Therapy for Tweens
You Know Something Changed
Your child used to grab their basketball bag without being asked.
Now it sits in the corner, untouched.
You’ve watched the door close earlier each day.
The friends went quiet.
Some mornings, getting out of bed felt like the whole battle.
The conversations at dinner narrowed to one-word answers, then to nothing at all.
You’re not imagining it.
The Questions Only You Are Carrying
What about your needs as a parent? The ones nobody asks about?
The helplessness of watching your child hurt and not knowing how to reach them.
Is this normal?
Am I missing something?
Should I push harder, or give them space?
You keep turning it over.
Your Child Isn’t Pulling Away from You
Middle school asks more of a child than most adults remember.
The friendships feel fragile.
The academic load climbs.
High school sits on the horizon like something they didn’t ask to think about yet.
Add the eventual emotions tied to leaving for college…
A twelve-year-old feels crushed under a future they can’t hold.
When everything feels too big to name, a closed door is how they cope.
That’s a child trying hard not to worry you.
What I Do with Your Child in the Room
For over 40 years, I’ve worked with tweens through exactly these years.
I know what it takes to get a quiet child talking.
I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help them understand what’s actually driving the anxiety, the withdrawal, the dread of what comes next.
What They Take Home with Them
Through interpersonal therapy, they learn to name what’s happening in friendships, at home, and in the space between who they are and who they feel they’re supposed to become.
Mindfulness practices and meditation apps give them something to reach for when the overwhelm hits in the moment, not just inside the therapy room.
I’m also a licensed adoption attorney, a background that shapes how I read family systems and the transitions that run through them.
Your Child Comes Back to Themselves
One day you’ll notice the bag is gone from the corner.
Your child texted a friend.
They talked at dinner without being asked.
The Shift You’ve Been Waiting For
The worry they were carrying quietly doesn’t vanish overnight.
But it finds somewhere to go.
They’ll get better at riding out the hard days without shutting everyone out.
And you’ll have your child back in the room with you, present, talking, themselves again.
Choose the Right Therapist for Them
Your child doesn’t have to go through these fears alone.
I am the right person for them.
Not because I’ve had one tween client, but because I have years of experience helping tweens through these difficult years: the withdrawn ones, the anxious ones, the ones who convince everyone around them they’re fine.
Choose wisely as you pick your therapist.
Reach out today to schedule a free 15-minute consultation.
Call me today at: (855) 914-8437.