Therapy for Children, Teens, and Families

What is Child, Teen, and Family Therapy?

At Miracle Mile we team up with families to take on problems that have entered their lives.

Too often therapy occurs with the young person and therapist meeting alone. Parents and caregivers can be left wondering, “What’s going on in there.” While we can meet alone with young people when requested, we prefer to meet with the whole family. This is less to see the family in action or to assess for problem behavior and more to work together as a team to take on problems that have impacted the life of the young person and family. 

We are also aware of psychotherapy’s longstanding penchant for parent-blame and the temptation to put parents, and particularly, mothers on the hot seat. At Miracle Mile we respect parents and treat them as partners.

Miracle Mile therapists are available to meet either in-person at our Los Angeles office or virtually.

We offer a sliding fee scale making therapy affordable.

What can therapy for children, teens, and families help with?

Your child may be struggling with one of the issues listed below, or have been diagnosed with a “disorder”. Perhaps this is what’s prompting you to connect them with a therapist. At Miracle Mile, we avoid diagnosing, but we understand if one of these labels is a concern:

  • ADHD

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

  • Bullying

  • Separation and Divorce

  • Grief and loss

  • Low self-esteem

  • Eating disorder

  • Emotional dysregulation

  • Relational conflict

  • Anger

  • Stress

  • Addiction

  • Trauma

  • Sexual identity

  • Gender identity

Tell us what is wonderful about your child

Parents come to a first session dutifully prepared to describe concerns regarding their son/daughter/child. At Miracle Mile we do not believe problems should have the first say. Instead, we want to get to know your child according to what is wonderful about them. At the outset we want to know what the young person might already have in hand to meet the problem with. 

Parents also deserve the opportunity to describe what is most lovable about their child rather than having to introduce them in a way that would potentially be discouraging and even cause embarrassment.

Many conventional approaches to therapy locate problems “in” people. This leads to professional statements like “Your child has depression ” or “Your child has an oppositional-defiant disorder” making problems central to young people’s identities. As a result your child or teen could come to think of themselves in one of these ways:

  • I’m bi-polar

  • I have ADHD

  • I have have low self-esteem

  • I have an anxiety disorder

  • I’m an angry person

This can leave young people feeling demoralized and known first and foremost according to the problem rather than according to their moral character. At Miracle Mile we begin by getting to know them apart from the problem. With breathing room from the problem, they can find their footing, reclaim the direction of their life, and take decisive action.

Learn more about our narrative therapy approach here.

What to expect?

The first step is to submit the New Client Inquiry Form.

Then we’ll contact you to let you know if our team has availability.

We’ll find a date and time for your first appointment. At that point we’ll ask you to complete a more detailed new client intake form.

You can meet with your therapist in person at our office location on Wilshire Boulevard, or choose to meet virtually via a secure video conference link.

If you have other questions, view answers to Frequently Asked Questions or contact us by phone or email.