Teen and Adolescent Therapy in Fort Lauderdale
Teen and adolescent therapy at Challenges Conquered Counseling helps middle and high schoolers in Fort Lauderdale work through anxiety, mood changes, school stress, and family conflict, with parents kept informed and involved in the plan.
What Brings Teens In
Adolescence moves fast, and it's often a parent who notices the shift first: grades slipping, a teen who used to talk now shutting the door, a friend group that changed overnight, sleep that's gone sideways, or irritability that doesn't match "just a mood." Other times a teen asks for help themselves, which is worth taking seriously on its own. Either way, therapy at this age works best when it treats the teen as a person figuring things out, not a problem to be managed. Parents sometimes find their own anger rising along with their teen's, and our anger management counseling in Fort Lauderdale page describes private sessions for adults who want to respond differently. Our post on the Gen Z mental health crisis looks at the pressures young people are carrying right now.
Who We See
- Middle and high schoolers dealing with anxiety, low mood, or sudden behavior changes
- Teens navigating friendship conflict, bullying, or social media pressure
- Students overwhelmed by academic pressure, college stress, or perfectionism
- Families going through a divorce, remarriage, or major household change
- Teens who have had a difficult or traumatic experience and are struggling to process it
How We Work With Teens and Parents Together
Your teen's sessions are theirs — we build enough privacy for them to actually be honest with their therapist, which is what makes the work effective. At the same time, we keep parents in the loop on the general direction of treatment, any safety concerns, and ways to support progress at home, without turning every session into a report. Most families find a rhythm of periodic parent check-ins alongside the teen's individual sessions, and we always loop a parent in immediately if safety becomes a concern. When the whole household is caught in the same argument, family therapy in Fort Lauderdale gives everyone a place to be heard, and parents who want their own space to work out how to respond can read about parenting support counseling.
What Sessions Actually Involve
For younger teens, sessions often use more concrete tools — identifying feelings, practicing specific responses to stress, working through a recent conflict step by step. Older teens typically engage more like adult clients, working through patterns in how they think, cope, and relate to people around them. Either way, the first few sessions are about building trust and understanding what's actually going on before jumping to solutions. Families in Northeast Florida can also see us for teen and adolescent therapy in Jacksonville. Fear of being judged by classmates can look like plain shyness, and our social anxiety therapy page describes how that fear is worked on in sessions.
Serving Fort Lauderdale Families
Our office near Cypress Creek Rd is easy to reach after school from Plantation, Davie, Coral Springs, and Wilton Manors, and secure telehealth sessions are available for teens who'd rather talk from somewhere familiar, or when scheduling around sports and activities makes an office visit hard.
Getting Started
Call (954) 600-9403 or use the contact form on this page to set up a first appointment. We accept many major insurance plans and check your benefits before the first session. When family conflict is part of what's driving a teen's stress, our co-parenting coaching and child and behavioral therapy services can support the rest of the household too.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will you tell me everything my teen says in sessions?
No, and that's intentional — teens need enough privacy to be honest for therapy to actually work. We will keep you informed about overall progress, general themes, and how you can help at home, and we will always tell you immediately if there's a safety concern, but session-by-session details stay between your teen and their therapist.
My teen doesn't want to go to therapy. What should I do?
This is extremely common, and pushing too hard can backfire. A first session framed as "just one conversation, no commitment" often lowers the resistance, and many teens who start reluctant end up engaged once they see the therapist isn't there to lecture them.
What age range do you see for adolescent therapy?
We generally work with middle and high school-age clients, adjusting our approach for where a teen is developmentally rather than using one script for every age. For younger children, our child and behavioral therapy team is often a better fit for their stage of development. For younger children, see our child and behavioral therapy across Florida page.
Do you prescribe medication for anxiety or ADHD?
No. We are a counseling practice, not a prescribing medical office, and we don't diagnose or treat conditions requiring medication. If medication seems worth considering alongside therapy, we'll discuss it with you and can coordinate with your teen's pediatrician or a psychiatric provider as needed.
Can therapy happen over video instead of in person?
Yes. Secure telehealth sessions are available for teens anywhere in Florida and work well for clients who are more comfortable talking from home, or whose schedules around school, sports, and activities make a regular in-person office visit genuinely difficult to keep up with.