Therapy for
Pre-Teens &
Teens (11+)

In Santa Barbara & Throughout CA

Support for anxiety, emotional overwhelm, ADHD, motivation struggles, friendship concerns, and navigating growing up.

Middle school and high school can be hard.

Sometimes you can see it coming.
Other times it feels like things change all at once.

A child who used to seem confident becomes anxious.
School starts feeling overwhelming.
Friendships become more stressful.
Emotions feel bigger.
Motivation drops.
Everything feels harder than it used to.

Maybe your child seems overwhelmed more often.

Maybe they get stuck in worry.

Maybe they shut down, avoid things, or become harder to reach.

You know something feels different.

You don't have to figure it out alone.

Schedule a Free 15-Minute Consultation

You Might Be Noticing Your Teen

• Worrying or overthinking
• School stress becoming harder to manage
• Bigger emotions or feeling overwhelmed easily
• Difficulty focusing or staying organized
• Friendship struggles or social worries
• Less motivation or increased avoidance
• More irritability or frustration
• Sleep changes or trouble falling asleep
• Pulling away from family, friends, or activities

Or maybe it is something harder to explain.

You just know your teen does not quite seem like themselves lately.

There are ways to help.

Areas I Commonly Help With

Worry that feels hard to turn off. Overthinking. Perfectionism. School stress. Feeling overwhelmed. Trouble handling uncertainty or things not going according to plan.
Big feelings that feel hard to manage. Irritability. Frustration. Meltdowns. Shutting down. Difficulty adjusting when things change.
Difficulty focusing. Staying organized. Following through. Motivation concerns. Feeling behind despite trying hard.
Friendship conflict. Feeling left out. Social anxiety. Navigating changing friendships. Feeling unsure where they fit in.
Young people who think deeply, feel deeply, and can become overwhelmed more easily by stress, transitions, expectations, or the world around them.

Therapy Offerings

How Therapy With Me Helps

Licensed therapist Alex Goodman sitting in a Santa Barbara therapy office specializing in anxiety and overthinking

I'm Alex, a licensed therapist based in Santa Barbara, CA.
Having grown up here, I understand many of the pressures and challenges teens and families navigate.

Every young person is different.

Some need space to slow things down.
Some need help understanding patterns.
Some need support building new ways of responding to stress, emotions, relationships, or everyday life.

My approach is thoughtful, active, and individualized.

I work alongside young people while also helping parents better understand what may be contributing to struggles and how to support progress outside of sessions.

The goal is not perfection.

It is helping young people feel more capable, more understood, and better able to move through everyday life.

I draw from evidence-based approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) when appropriate.

More About Alex

Schedule a Free 15-Minute Consultation

Finding the right support for your child matters.

Use the calendar below to schedule a free consultation and discuss whether working together may be the right fit for your family.

Fee: $185 for a 50-minute session
Private Pay. Superbills available. HSA/FSA accepted.

Commonly Asked Questions About Teen Therapy

You do not need to have everything figured out before reaching out.
Sometimes parents reach out after one specific concern. Other times, it is a combination of smaller things that have gradually become more difficult to manage.
If you are questioning whether additional support may help, a consultation can be a good place to start.
This is very common.
Young people often have questions about what therapy will be like or uncertainty about meeting someone new.
Building comfort and connection is an important part of the process, and therapy is not about forcing young people to talk before they are ready.
My work is not only supporting young people.
It is also supporting parents and families.
Parent involvement depends on age, goals, and what makes sense for your child and family, but may include check-ins, discussing what is happening outside of therapy, meeting together when helpful, and helping carry progress into everyday life.
Parents often notice patterns, changes, and stressors that matter, and that information helps create a clearer understanding of what your child may need.