Early adolescence brings rapid physical and emotional change — alongside the social pressures of school, the beginning of identity formation, and often the first encounters with significant mental health challenges. Young people at this age may struggle to articulate what they are feeling, or may be reluctant to engage with therapy. Our therapists are skilled in building genuine rapport with younger teenagers, using creative and play-based approaches alongside talking therapy where appropriate.
Sixth form and pre-university years bring their own distinct pressures: A-level exams, university applications, first serious relationships, questions about identity and the future, and the growing awareness that adulthood is imminent. Many young people at this age are also taking their first independent steps toward seeking help — sometimes approaching therapy themselves without initially involving parents. We work respectfully with the confidentiality and autonomy of older teenagers, discussing the appropriate involvement of parents or carers transparently and collaboratively.
The years between 18 and 25 represent one of the most psychologically demanding transitions in adult life — and one of the most underserved by existing mental health provision. Young people leaving home for the first time, navigating university, managing first jobs, building adult relationships, and establishing identity in the world frequently find themselves without adequate support. Many are too old for CAMHS and too young, or too self-sufficient, to seek adult services. London Trusted Therapy explicitly welcomes young adults in this age bracket as a distinct group with distinct needs.
Our therapists specialising in adolescents and young adults at London Trusted Therapy Harley Street are fully accredited with dedicated training in the unique challenges facing this age group. They create a relaxed, non-patronising environment where young people feel respected and understood, building trust even with initially reluctant clients. Here are the therapists who work with teenagers and young people — please review their profiles to find the right fit.
Individual and Couples Psychotherapist
Individual and Couples Psychotherapist
Individual and Couples Psychotherapist EMDR
Individual Family and Young People Psychotherapist
Individual Couples and Family Psychotherapist
Individual and Couples Psychotherapist
Individual Couples Family Psychotherapist
Autism Assessor (ADOS-2) Speech and Language Therapist
Counselling Psychologist Individual Couples and Family Psychotherapist
Individual Couples and Family Psychotherapist
Clinical Psychologist Individual Couples and Family Psychotherapist
Counselling Psychologist Individual and Couples Psychotherapist EMDR
Individual Couples Family and Group Psychotherapist EMDR
Counselling Psychologist Individual and Family Psychotherapist EMDR
The teenage brain is still developing, particularly the prefrontal cortex responsible for judgment, impulse control, and emotional regulation. This neurological reality means teenagers aren’t simply being difficult or irrational — their brains genuinely process information, assess risk, and manage emotions differently than adult brains. Understanding this helps both young people and their families approach challenges with more compassion and realistic expectations.
The transition to independence involves developing practical life skills, emotional self-regulation, and the capacity to make decisions independently. This transition doesn’t happen overnight and isn’t linear — young people may demonstrate remarkable maturity in some areas while seeming quite young in others. Supporting this uneven development with patience while maintaining appropriate boundaries and expectations is essential.
Anxiety is the most common reason teenagers and young people seek therapy. It may show up as academic anxiety and exam terror, social anxiety and fear of judgement, health anxiety, panic attacks, separation anxiety, or generalised worry that colours every aspect of life. For neurodivergent young people, anxiety is frequently the presenting difficulty even when its roots lie in an undiagnosed or under-supported condition such as ADHD or autism.
Depression in teenagers often looks different from adult depression — less like persistent sadness, more like irritability, withdrawal from activities and friendships, loss of motivation, changes in sleep and appetite, or a flat, hopeless sense that things will never improve. Depression in young people is a serious clinical condition and responds well to professional therapeutic support when accessed early.
Self-harm is more prevalent among teenagers than many parents realise — it is estimated that one in six young people in the UK has self-harmed at some point. It is rarely about attention-seeking; more often it is a way of managing emotional pain that has become overwhelming. Our therapists approach self-harm with compassion and without judgement, working with young people to understand the function it serves and to develop safer, more sustainable ways of coping.
Disordered eating — including restrictive eating, bingeing, purging, and a range of atypical presentations — is increasingly common among teenagers, and is not limited to any single gender or body type. Body image difficulties, driven in part by social media culture, often accompany eating concerns. Early therapeutic intervention significantly improves outcomes for eating difficulties and can prevent a pattern that is manageable from becoming a full clinical eating disorder.
Adolescence and young adulthood are the primary developmental period for identity formation — including questions of sexual orientation, gender identity, cultural identity, and the sense of who one is and where one belongs. For young people navigating these questions in contexts that are not fully affirming, the psychological costs can be significant. Our therapists offer genuinely affirming, non-pathologising support for LGBTQ+ young people, gender-questioning young people, and those navigating the intersection of multiple identity dimensions.
Many of the young people who come to us for anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, or social difficulties are also neurodivergent — sometimes with a known diagnosis, sometimes not yet assessed. ADHD and autism in particular are frequently missed, particularly in young women and girls, and the experience of navigating a neurotypical world without understanding your own neurology can be profoundly exhausting and demoralising. Our therapists bring specialist neurodiversity-affirming understanding to all work with young people — and our ADHD and ADOS-2 assessment services can be accessed alongside therapy for those seeking formal diagnosis.
Young people who have experienced abuse, neglect, loss, parental separation, serious illness, bullying, sexual violence, or other adverse childhood experiences often carry that trauma in ways that affect every area of their functioning — without always connecting their current difficulties to their past experiences. Our trauma-trained therapists work with young people using evidence-based approaches including EMDR and trauma-focused CBT, creating the safety required for genuine healing.
Exam pressure, fear of failure, perfectionism, school refusal, bullying, and the social dynamics of school environments are significant sources of distress for many teenagers. Difficulties at school often reflect broader psychological challenges — and addressing the underlying anxiety, depression, or neurodivergence often resolves the academic difficulty more effectively than focusing on the academic difficulty alone.
Parental separation and divorce, parental conflict, family estrangement, blended family challenges, and changes in living arrangements are among the most common triggers for a young person seeking or being referred to therapy. Our therapists can work with young people individually, or in tandem with family therapy, to support adjustment and provide a safe space to process complex and often conflicting feelings of loyalty, loss, and confusion.
Starting boarding school, moving schools, transitioning to university, or relocating to a new country are significant adjustment challenges for young people. The particular psychological pressures of boarding school life — separation from family, intense peer environment, high academic expectations — can create vulnerability that is not always visible from the outside. Our therapists have experience with the specific challenges faced by young people in independent and boarding school settings.
The death of a parent, grandparent, sibling, friend, or pet can be profoundly destabilising for a young person at a developmental stage where they are simultaneously building their sense of self and their understanding of the world. Young people grieve differently from adults and may need specific support in processing loss — support that goes beyond what family and school can typically offer.
The most extensively researched therapy for adolescent anxiety and depression. CBT helps young people understand the relationship between their thoughts, feelings, and behaviour — and develop practical tools to interrupt unhelpful cycles. It is structured, skills-based, and often produces noticeable results relatively quickly, which suits young people who are sceptical about ‘just talking’.
Originally developed for borderline personality disorder, DBT has become one of the most effective approaches for adolescents struggling with emotional dysregulation, self-harm, and intense or rapidly shifting moods. DBT teaches concrete skills in distress tolerance, emotional regulation, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness — skills that are practically useful in everyday life, not just in the therapy room.
A highly evidenced therapy for trauma and PTSD, EMDR is particularly useful for young people who have experienced adverse events and whose current difficulties — anxiety, hypervigilance, depression, emotional dysregulation — are rooted in unprocessed traumatic experiences. It does not require extensive verbal description of traumatic events, which makes it accessible for young people who struggle to talk about what has happened to them.
For young people whose difficulties have deeper roots in early attachment experiences, family dynamics, or complex emotional patterns, psychodynamic and attachment-based approaches offer the depth and relational focus that shorter-term models cannot. This work is slower and more exploratory — but often more transformative for young people who need to understand themselves, not just manage symptoms.
Particularly well-suited to young people who need unconditional positive regard and a non-directive space to find their own way. Person-centred therapy works exceptionally well for issues of identity, self-esteem, and existential questioning — the fundamentally human challenges of adolescence and young adulthood.
Not all young people find it easy — or even possible — to express themselves through talking alone. Creative therapies, including art therapy, drama therapy, and narrative approaches, offer a different entry point into therapeutic work. They are not ‘lesser’ therapies — for many young people, particularly those who are neurodivergent, who have experienced trauma, or who are simply not verbally inclined, they are more powerful than talking approaches.
My teenager doesn’t want to come to therapy. What should I do?
Should I be involved in my child’s therapy?
What if my child is in crisis right now?
provides confidential one-to-one support for teenagers and young people facing mental health challenges, life difficulties, or developmental struggles. Sessions typically run 50 minutes weekly or fortnightly, creating consistent space for young people to explore their concerns, develop coping strategies, and build skills for managing their wellbeing. Individual therapy is particularly appropriate when young people need confidential space separate from family or when addressing personal issues like anxiety, depression, self-esteem, or trauma.
involves working with the whole family system to improve communication, resolve conflicts, and strengthen relationships. Adolescence creates natural tension as young people seek independence while remaining dependent on family. Family therapy helps families navigate this transition, address specific conflicts or concerns, and develop patterns of interaction that support both connection and age-appropriate autonomy. This approach is particularly effective when family relationships are strained or when the young person's difficulties are interconnected with family dynamics.
combines psychological understanding with goal-oriented coaching to support personal development, academic success, career planning, and building life skills. This approach is ideal for young people not experiencing clinical mental health difficulties but wanting support with motivation, organisation, decision-making, confidence, or navigating transitions. Coaching is more forward-focused and action-oriented than traditional therapy while remaining psychologically informed.
recognises the unique needs of neurodivergent young people. Rather than trying to make neurodivergent young people fit neurotypical expectations, we work with their neurological differences, developing strategies that work for their specific brain wiring. This might include executive function support, sensory considerations, social skills development, or advocacy for appropriate accommodations in educational settings. We help neurodivergent young people understand themselves, develop self-acceptance, and build on their strengths.
provides peer support in a safe, facilitated environment. Groups might focus on specific issues like anxiety, social skills, or managing academic pressure, or be more general personal development groups. The power of group therapy for young people lies in the normalisation of struggles, learning from peers, practicing social skills, and building connection. Many young people find group therapy less intimidating than individual therapy and value the peer perspective alongside professional facilitation.
There is no formal referral form, no waiting list to join, and no GP letter required. You can contact us by phone, email, or through our website booking form. A member of our clinical team will speak with you — or with your young person, if they prefer — to understand what support is needed and to match you with the most appropriate therapist.
95% of our clients report positive treatment outcomes and would recommend us to family and friends
Young people deserve support navigating the challenges of growing up. They deserve space to explore who they are without judgment. They deserve tools for managing their mental health and building resilience. Whether your teenager is facing clinical mental health difficulties, developmental struggles, or simply wants support navigating this complex life stage, we’re here to help.
You do not have to keep waiting. You do not have to watch your young person struggle while a system catches up. Expert, specialist, private therapy is available now — at one of London’s most trusted Harley Street practices, delivered by therapists who genuinely understand and genuinely care.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has the strongest evidence base for teenage anxiety and is often the first recommended approach. However, the most effective therapy depends on the young person’s specific needs, their personality, and the roots of their anxiety. For anxiety connected to trauma, EMDR may be more appropriate. For anxiety connected to neurodivergence, a neurodiversity-affirming approach is essential. We assess each young person individually and recommend the most suitable approach.
Session fees reflect the specialist training and clinical expertise of our therapists. Please visit our Fees page or contact us for current pricing. We are always transparent about costs from the outset, and we will never begin a course of therapy without discussing fees clearly.
Should you feel that your first session did not meet your expectations or that your therapist wasn’t a good fit, we will provide another session completely free of charge with a different practitioner.
We are proud to work in partnership with major UK and global insurers, as an approved mental health provider, supporting various clients in their therapy journey around the globe.
