Services for Teenagers

Support and intervention for High School aged young people, and their families, who are experiencing challenges such as:

  • Generalised anxiety disorder

  • Depression or low mood

  • Self-harm concerns

  • Panic disorder

  • Social anxiety

  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder

  • Phobias

  • Health anxiety

  • Separation anxiety

  • Academic, exam and performance anxiety (e.g., during HSC exams/assessments)

  • Emotion regulation difficulties

  • Post-traumatic stress disorder

  • Complex trauma

  • Bereavement

  • Family worries and concerns

  • Mental health impact for LGBTQI people

  • Life transitions and adjustment concerns

  • Co-occurring difficulties like ADHD

For High School aged young people, appointments have a focus on individual time working with Alex. Generally speaking, the older the teenager, the more confidentiality they are entitled to, and this is always something we talk through in our first session together. The aim is to include both parents or carers and young people in therapy, as better outcomes are achieved when we work on strengthening the young person themselves, and work with parents or carers to support and connect with their young person.

The initial assessment session is 90 minutes in length, to allow time with you and your young person together, time for your young person individually with Alex, and time to develop some goals.

After that we will work out how often we meet (usually fortnightly at the start) and go from there. Subsequent sessions are 55 minutes long and it is preferable for a parent or carer to attend for some of each session so that we are all working together.

Alex uses a collaborative and strengths-based approach, guided by the following evidence-based therapeutic modalities, depending on the young person’s specific goals and needs:

  • Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

  • Mindfulness-based approaches

  • Dialectical-Behavioural Therapy (DBT)

  • Schema Therapy

  • Attachment theory informed therapies

  • Trauma-focused Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (TF-CBT)

  • Parenting and carer coaching and support