is going through a lot of change right now. Understanding what's actually happening in your brain and how it affects emotions, decision-making, and relationships changes how you relate to your own experience.
CBT and DBT skills
Practical tools for managing anxiety, regulating emotions, challenging unhelpful thinking, and navigating relationships. Skills you can actually use in the moments when things are hard — not just in the room.
You direct the work
Sessions are collaborative, not prescriptive. You decide what we focus on, and we can work on whatever feels most important. The goal is to give you more control over your own life and more confidence, not to tell you who to be.
While I specialize in teen concerns, most teenagers come with more than one thing on their mind. We can focus on whatever feels most important and will talk through options together at the start of each session.
Ages 18 to 22
If you're a young adult, you may have landed here for a reason.
The concerns that bring most 18 to 22 year olds to therapy — identity, social anxiety, academic and career pressure, emotional regulation, navigating independence — look a lot more like teen concerns than the burnout and anxiety presentations on the adult pages. I work with young adults too, using the same CBT and DBT-based approaches. The main difference is that at 18 you're a legal adult, which means your sessions are entirely private and parent involvement isn't part of the picture unless you want it to be.
If this sounds like where you are, feel free to reach out. The free consultation is a no-commitment way to figure out if we'd be a good fit.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Teen therapy is not one-size-fits-all. The approach follows the person.
Getting to know each other
The first one or two sessions are about building a real picture: what's been going on, what you've already tried, what the goals are. For younger teens, I'll often meet with parents first; for older teens, it depends on what makes sense.
Building a plan together
Based on what we learn, we'll identify the goals and map out how to work toward them. The plan is practical and adjusted as we go. You're part of designing it, not just handed a protocol.
Skills that work outside the room
Sessions build tools you actually use between appointments, not just insights you have in the room and forget by Monday. Progress is tracked and the approach adjusts when something isn't working.
Sessions are typically once a week or every two weeks. Many teens make meaningful progress within a few months of consistent work, though the pace varies depending on what they're dealing with, how long it's been going on, and how much they're practicing between sessions. What matters most is that there are clear goals, a clear plan, and the ability to adjust together.
The work is collaborative and tailored. Whether you're a teen coming in on your own terms or a parent helping initiate the process, the first sessions focus on building a real picture of what's going on before anything else.
OUTCOMES
What changes when a teenager has the right support.
Some outcomes are for the teen. Some are for the parent. Both matter.
Anxiety that's more manageable: less avoidance, less spiraling, a different relationship to the things that used to feel impossible
A teen who can name what they're feeling and do something useful with it, rather than acting it out or shutting down
More confidence socially, academically, and in the situations that felt most exposing before
A clearer sense of who they are and what they value, less defined by comparison or external pressure
A relationship at home that has more connection and less friction, for both the teen and the parent
As a parent: the relief of knowing your teen has support, skills, and someone they can talk to when things are hard
Dr. Ehrin Weiss
Clinical Psychologist
WHY DR. WEISS
Specialized in anxiety and OCD. Experienced with teens.
I'm a clinical psychologist who has worked with teenagers for over 17 years. My approach is grounded in CBT and DBT, adapted to where each teen actually is rather than applied as a one-size-fits-all protocol. I work with teens who are anxious, depressed, struggling socially, dealing with family conflict, or just going through a difficult period without a clear diagnosis.
For teens with anxiety or OCD specifically, I also offer ERP and I-CBT — the most evidence-based approaches for those conditions. I work across Texas, New York, and 40+ PsyPact states via telehealth.
Free guide for parents
A Parent's Guide to Child & Teen Anxiety
Anxiety is one of the most common concerns in the teenage years, and one of the most treatable. This guide is a useful starting point for any parent trying to understand what their teen is going through.
- ✓How anxiety presents differently in teens vs. younger children
- ✓Why teens pull away — and what that means for your role
- ✓The accommodation trap: what helps and what backfires
- ✓What evidence-based treatment involves
- ✓What to look for in a therapist for your teen
RELATED SPECIALTIES
Other ways I can help.
Many of the concerns that bring teens and their families here overlap with these areas.
Specialty
Anxiety treatment
For adults and teens with anxiety as the primary concern. CBT for GAD, social anxiety, panic, phobias, and health anxiety.
Learn more →Specialty
OCD therapy
ERP and I-CBT for teens and adults with OCD. Specialized treatment for intrusive thoughts, compulsions, and obsessive doubt.
Learn more →Specialty
Parenting therapy
For parents navigating the challenges of raising a teenager. Evidence-based approaches for when the relationship feels like all friction and no connection.
Learn more →WHERE WE CAN WORK TOGETHER
In-person and telehealth options
In-person sessions Houston
In-person sessions are available at my Houston office. View current availability and schedule directly online →
Telehealth therapy 40+ States
Secure video sessions throughout Texas, New York, and all PsyPact states. View current availability and schedule directly online →
Current as of March 2026. Confirm at psypact.gov.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Common questions about teen therapy
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No. What you share in sessions stays between us. I won't tell your parents what you've said. The exceptions are narrow and required by law: if I have serious concern you might hurt yourself or someone else, or if there's abuse I'm required to report. Outside of those situations, your sessions are private. I'll let your parents know that things are going well, but the details are yours. If you ever want to bring your parents into a session, that's always your choice.
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This is one of the most common situations parents face. A few things that tend to help: give your teen as much control over the process as possible — letting them have input on the therapist and being clear that sessions are confidential. Avoid framing therapy as something being done to them. A free 15-minute consultation where they can meet me without any commitment to continue can also reduce the resistance. If your teen is genuinely unwilling, parent approaches may also be worth considering.
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Teen therapy involves less direct parent participation than child therapy, and intentionally so. Your teen needs the therapeutic relationship to feel genuinely theirs in order for it to work. I'll check in with you briefly when useful, let you know things are progressing, and suggest ways to support what we're working on at home without revealing session specifics. For younger teens especially, I may meet with you at the start to build a picture of what's been happening. The level of involvement is calibrated to what makes sense for your teen's age and presenting concerns.
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Yes, and for many teens, telehealth is actually a better fit than in-person. Sessions happen in a space they're comfortable in, scheduling is more flexible around school and activities, and many teens find it easier to open up over video than face-to-face with an adult. The evidence base for CBT and DBT via telehealth is strong and comparable to in-person outcomes. For teens with social anxiety specifically, the lower-stakes environment of a video session can actually make it easier to engage early in treatment.
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I'm a private pay practice and don't bill insurance directly. This means no prior authorizations, no session limits, and no insurance company involved in your treatment. I provide superbills monthly that you can submit to your insurance for potential out-of-network reimbursement. Many clients recover a meaningful portion of the fee this way.
The teenage years are hard. They don't have to be this hard.
Schedule a free 15-minute consultation. We'll talk through what you're experiencing and whether we're a good fit.