Straight Up Treatment
Therapy For Teens
Therapy to help your teen get unstuck from anxiety, navigate the pressures of school, family, social life, and face their future with confidence.
Online and in-person teen therapy, serving Los Angeles and surrounding areas.
Therapy can help your teen:
Build Confidence
Manage Relationships
Prepare For The Future
Growing up isn't easy
Today’s teens are navigating a maze of emotions, pressures, and uncertainties daily.
On the outside, teens want to fit in, find real friends and hope that someone just gets them. On the inside? Sleepless nights, racing thoughts, always feeling like they’re falling behind, and nagging doubts about whether they are ‘good enough’. They can show up as an emotional hurricane—waves of anxiety, stormy patches of depression, and gusts of self-imposed pressure. When they say, ‘Why is it so hard to just feel good about myself or enjoy things?’ it’s not just teen talk.
Teen therapy helps them make sense of where they are now, and points them in the direction of discovering their confidence around who they are becoming.
STRAIGHT UP TREATMENT
Teen Therapy - A Closer Look
Raising a teenager comes with its own set of challenges, and parents often feel the weight of making sure their teen is emotionally and mentally healthy. Teen therapy helps guide them through this journey by providing specialized help that takes the pressure off of their parents, and allows for parents to step into a more emotionally supportive role versus authority role.
In therapy, we can support your teen as they deal with:
- Anxiety
- Mood swings or persistent sadness
- Trouble at school
- Withdrawing from friends and family
- Changes in eating or sleeping patterns
- Engaging in risky behaviors
- Self-image or self-worth issues
- Trauma, grief or loss
Therapy isn't about trying to change your teen into someone else. It's about helping them know who they truly are and live their life with confidence and authenticity.
Areas Teen Therapy Can Help
Peer Pressure
Teenagers face a lot of pressure to fit in, do what everyone else does, or do things that make them uncomfortable. This need to be liked can make them do impulsive things, hide who they really are, and have inner conflict with themselves. It can make them feel stressed, anxious, and less important, especially if they think they don’t measure up to what their peers expect.
Academic Stress
For many teens, the pressure to do well in school can be too much to handle. Trying to balance schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and other people’s expectations about college and the future can lead to burnout, not getting enough sleep, and anxiety disorders. Such pressures can also make teens feel like they are not good enough and afraid of failing.
Body Image and Self-esteem Issues
With all the picture-perfect images on social media, a lot of teens struggle with how they see themselves. Always measuring up to friends or famous faces can make them feel like they’re never good enough, which might lead to unhealthy eating habits, feeling down a lot, or constantly seeing themselves in a negative light.
Relationship Dynamics
Starting out in the dating world can be a real emotional rollercoaster for teens. Breakups, one-sided crushes, or just regular relationship drama can stir up a lot of feelings, messing with their mood, and how they see themselves.
Family Conflicts
Being a teenager often means wanting more freedom and feeling ready to take on the world. But this can also lead to clashes at home. Whether it’s fighting for more independence, not seeing eye-to-eye with your parents’ beliefs, or just dealing with a hectic home environment, it can be tough. These conflicts can make teens feel isolated, misunderstood, and sometimes even really down or anxious about everything. All the stress/anxiety of being a teen can also take a toll on the quality of their family relationships with parents and siblings.
Substance Use and Experimentation
Some teens try drugs or alcohol because they are curious or because they want to get away from emotional pain. This can not only lead to addiction, but it can also make mental health problems worse or cause them to operate from a space of guilt and shame.
Bullying and Cyberbullying
In today’s online world, bullying doesn’t just happen in schools—social media has become a new playground for hurtful words and actions, often amplifying the pain and leaving teens feeling vulnerable and isolated. Getting picked on or shamed publicly online can hit teens hard, making them feel really alone or depressed. In extreme cases, it can even lead to thoughts about harming themselves.
Sexual Orientation and Identity Exploration
Figuring out your sexual orientation or gender identity as a teen can be super tough, especially if others are judgmental or alienating about it. It can make you doubt yourself, feel anxious or down, feel unworthiness, and sometimes feel like no one gets you or has your back.
It’s very important to understand what teens are going through and give them a safe place to talk and figure things out. All that matters is that they feel supported and confident in their abilities to handle whatever life throws at them.
Who We Are
Why Work With Straight Up Treatment?
Dr. Christine Izquierdo
Owner & Lead Therapist
Licensed Psychologist
We do things differently.
Blending cutting-edge treatments with time-honored methods, we create an integrative approach that is personally tailored to your needs.
We believe that therapy isn’t just about treating the symptoms—it’s about mastering how you handle them. It’s about leaning into the scary parts and facing them in a way that allows you to emerge stronger on the other side.
Our team boosts your courage when working with difficult emotions to create the level of self-awareness and confidence you need to live your potential.
At Straight Up Treatment, we offer therapy that is:
- Tailored to you
- Results-focused
- Integrative
- Values-driven
Find the right therapist for you
Our Approach
How Teen Therapy Works
At Straight Up Treatment, we meet you where you are.
Here, your teen will find a welcoming and confidential environment where they can openly discuss concerns, feelings, and goals without judgment or guilt. Our approach provides a structured yet flexible path towards mental well-being
Our First Session
Our first step is understanding your teen's individual story. Through compassionate connection and assessment, we identify the areas where support is most needed.
Personalized Plan
We then develop a therapy plan that truly resonates with your teen’s personality and needs in the most effective way.
Ongoing Support
Over time, we work through challenges, celebrate successes, providing tools and strategies to establish lasting change in your teen’s life.
Let's do this!
Straight Up Treatment
What You Can Expect From Teen Therapy
The results your teen will see from therapy depend on a few things, including a strong comfort level with their therapist, consistency in attending, and the action they take based on the strategies we discuss.
Over time, you may notice that your teen:
- Has less drastic mood swings, and is better able to handle stress or disappointment with more resilience and understanding
- Starts forming deeper, more meaningful connections with friends, and resolves conflicts with them in a more mature way
- Starts opening up more or speaking with a new clarity
- Shows a shift towards enthusiasm for hobbies, school work, or future plans
- Starts standing up for themselves, making decisions more independently, or taking pride in their achievements and identity
Therapy can help your teen find their voice, build resilience, and navigate life's ups and downs with confidence.
Questions About Teen Therapy
Is therapy just for teens with big problems?
How can I tell if my teen is struggling with anxiety?
How often should my teen come in?
Are therapy sessions kept confidential?
What techniques do you use in therapy?
Our approach integrates cutting-edge treatments with time-honored methods. Depending on the teen’s needs, we might use cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness practices, exposure therapy, or other tailored interventions. Our focus is to connect with your teen in a way that resonates with them best, and we may adjust our approach as needed. We may also involve the family, parents, or guardians depending on the teen’s goals and preferences.
How do I know if therapy is working?
What if my teen is hesitant about therapy?
It’s okay to be unsure. We suggest giving it a try – just one meeting to start. They can meet the therapist and get a feel for our casual, welcoming space that invites your teen to be themselves, without fear of judgment or expectations. If your teen is not yet ready for therapy, we also offer parent support so you can learn how to support your teen best.
Straight Up Treatment
Ready to get started?
If you’re ready to get started, please schedule a free phone consultation with our client coordinator. We will understand your needs and ensure we are a good fit before booking your first treatment planning appointment. Use the button below to book directly online. You can also call us or submit a request via the contact form. We look forward to connecting with you!
Call Us
(424) 777-0520