Parent Therapy
Supporting parents who are carrying a lot - often quietly - while caring deeply for their children.
Parenting a child or teen with mental health challenges can be exhausting, isolating, and emotionally overwhelming. Many parents I work with are doing everything they can: advocating, researching, holding boundaries, staying regulated in moments of crisis, and constantly questioning whether they're doing the right thing.
This work starts with you as a person, not just as a parent trying to hold everything together.
Parent therapy is not about fixing your child or analyzing your parenting. It's a place to slow down, name what you're holding, and receive support without judgment. Together, we work to reduce burnout, clarify what's within your control, and build skills that help you respond more effectively, both for your own well-being and for your family.
You don't have to be the strong one here. And you don't have to carry this alone.
For some families, parent therapy is the primary support; for others, it works alongside family therapy to strengthen the system as a whole.
How Parent Therapy Can Help
This work may include support to:
Process grief, fear, anger, resentment, guilt, and burnout
Learn skills to manage your own distress during high-intensity moments
Understand your child's struggles from a clinical perspective without blame or shame
Develop communication strategies that reduce conflict and build connection
Set boundaries that protect your well-being while still supporting your child
Navigate differences with a partner or co-parent during periods of stress
Why Parent Support Matters
When a child is struggling, the entire family system is affected. Parents often carry enormous emotional and practical responsibility - managing crises, coordinating care, absorbing fear, and trying to hold things together while feeling depleted.
You can't pour from an empty cup.
By supporting your own mental health and learning skills to respond more effectively, you create a more stable environment for your child. Sustainable change happens when parents are supported, not when all the focus is placed on the child alone.
Why Work With a Therapist Who Specializes in Parent Support
Experience with complex family systems
Over seven years working with families navigating self-harm, eating disorders, hospitalizations, and high-acuity treatment. I understand the exhaustion, fear, grief, resentment, and guilt that comes with loving a child who is struggling.
Skills-based, practical support
Drawing from DBT to help parents manage distress, communicate more effectively, and support skill use at home.
A non-judgmental space
You are not a bad parent. You are a parent responding to very hard circumstances. This is a space where you can say the hard things out loud without shame.
A systems-informed approach
When appropriate, I provide coordinated care that supports both parents and children working toward shared goals.
What to Expect From Parent Therapy
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1. Free Consultation
A 15-20 minute conversation about what's happening in your family, what you're carrying, and what you're hoping for.
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2. Assessment and Clarifying Priorities
Early sessions focus on your family context, your child's challenges, and what you need as a person, partner, and parent. Together we identify patterns contributing to burnout and clarify goals.
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3. Ongoing Support and Skill-Building
A mix of emotional processing and practical skill-building: regulating your nervous system, strengthening boundaries, and developing tools to help you respond rather than react.
Ready to Get the Support You Need?
You’ve been taking care of everyone else.
It’s okay to take care of yourself too.
Common Questions Parents Ask
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No. Parent therapy focuses on you — your experience, emotions, and needs as a parent. Family therapy includes your child and focuses on relational patterns and communication within the family. Sometimes both are helpful; sometimes parent therapy alone is the right place to start.
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Not necessarily. Some parents attend individually, others with a partner or co-parent. We’ll talk together about what makes the most sense for your situation and adjust as needed over time.
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Those feelings are common when parents are carrying long-term stress, fear, and responsibility. This is a space where you can be honest about what you’re feeling and work through it without judgment.
Related therapy services
Depending on your family’s needs, other services within the practice may also be helpful:
Child & Adolescent Therapy – evidence-based support for youth navigating intense emotions.
Family Therapy - relational work grounded in Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT).
Group Therapy - skills-based and therapeutic groups designed to support emotional regulation, connection, and growth, offered across different stages of care
Comprehensive DBT Programming – a more structured level of care when clinically indicated