Therapy for children and adolescents at CFC meets kids where they are developmentally, using relationship-centered, brain-informed approaches including CBT, DBT skills, and play-based methods tailored to each child's age and needs.
Children ages 3-12 struggling with anxiety, behavior, or big emotions
Tweens navigating social pressure, school anxiety, or identity questions
Teens experiencing depression, self-harm, or intense emotional swings
Kids with ADHD, autism, or neurodevelopmental differences
Young people working through trauma, grief, or significant life transitions
Teens exploring gender identity or sexual orientation
Children and teenagers are not small adults. They are people in the middle of becoming, with developing brains, shifting identities, and emotional experiences that can be overwhelming precisely because they haven’t yet built the tools to manage them. When something is getting in the way of that development, or when a child is suffering, therapy can make a profound difference.
At the Center for Connection, we work with children and adolescents across a wide range of ages and developmental stages. Our approach adapts to who your child is right now, not a standardized age bracket.
Harnessing the power of how changeable the brain is throughout development into the late 20s, we provide the kinds of specific, repeated experiences that help your child build the skills needed to navigate whatever they’re dealing with, in ways that help them not just survive what is going on now, but that will build their brains to help them thrive with skills and wiring that will serve them well into the future as development unfolds.
For younger children (roughly ages 3-12), play therapy is often the most natural fit. For older children, tweens, and teens, talk-based therapy becomes more accessible, often supported by structured skills work. Many adolescents respond well to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which helps identify and shift thought patterns that fuel anxiety, depression, or avoidance. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills are particularly helpful for teens who experience intense emotional swings, struggle with relationships, or engage in self-harm behaviors.
Whatever the approach, the relationship comes first. Research is consistent on this: the quality of the therapeutic relationship is the strongest predictor of good outcomes. We invest in that relationship before anything else.
Key Insight
A nine-year-old navigating social anxiety at school is in a different place developmentally than a fifteen-year-old dealing with depression or identity questions. We meet kids where they are.
Our work with children and teens is guided by the framework of interpersonal neurobiology, which tells us that brain development, inner experience, and relationships are inseparable. What happens in a child’s relational world shapes how their brain wires itself. What happens in the brain shapes how they experience their relational world. We hold both.
We believe that behavior is communication. A child who is withdrawing, exploding, refusing, or shutting down is telling us something important. Our job is to be curious about what that something is, to peel back the layers and understand the why behind the behavior, not just manage the behavior itself.
We also recognize that no two kids have the same constellation of strengths and vulnerabilities. A teenager with ADHD and anxiety has a different internal experience than a teenager with depression and social withdrawal, even if some of their behaviors look similar from the outside. We tailor our approach accordingly.
How It Works
Children and teens don’t exist in isolation. They live in families, navigate schools, and are deeply affected by the relational systems around them. For that reason, family involvement is a valued part of the therapeutic process at CFC.
We provide regular parent consultations to share progress, offer guidance for supporting your child at home, and help parents understand what’s happening for their child developmentally. Sometimes parents are part of the sessions to work together with the child or teen, to support them and to communicate. Depending on the situation, we may also recommend periodic family sessions to address dynamics that are affecting everyone. The goal is never to assign blame; it’s to help the whole system work better for everyone in it.
Our child and teen therapists work with a wide range of concerns, including:
Anxiety, including social anxiety, separation anxiety, OCD, and generalized worry
Depression, low mood, and emotional withdrawal
ADHD and executive functioning challenges
Trauma and PTSD, including developmental trauma and adverse childhood experiences
Self-harm and suicidal ideation (we have therapists with specialized crisis training)
Autism spectrum and neurodevelopmental differences
Grief, loss, and significant life transitions
School refusal or academic avoidance
Identity exploration, including gender identity and sexual orientation
Peer relationship difficulties and social isolation
Teenagers sometimes resist therapy. This is understandable. Adolescence is fundamentally about increasing autonomy and identity formation, and being brought to therapy can feel like having something done to them rather than being offered something. Our teen therapists are skilled at building trust with skeptical or reluctant adolescents. We don’t push. We create a space that’s genuinely theirs, and we let them lead the pace.
We welcome teens of all neurotypes, gender identities, sexual orientations, and backgrounds. Every young person who comes through our doors deserves to feel seen exactly as they are.
Good to Know
We see children and adolescents at our Pasadena, Duarte, and Santa Barbara locations. If you’re searching for child therapy or teen therapy near you in the San Gabriel Valley or Santa Barbara area, we’d welcome the chance to connect.
Telehealth options are available for families throughout California. For many families, a combination of in-person sessions for the child and virtual parent consultations works well. We’re flexible, and we’ll work with your schedule to find an arrangement that actually holds.
The first step is filling out our brief intake form, and from there we’ll match your child with a therapist whose expertise and relational style fit your family’s needs. If you’re not sure whether therapy is the right fit, or which service would be most appropriate for your child’s age or situation, reach out. We’re happy to talk it through with you before you commit to anything.
We’re here for you and your child.
The scientific lens that informs our work is interpersonal neurobiology, an exciting field of research about the neuroscience of change and of healthy, connected relationships.
We know that connected relationships matter and play a role in how our brains and lives change, so that's where we start.
Grounded in interpersonal neurobiology, our approach reflects the latest research on how relationships shape the developing brain.
Clients are matched to a therapist based on areas of specialty, relational fit, and availability, unless otherwise requested.
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It depends on their age, what they’re dealing with, and what feels accessible to them. For younger children, play therapy is often the most natural fit. For tweens and teens, talk therapy works better, often combined with structured skills work like CBT or DBT skills for emotional regulation. We adapt to who your child is rather than fitting them into a standard protocol.
That’s common, and we’re ready for it. Adolescence is about autonomy, so being brought to therapy can feel like something done to them. Our teen therapists are skilled at building trust with skeptical teens. We don’t push. We create a space that’s genuinely theirs and let them set the pace.
Parent involvement is a valued part of the work. We provide regular parent consultations to share what’s happening (within appropriate confidentiality with teens) and offer guidance for supporting your child at home. When family dynamics are part of the picture, we may recommend periodic family sessions as well.
Yes. A significant portion of our clients are neurodivergent. Our approach is neurodiversity-affirming, which means we work to understand how your child’s brain is wired and build on strengths, rather than trying to make them look neurotypical.
Anxiety (including social anxiety, separation anxiety, OCD, generalized worry), depression, ADHD, trauma and PTSD, self-harm and suicidal ideation, autism, grief and life transitions, school refusal, identity exploration (including gender identity and sexual orientation), and peer difficulties. If you’re not sure whether we’re the right fit, reach out and we’ll talk it through.
In person at our Pasadena, Duarte, and Santa Barbara locations, and via telehealth throughout California. Many families combine in-person sessions for their child with virtual parent consultations, which works well for busy schedules.
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