Our services
Adolescent Psychiatry
Mental health care for teens ages 13 to 18
Care across California
100% secure video visits
In short
Psychiatric care for teenagers facing depression, anxiety, ADHD, mood changes, or trauma. Parents and guardians are partners in the care plan, while teens get private time to speak openly.
What this includes
Who this is for
Teenagers ages 13 to 18 experiencing emotional, behavioral, or school-related challenges.
If your teenager is in immediate danger
Call 911, or take them to the nearest emergency department. Call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which serves young people and their parents 24 hours a day. Asking a teenager directly whether they have thought about hurting themselves does not plant the idea. Research consistently finds the opposite: asking makes it more likely they will tell you.
Where to begin
Telling adolescence apart from a problem
Almost every symptom in adolescent psychiatry also appears in ordinary teenage life. Teenagers withdraw, sleep at odd hours, argue, and become difficult to reach. The question is never whether a behavior exists, it is whether it is out of proportion, whether it persists, and whether it is costing them something.
The practical threshold is function. Is this affecting school, friendships, family life, or sleep? A teenager who is stressed but still going to school, still seeing friends, and still sleeping is in a different position from one whose world is visibly narrowing. Parents usually know which one they are looking at, even when they doubt themselves.
Teenagers also rarely announce what is wrong. Distress often arrives as irritability rather than sadness, as a sudden drop in grades, as skipping school, or as pulling away from things they used to enjoy.
You do not need to be certain before booking. An assessment is not a claim that something is wrong. It is a request for a professional opinion, and hearing that this is within the normal range is a perfectly good outcome.
By stage
What care looks like through the teenage years
We see patients from age 13. How much parents are involved, and how decisions are made, shifts as a teenager gets older.
13 to 15
Early adolescence
Confidentiality becomes central to whether treatment works at all. Most of the visit is with the teenager alone, with parents brought in for planning and safety. Screening for self-harm and substance use is routine.
- Depression, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts
- Social anxiety and school avoidance
- ADHD carried into high school
- Emerging mood instability and sleep disruption
16 to 18
Later adolescence
Care moves toward the adult model, with the young person taking the lead in decisions. Planning includes managing their own prescriptions and appointments as they reach adulthood, and they can continue with the same provider after turning 18.
- Depression and anxiety alongside academic pressure
- First signs of bipolar spectrum illness
- ADHD with independence, driving, and substance-use considerations
- Preparing to manage treatment independently
How it runs
A family evaluation, step by step
- 01
Parent or guardian intake
Developmental history, medical history, family psychiatric history, school reports, and what specifically prompted you to seek help now. That last question is often the most informative one.
- 02
Rating scales from more than one setting
Where ADHD is part of the question, Vanderbilt scales are completed by a parent and by a teacher, because behavior that only appears in one setting points somewhere different from behavior that appears everywhere. Teacher input is collected through a secure link that requires no account or app.
- 03
Time with the family together
Everyone present, so your provider can hear the concern in the teenager's presence and see how the family talks about it. How a family discusses a problem is itself useful clinical information.
- 04
Time with the teenager alone
This is where the honest account usually comes out. Teenagers are told at the start what stays private and what does not, because vague promises break trust the moment safety requires disclosure.
- 05
Feedback to the family
Your provider explains the impression in plain language. Teenagers generally do better when they understand what is happening and have a say in the plan, rather than being discussed over.
- 06
A plan with parts for everyone
Rarely medication alone. Typically some combination of therapy referral, school accommodations, family strategies, and medication where it is genuinely indicated.
Working with school
Support that extends beyond the appointment
For many teenagers, school is where difficulty is most visible and where support does the most good.
Teacher rating scales
Sent directly to teachers through a secure link, with no account to create. Their observations help with diagnosis and with monitoring over time.
Documentation for accommodations
Letters supporting classroom accommodations such as extended time or reduced-distraction testing, for use in 504 plan or IEP discussions.
Input for school meetings
Written clinical input to bring to a school meeting, so a parent is not the only one making the case.
Monitoring across settings
Repeat teacher scales after starting treatment give an outside measure of whether it is working, independent of how things look at home.
Planning around school refusal
Avoidance strengthens quickly. Return plans are usually gradual rather than all-or-nothing, and coordinated with the school rather than negotiated at the door each morning.
California law
Consent, confidentiality, and what parents can expect
California law allows minors aged 12 and over to consent to outpatient mental health treatment on their own, where a provider determines they are mature enough to participate intelligently in it. This exists because a meaningful number of teenagers who need help would not seek it if a parent had to be involved from the first step.
In practice, most families work together, and involving parents is usually clinically better as well as practically easier. The law matters mainly for the teenagers who would otherwise go without care entirely.
Confidentiality is explained at the start rather than assumed. Broadly, what a teenager discusses stays between them and their provider, with clear exceptions: risk of serious harm to themselves, risk to someone else, and suspected abuse. Setting this out plainly at the beginning is what makes an honest conversation possible.
For medication in particular, involving parents is strongly preferred and usually necessary in practice. Someone at home needs to know what is being taken, at what dose, and what to watch for.
Common questions
What parents ask
What ages do you see?
We see patients aged 13 to 75. Teenagers aged 13 to 18 are seen with a parent or guardian involved, and can continue with the same provider as adults. We do not see children under 13.
Will you put my teenager on medication?
Only where it is genuinely indicated and only with your involvement. Plenty of families leave an evaluation with a therapy referral, school accommodations, and a set of strategies rather than a prescription.
Can my teenager be seen without me in the room?
Yes, and that time alone is usually where the most useful information comes out. You will normally join for the opening and for the plan at the end.
Does telehealth work for teenagers?
It works well, and for many teenagers better. Most are more comfortable at home than in an unfamiliar office, and appointments are easier to fit around school.
What if my teenager does not want to come?
Common, and worth naming rather than working around. Reluctance is often about fear of being labeled, or of being told something is wrong with them. Framing the first visit as one conversation, with no obligation beyond it, helps more than pressure.
Will this go on their permanent record?
Medical records are protected health information. They are not shared with schools, employers, or anyone else without written authorization, apart from narrow legal exceptions such as an imminent safety risk.
How do I talk to my teenager about the appointment?
Honestly and without weight. Something close to: we are going to talk to someone whose job is helping with stress and feelings, and it is your appointment as much as mine. Avoid framing it as a consequence of behavior.
Your care, your pace
Ready to take the next step?
Start with a secure video visit and a provider who will listen closely.