Today’s teenagers are under a great deal of stress and are often silenced by their many social and family pressures. Providing teens with the opportunity to take part in their own counseling allows them to further develop skills which promote independence. Therapy for adolescents and teens can help teens improve their overall functioning at home, school, within the family, and with peers/social environment.
Our therapists in St. Paul, Minnesota specializes in working with teens and adolescents on the unique challenges that they face, including but not limited to academic stress, life transitions, gender and sexuality exploration, substance use, and struggles with friendships and relationships.
We recognize that teenagers are under a lot of stress and that factors such as learning about oneself and social and family pressure can often make it hard to talk about the stressors. At Sentier, we affirm and validate the experiences of teens and adolescents and acknowledge the bravery that it takes to come to therapy.
Providing teens with the opportunity to take part in their own counseling allows them to further develop skills which promote independence. Having the support of a trained mental health professional for adolescents and teens can help them improve their overall functioning at home, school, within the family, and with peers/social environment.
Engaging in therapy also helps challenge the stigma around asking for help when it comes to mental health needs. In seeing the value of prioritizing their mental well-being, teens and adolescents can more confidently and successfully navigate their surroundings and the exciting challenges and transitions that come with this phase of life.
Adolescence is its own developmental territory. A teenager isn’t a younger adult or an older child — they’re navigating identity, autonomy, peer belonging, and a still-developing prefrontal cortex all at once. The therapy that works for teens has to meet them where they are at developmentally.
At Sentier, we don’t use a one-size-fits-all model with teens. Your teen will be matched with a therapist whose training and personality fits what they’re working through. From there, we draw from evidence-based approaches that have been studied specifically with adolescents, and we adapt the pace and the room to what your teen actually needs — not what a textbook says they should need.
We also believe teens deserve to be treated as the experts on their own lives. Sessions are collaborative, not lecture-style. Your teen helps set the goals. They help decide what’s worth talking about. That sense of agency is often the difference between a teen who shows up reluctantly for the first few weeks and a teen who, by week four, asks if the appointment can be moved earlier.
Different teens respond to different approaches. Our therapists are trained in many evidence-based modalities and will recommend the best fit during your initial sessions. A few of these modalities listed below:
The first session. A first appointment usually lasts 50 minutes. We’ll talk about what brought your teen in, what they hope is different by the end, and any background that helps us understand them. There’s no quiz, no pressure to share more than they want to in session one. Many teens leave the first session saying it was easier than they expected.
Frequency and length. Most teens start with weekly sessions for the first 6–8 weeks. From there, frequency adjusts based on how things are going — sometimes biweekly, sometimes a return to weekly during a harder stretch. There’s no preset number of sessions. Teen therapy at Sentier ends when your teen, their parents and their therapist agree it’s time, not on a rigid schedule.
In-person and virtual options. We see teens in our St. Paul office and offer secure telehealth across Minnesota and Wisconsin for teens who prefer virtual sessions, who have busy school or activity schedules, or who simply think and talk more freely from a familiar space. Many teens do a mix and many teens have gone back to being fully in-person.
Parent involvement. This varies by age and situation. We’ll discuss it openly with you and your teen at intake so everyone knows what to expect.
This is the question parents ask most, so we’ll answer it directly: What your teen tells their therapist generally stays between them and their therapist. That confidentiality is what makes the work possible. Teens who don’t trust the room don’t open up in it.
There are clear, legally and ethically required exceptions: if your teen is in danger of harming themselves, in danger of harming someone else, or being harmed by someone — those things we share. Your teen will know these exceptions from the very first session. Beyond that, your teen’s specifics belong to your teen.
What you will receive as a parent: thematic check-ins, treatment progress, recommendations for how to support what’s happening at home, and a real partnership in your teen’s care. Many of our therapists also schedule periodic parent-only sessions or family sessions when they’d be helpful. We call these sessions Parent Consultations.
If your teen is under 18, Minnesota law has specific provisions about adolescent consent for mental health treatment. We’ll walk you through what applies in your situation at intake.
We believe in transparent answers about cost. Sentier Therapy is out-of-network with insurance. We can electronically submit claims to your insurance on the date of session, so that your insurance will process the out-of-network claims. Every plan has different out-of-network benefits, but we do find that many of our clients are happy with their reimbursements. We can also provide superbills (itemized receipts with diagnostic and procedure codes) that you can submit to a health savings account (HSA) or flex account to receive reimbursement.
All therapists at Sentier also offer sliding scale services, so that we are able to work with clients who have high out-of-network deductibles. We provide reduced fee sessions and clients can work with therapists outside of insurance in order to still be seen.
If your teen would be best served by an in-network provider, we’re happy to point you toward Twin Cities colleagues who may be a fit — getting your teen the right care matters!
We also provide a Good Faith Estimatein compliance with the federal No Surprises Act. You’ll receive this at intake, and you’re welcome to request one before your first session.
Our office is located at 475 Cleveland Ave N, St. Paul, MN 55104, in the Midway/Merriam Park area near the Macalester-Groveland and Highland Park neighborhoods. We see teens and adolescents from across the Twin Cities metro, including:
Many of the teens we work with attend St. Paul Public Schools, Minneapolis Public Schools, or area independent schools — Cretin-Derham Hall, St. Paul Academy, Breck, Blake, and others. Our therapists understand the academic, athletic, and social pressure landscape these communities create.
At what age can my teen start therapy?
We see adolescents and teens roughly ages 12–18. For younger children, please see our Child Therapy page. Older teens transitioning to college may continue with us via telehealth or shift to our Adult Therapy program.
Can my teen come to therapy if they don’t want to?
Sometimes. A reluctant first session is more common than you’d think, and our therapists are skilled at the slow build of trust. That said, therapy works best when a teen is at least curious about being there. If your teen is fully refusing, we’d suggest starting with parent coaching (see our Parents of Teens and SPACE Therapy pages) and revisiting individual therapy once they’re ready. Or talk with the therapist to figure out best first steps.
How is teen therapy different from adult therapy?
Teen therapy moves at a different pace, includes parent communication in age-appropriate ways, accounts for school and developmental context, and sometimes uses more activity, metaphor, and creativity than seated talk-only sessions. The frame is different even when the modality is the same.
What’s the difference between a therapist, a psychologist, and a psychiatrist?
Therapists (LMFT, LICSW, LPCC, LPC, LMFT) provide talk therapy. Psychologists (PsyD/PhD) provide therapy and psychological testing. Psychiatrists are medical doctors who prescribe medication. Sentier provides therapy. If your teen also needs a medication consultation, we’ll coordinate with a trusted prescriber and even have prescribers within our building that we work with and trust.
Do you treat anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD, eating concerns, and trauma in teens?
Yes — these are among the most common reasons teens see us. For trauma, eating concerns, and LGBTQIA+ identity work, we have therapists with focused specialty training. Our therapists have many specialties, so please look at their bio pages to learn more!
How long does teen therapy take?
There’s no standard answer. Some teens work through a specific challenge in 12–16 sessions. Others stay longer because they want ongoing support through high school transitions or college applications. Length is decided collaboratively, never imposed.
My teen wants therapy but I’m not sure I can afford it.
Reach out anyway. We’ll be transparent about our fees, out-of-network reimbursement, sliding fee capacity and — if we’re not the right fit financially — point you to good Twin Cities options that might be.
Will my teen be diagnosed with something?
Only if a diagnosis is clinically appropriate, helpful for treatment, or required for insurance reimbursement. We’ll discuss any diagnostic considerations with you and your teen openly. A diagnosis is a tool, not a label.
