Teen and Family Therapy in Los Angeles, CA | David Strah, Licensed Therapist

Something’s shifted with your teenager. Maybe it happened gradually. The withdrawal, the short fuse, the grades dropping, the conversations that turn into arguments before they even start. Or maybe something happened suddenly, and nothing has felt right since.

You’re not failing as a parent. You’re dealing with something real.

At David Strah’s private practice in Los Angeles, CA, teen therapy and family counseling give adolescents the space to figure out what’s actually going on, while helping your whole family communicate better, argue less, and understand each other more.

Sessions are available in-person and via teletherapy for families across Los Angeles County, including Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Encino, Woodland Hills, Brentwood, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Silver Lake, Los Feliz, Westwood, Culver City, and the wider San Fernando Valley.

When Teens Struggle, the Whole Family Feels It

Here’s the thing most parents don’t hear enough: what looks like a behavior problem in a teenager is almost always something deeper. Anger is usually fear or grief in disguise. Shutting down is usually a form of self-protection. The kid who won’t talk isn’t being difficult. They don’t feel safe enough yet.

Teen therapy works because it creates a space that’s genuinely separate from home, school, and social pressure. Your teen can say things they can’t say anywhere else. A good therapist doesn’t lecture them or fix them. They listen, help them make sense of what they’re going through, and build the kind of trust that makes real work possible.

Family therapy works alongside that. It helps parents and teens understand each other without every conversation turning into a standoff. And when the whole family is in a better place, things shift faster for the teenager too.

Signs your teen might benefit from therapy:

Persistent anxiety, worry, or panic that’s interfering with daily life
Depression or low mood that’s lasted more than a few weeks
Big changes in sleep, appetite, or energy
Pulling away from friends, family, or things they used to care about
Self-harm or thoughts of harming themselves
Explosive anger or emotional outbursts that feel out of proportion
Academic pressure they can’t manage, school avoidance, or significant grade drops
Struggles with identity, gender, or sexual orientation
Grief after a loss, a family change, or a major life disruption
Substance use or concern about substances
ADHD-related challenges with focus, organization, and executive function
Cyberbullying, social exclusion, or serious peer conflict

You don’t have to tick every box. If something feels off and it’s been going on for a while, that’s reason enough to reach out.

What Teen Therapy Actually Looks Like

A lot of teenagers go into therapy expecting to be evaluated or told what to do. That’s not what happens here.

The first goal is trust. Before any real work can happen, your teen needs to feel genuinely comfortable with their therapist. Not managed. Not observed. Actually comfortable. That might take a session or two. It’s worth it.

Once that foundation is there, sessions are directed by what your teen actually needs. Some teenagers want to talk through specific situations. Others benefit more from learning concrete tools for managing anxiety or anger. Others are working through something heavier, like trauma or grief, that requires a slower, more careful approach.

Therapy adapts to the teenager, not the other way around.

David Strah’s practice works with adolescents ages 10 to 18, including:

Young adolescents navigating the earliest years of the teenage transition
High school students managing academic pressure and college stress
LGBTQ+ teens needing an affirming, knowledgeable space
Teens in single-parent, blended, or divorced family situations
High-achieving students dealing with burnout and perfectionism
Multicultural families navigating identity across generations
Teens who’ve tried therapy before and weren’t sure it was helping

Family Therapy: Getting Everyone in the Room

Sometimes the work isn’t just about the teenager. It’s about what happens between the teenager and the people at home.

Family therapy brings parents and teens into sessions together, with a therapist who can help both sides actually hear each other. Not argue. Not defend. Hear.

Most family conflict follows patterns. The same conversation keeps going sideways. The same trigger sets everything off. The same silence follows. Family therapy helps you see those patterns clearly, understand where they come from, and start doing something different.

This is especially useful when:

Parent-teen communication has completely broken down
You’re navigating a divorce or major family transition
Siblings are in constant conflict
A parent needs support in understanding what their teen is going through
You want to stay involved in your teen’s therapy without overstepping their space

Family therapy sessions can run separately from individual teen sessions, or they can be combined strategically. Your therapist helps figure out the right balance.

Parent-only consultation sessions are also available. Sometimes parents need their own space to process what they’re seeing, ask questions, and get tools without their teen in the room.

Therapeutic Approaches Used in Adolescent and Family Work

Working with teenagers requires a different set of tools than adult therapy. Here are the main approaches used in this practice:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is one of the most researched and effective approaches for teen anxiety, depression, and negative thinking patterns. It helps teenagers identify the thoughts that are making things worse and practice more realistic, workable ways of responding. Structured and goal-oriented, it often produces visible results within a few months.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

DBT was originally developed for people who struggle with emotional intensity and self-harm. It’s now widely used with teenagers because adolescence itself is a time of emotional extremes. DBT teaches four concrete skill areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. These are skills your teen can actually use outside of session.

Family Systems Therapy

This approach looks at the family as a whole unit rather than focusing only on the teenager. Problems rarely live in one person. Family Systems Therapy helps identify how communication patterns, roles, and dynamics in the family are contributing to the tension, and how those patterns can shift.

Attachment-Based Therapy

Most emotional and behavioral struggles in teenagers trace back to attachment. How safe and connected your teen has felt in their closest relationships shapes how they respond to stress, conflict, and uncertainty. Attachment-based therapy helps teens understand those patterns and build more secure ways of connecting.

Trauma-Informed Care

If your teen has been through something difficult, whether it’s a one-time event or years of cumulative stress, trauma-informed care ensures the therapeutic approach doesn’t push them faster than they can safely go. This matters especially for teens who have shut down, who struggle to trust, or who react very strongly to triggers that seem small to others.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills and Mindfulness-Based Approaches

Mindfulness tools help teenagers slow down their reactions and notice what they’re feeling before they respond. For teens who tend to go from zero to explosion, or who get flooded by anxiety, these practices build real pause between stimulus and response.

Narrative Therapy

Teenagers often carry a story about themselves that isn’t true, or isn’t the whole truth. “I’m the problem kid.” “I’ll never be good enough.” Narrative therapy helps teens separate themselves from those stories and write a more accurate version of who they are.

Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)

Some teens respond better to a forward-facing approach that focuses on what’s working and what they want, rather than what went wrong. SFBT is practical, strengths-based, and often a good fit for teens who don’t want to spend a lot of time going backward.

How Confidentiality Works in Teen Therapy

This is the question parents ask most, and the question teenagers care about most. It’s worth a direct answer.

Sessions with your teenager are confidential. What they share with their therapist stays between them and their therapist. That’s not a small thing. It’s actually the reason therapy works. Teens open up when they know the room is genuinely private.

That said, confidentiality has legal limits. Your therapist is required by law to break confidentiality if your teen discloses:

Risk of harm to themselves or others
Suspected abuse or neglect
Other specific legal obligations under California law

Outside of those situations, what your teen shares in session is theirs.

Parents typically receive general updates on how therapy is going, big-picture progress, and how to support their teen at home. The specific content of sessions stays private unless your teen chooses to share it.

Note for California families: As of July 2024, California law allows teens ages 12 and older to consent to and receive outpatient mental health treatment without parental consent if the therapist determines they are mature enough to participate. In this practice, parents are always invited into the process where appropriate and where the teen agrees.

Your therapist will walk you through exactly how confidentiality works in your specific situation at the start of treatment.

Credentials, Licensing, and Professional Background

David Strah is a California BBS-licensed therapist with clinical experience working with adolescents, families, and adults across Los Angeles.

Credentials and affiliations may include:

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), or Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC)
Adolescent mental health trained
Trauma-Informed Care certified
DBT-trained therapist
Member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT), the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), or the American Psychological Association (APA)
LGBTQ+-affirming practice
Mandated reporter as required by California law
Verified listings on Psychology Today, Zocdoc, and Therapist.com
Positive verified client reviews on Google Business Profile

All sessions are conducted within a fully HIPAA-compliant, confidential framework.

Fees, Insurance, and Scheduling

Teen and family therapy sessions in Los Angeles typically run between $150 and $300 per 50-minute session, depending on the therapist’s experience. Some extended family sessions run 80 minutes at a slightly higher rate.

Insurance coverage for teen therapy varies. Many plans do cover outpatient mental health services for minors. The best first step is to call the member services number on the back of your insurance card and ask about outpatient mental health benefits for dependents.

Sliding scale fees are available for families who qualify. Teletherapy is fully available for families across Los Angeles County, the San Fernando Valley, and the LAUSD area who prefer virtual sessions.

A free consultation is offered to all new families. It’s a chance to ask questions, share what’s going on, and decide whether this feels like the right fit for your teen and your family.

Frequently Asked Questions

My teenager refuses to go to therapy. What do I do?

This is one of the most common situations parents deal with. Most teens resist therapy because they’re worried about what it means (there’s something wrong with them) or what will happen there (they’ll be judged or lectured). One approach that works well: tell your teen they only need to come to one session. Just one. By the end of that session, most teens feel genuinely heard in a way they didn’t expect, and many choose to come back. The goal is to give them a sense of autonomy in the process rather than making therapy something that’s being done to them.

Will the therapist tell me everything my teenager says?

No, and that’s intentional. Confidentiality is what makes teen therapy actually work. Your teen needs to know they can be honest without worrying that everything gets reported back to you. You’ll get general updates on how therapy is going and guidance on how to support your teen at home. The detailed content of sessions stays private unless there’s a safety concern. Your therapist will explain exactly how this works at your first appointment.

What’s the difference between teen therapy and family therapy?

Teen therapy focuses on your adolescent as an individual. It’s their space to work through what they’re experiencing. Family therapy brings the family unit into sessions together to work on communication patterns, conflict, and dynamics. Both can run at the same time. Often the most effective approach is a combination of individual teen sessions and occasional family sessions, so your teen has their private space while the family relationship also gets support.

How do I know if my teen needs therapy or if it’s just normal adolescence?

This is the honest answer: there’s real overlap, and it’s not always easy to tell. What you’re looking for is persistence and impairment. If the mood changes, withdrawal, or behavior problems are lasting longer than a few weeks, getting worse over time, or significantly affecting your teen’s school performance, friendships, or daily functioning, that crosses the line from normal adolescent turbulence into something that benefits from professional support. When in doubt, a free consultation is a low-pressure way to get a professional perspective.

Does insurance cover teen therapy in Los Angeles?

Many insurance plans cover outpatient mental health services for minors. Coverage depends on your specific plan, whether you choose an in-network or out-of-network therapist, and whether your plan has a deductible that needs to be met first. Call the member services number on the back of your insurance card and ask specifically about outpatient mental health benefits for your teen. HSA and FSA accounts can also often be used to pay for therapy, which brings the out-of-pocket cost down meaningfully.

Can a teenager in California get therapy without parental consent?

As of July 2024, yes. California law now allows teens ages 12 and older to consent to and receive outpatient mental health treatment without parental consent, provided the therapist determines the teen is mature enough to meaningfully participate. That said, this practice always encourages family involvement where the teen is open to it, because parental support tends to improve outcomes. If your teen reached out on their own, that’s encouraged and respected. Your therapist will navigate the consent and confidentiality process with everyone’s best interests in mind.

What if my teenager has tried therapy before and said it didn’t help?

It’s worth asking why. Often when therapy hasn’t worked, it comes down to fit. The teen didn’t connect with the therapist. The approach didn’t match what they actually needed. Or the sessions felt too much like being interrogated rather than heard. A different therapist with a different style can be a completely different experience. The free consultation is a good place to start. If after a few sessions it still doesn’t feel right, your therapist will tell you honestly and help you find a better fit.

Ready to Get Started?

You don’t need to have the full picture to reach out. Most families don’t. They just know something needs to change.

Whether your family is in Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Brentwood, Beverly Hills, Silver Lake, Encino, Woodland Hills, or anywhere else across Los Angeles County, teen and family therapy with David Strah is available in-person and via teletherapy.

Start with a free consultation. No commitment required. Just a real conversation to see whether this is the right fit for your teenager and your family.