Family Therapy for Teenagers & Adolescents
When family life with a teenager feels stuck, overwhelming, or frightening, family therapy offers a place to look at it together. Whether it's constant arguments, withdrawal, anxiety, school refusal, or risk-taking, we look at the family dynamic around it, not just the teenager.
For parents and teenagers caught up in conflict, anxiety, school refusal, withdrawal or risk-taking, Rebecca Mistry offers systemic family therapy, typically with parents and their teenager together, sometimes starting with parents on their own. Sessions are at The Blossom Tree Clinic, Suite 2, 6A Love Lane, Pinner HA5 3EF, or online. The initial consultation is free, and the fees page sets out what a family session (90 minutes) costs.
When the teenage years feel hard
Adolescence can bring a lot of change at once — identity, independence, peer relationships, academic pressure, hormones. You may be finding it bumpy but manageable. Or it may have brought conflict, distress, and a sense that you've lost the child you knew.
You may feel helpless. Your teenager won't talk, or they explode. Rules feel impossible to enforce. You're worrying about their mental health, their friendships, what they're doing online. It may feel as if the more you try to help, the more they push you away.
What family therapy looks at
Systemic family therapy looks at the patterns between family members, not just the teenager's behaviour. Seen in context — the family system, the developmental stage, the pressures they're navigating — a teenager's difficulties may make more sense.
- Parent-teen conflict — breaking cycles of escalation and finding new ways to communicate
- Anxiety and school refusal — understanding what's driving the avoidance
- Withdrawal and emotional shutdown — reconnecting without forcing
- Risk-taking behaviour — substance use, self-harm, unsafe choices
- Impact of separation or divorce on teenagers
- Sibling conflict and family dynamics
- Supporting parents to feel confident and consistent
Working with the whole family
I typically work with parents and teenagers together, though the format is flexible. Sometimes I'll see parents alone first, especially if the teenager is reluctant. Your teenager can join when they're ready.
Common questions
My teenager won't talk to me — how will they talk to a therapist?
In therapy, your teenager is talking to someone who isn't a parent and doesn't take sides. Sometimes the work starts with parents, looking at how you approach conversations with your teenager. If possible, I work with the whole family, and my role is to help everyone feel heard and to shift the patterns that keep things stuck. I hold curiosity about every perspective, both parents and young person.
Should our teenager try family therapy for their mental health?
If your teenager is anxious, depressed, or struggling at school, family therapy is a way of looking at the difficulty in its family context. It doesn't replace individual support, but adds a relational dimension — looking at how family patterns and the difficulty may be affecting each other.
Will you take their side against us?
No. I work with the whole family. My role is to help everyone feel heard and to shift the patterns that keep things stuck. I hold curiosity about every perspective, including yours as parents.
Our teenager is self-harming. Can you help?
Self-harm is a serious concern that deserves proper support. I can work with your family alongside any individual support your teenager is receiving. If clinical risk is high, I'll discuss appropriate referrals with you.
You don't have to manage this alone
Start with a free consultation: a chance to talk about what's happening at home and what might help.
Book a Free Consultation