Lillian Babcock, LPC and Elizabeth Hahn, LCSW work with our youngest clients, starting at about age 7 in most cases. Most therapists at GBH work with adolescents from about age 15 and up. Our administrative coordinator, Jamie, will help you find just the right therapist for your child, depending on age and clinical need.

Our youngest clients can expect to engage in therapeutic games and art therapy to help them express themselves and learn new coping skills. Teens engage in “traditional” talk therapy, with some creative and playful elements according to their interest level. Our therapists will find out what your children and teens enjoy - what makes them them - and invite those special gifts and interests into the therapy space.

Parent Involvement

Emotional and behavioral challenges in kids and teens are often related to environmental stressors and family or social dynamics. Some issues, such as ADHD, are biological but have environmental and lifestyle components. That means that your child’s therapist will see you as an integral part of your child’s treatment process.

For younger children, parents are involved in therapy for periodic check-ins. Your child’s therapist will want you to be updated on the coping skills they are working on, and may train and support you in parenting strategies that they believe will help your child at home. Your child’s therapist might recommend that you seek therapy for yourself to further work on areas relevant to parenting (i.e. receiving support, addressing your own emotional triggers, resolving issues from your background that may be affecting parenting). Your willingness to do your own therapy work will let your child’s therapist focus fully on supporting your child.

For teens, your involvement will depend on how much your teen desires you to be part of their treatment. It is developmentally appropriate, and required by our ethics and by law (see below), for us to protect teen clients’ privacy and provide them a confidential space to work on themselves. Parents may be invited to joint sessions to work on communication with your teen in a supported environment.

Therapy with teens often involves work related to core values, needs, and perhaps wounds; they are formulating their identity during these years. While we do maintain private space for these processes to unfold, parents can be assured that therapists at GBH do not seek to undermine the family’s value system in any way, nor replace your position of love and authority in your teen’s life. Rather, we seek to enhance communication and relationship within the family system.

If you have any questions at all about how your therapist will handle parental involvement in therapy, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Teens and Confidentiality Laws

Therapy with teens is a wonderful opportunity for them to take ownership of their challenges and personal growth. When you have questions or concerns about how your child is doing in therapy, your child’s therapist is happy to hear from you. We can always listen to you, and will share what is clinically and legally appropriate.

We also make sure you are familiar with consent and confidentiality laws in New Jersey (or your home state, if you are receiving Telehealth elsewhere).

Beginning at age 14, your child is able to consent to their own mental health treatment in New Jersey. However, they are also considered a minor by law, so we will also seek your consent. Your therapist will encourage your child to share anything with you that impacts their well-being or their relationship with you. You are entitled to access your child’s medical record, but your child’s therapist hopes you will also trust their clinical judgment when it comes to your child’s privacy.

From age 16 and up, New Jersey law considers your child to be an adult with regard to mental health consent and confidentiality. At that point, your child will need to sign a release form in order for your therapist to discuss their treatment with you. As mentioned above, your teen will likely be using therapy to work on their emerging identity as a young adult - developing coping skills, working on areas of pain or difficulty, and figuring out what they want in their life trajectory and relationships. Developmentally, it’s appropriate for your teen to desire space to work through these things independently. Our ultimate goal is to foster trust and communication between you and your teen whenever possible, while working within your teen’s goals and wishes.

*Specific confidentiality laws and practices with regard to parents and teen clients is addressed in our intake paperwork; you will receive a special Adolescent Consent Form that both you and your child will review and sign separately, so that you are fully aware of how privacy and communication will be handled by your child’s therapist.