At Julie Baron and Associates our experienced therapists use collaborative, relational strategies to successfully engage teens and young adults in counseling.
Finding the right mental health care can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re worried about your struggling child. We are here to guide you through choosing the right therapist for your family. Our experienced team provides high-quality, evidence-based individual, group, and family mental health treatment for various issues and concerns.
Our practice, located near Rockville Town Center, provides in-person and virtual therapy for teens and adults. From the moment we welcome you into our suite for a snack, water, coffee, or tea, we are committed to being a valuable resource for your individual and family needs.
Many parents share similar concerns:
At Julie Baron and Associates, we understand the unique developmental challenges teens and young adults face. Using a relational approach, we engage teens and young adults in therapy while maintaining communication and collaboration with parents. Although confidentiality is critical in therapy, we emphasize building communication skills and fostering connections between teens, young adults, and their caregivers.
Our approach is tailored to each client’s personal treatment needs, ensuring therapy is collaborative and focused on achieving personal goals for growth.
Many factors contribute to your teen or young adult’s mental health challenges. Our therapists conduct a comprehensive bio-psycho-social assessment, which examines your child’s history, symptoms, stressors, biological factors, strengths, and supports. Based on this assessment, we create a personalized treatment plan designed to address conditions such as:
Persistent sadness, loss of interest, low energy, and other symptoms that interfere with daily life, such as difficulty with sleep, eating, concentration, feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness, and even thoughts of death or suicide.
Other Mood Conditions– Characterized by mood swings or other disruptions in mood regulation
Generalized anxiety, panic, social anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and school-related stress. Symptoms can include a persistent sense of feeling under threat, uncomfortable body sensations, and urges to avoid particular stressors or situations perceived to trigger anxious feelings.
Psychological stress from single or repeated traumatic events causing severe physical and psychological stress and affecting your sense of security and functioning.
Bullying and Social Aggression – Harmful behavior rooted in power imbalances that can lead to lasting emotional distress.
Mood or relationship difficulties interfering with your ability to live authentically within your gender or sexual identity.
Challenges in encoding concepts, retaining information, sustaining attention, starting or completing tasks, planning, organizing, or self- regulating that affect academic or social performance.
A developmental disorder impacting communication, behavior, and sensory processing.
Acting without judgment, leading to relational conflict, aggression, substance use, or self-harm.
Difficulties in family or social relationships due to mental health conditions, lack of effective communication skills, or life stressors.
Teens and young adults today are dealing with heightened levels of anxiety, depression, and stress. If they are asking for help, they may have been struggling for some time.
Our highly trained therapists can help.
Our therapists use a combination of evidence-based approaches to create personalized treatment plans, including:
DBT is a structured form of cognitive-behavioral therapy designed to help individuals manage intense emotions and improve interpersonal relationships. It combines individual therapy with group skills training, focusing on four key areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.
DBT is particularly effective for individuals engaging in risky coping behaviors and other emotional dysregulation issues. In addition to using a DBT informed approach to individual therapy, we offer an evidence-based results driven DBT program for teens and young adults.
CBT is a widely used, evidence-based therapy that helps individuals identify and change negative thought patterns and behaviors. It operates on the premise that our thoughts influence our emotions and actions.
CBT teaches clients skills to challenge distorted beliefs, develop coping strategies, and engage in problem-solving to manage symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions.
Relational therapy is a therapeutic approach that emphasizes the importance of relationships in understanding and addressing life challenges, particularly for teens and young adults facing struggles with anxiety, school issues, and other challenging experiences. A therapist will work with a client to develop coping skills that empower them to navigate their relationships and improve their overall emotional well-being.
This form of therapy focuses on building a strong therapeutic alliance and enhancing communication skills, helping clients express their feelings and thoughts more effectively. By fostering collaboration with parents, relational therapy aims to create a supportive environment for mental health treatment.
Psychodynamic therapy uses a variety of talk therapy techniques and strategies to help people understand the unconscious processes that may influence their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It aims to develop self awareness, explore feelings and process unresolved feelings that may be expressed through a variety of symptoms affecting a person’s mental health and relationships.
Sexual Identity and Gender-Affirming Therapy is designed to provide individuals with a supportive and compassionate environment to explore and understand their sexual and gender identities. By validating personal experiences and offering expert guidance, we help clients navigate the social, emotional, and psychological aspects of transitioning or embracing their authentic selves.
Adhering to the WPATH standards of care, our therapists assist clients in addressing their unique needs and concerns related to sexual expression, relationships, and gender identity. Through this affirming approach, we empower individuals to live fulfilling lives that align with their true selves.
Trauma-informed therapy recognizes the widespread impact of trauma on individuals and incorporates this understanding into the therapeutic process. It emphasizes safety, trustworthiness, and empowerment, creating a supportive environment for clients to process their experiences.
This approach seeks to avoid re-traumatization and encourages clients to reclaim control over their lives.
Mindfulness-based interventions focus on cultivating present-moment awareness and acceptance. Training the brain to maintain focus on the here and now decreases dwelling in the past and worrying in the future. These techniques, often drawn from Buddhist practices, help individuals become more aware of their thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations without judgment.
Mindfulness can reduce stress, enhance emotional regulation, and improve overall mental well-being. Practices may include meditation, breathing exercises, and mindful movement.
Motivational interviewing is a client-centered, directive counseling approach designed to enhance motivation for change. It helps clients explore and resolve ambivalence about their behaviors while fostering a collaborative and empathetic therapeutic relationship, encouraging individuals to commit to their goals and make positive changes.
This method is particularly effective in addressing behaviors that can feel difficult to give up such as substance use issues.
Exposure therapy is a behavioral treatment for anxiety disorders that gradually exposes clients to feared situations or stimuli in a controlled environment.
It encourages supportive engagement in life’s important activities rather than allowing anxiety to limit functioning. The goal is to reduce avoidance behaviors and desensitize individuals to their fears through repeated exposure.
This approach is effective for treating phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
ACT is a therapeutic approach that encourages individuals to accept their thoughts and feelings rather than trying to control or avoid them.
It emphasizes mindfulness, acceptance, and commitment to values-based action.
By helping clients clarify their values and take meaningful steps toward their goals, ACT promotes psychological flexibility and resilience in the face of challenges.
EMDR is a specialized therapy used primarily for treating trauma and PTSD. It involves guiding clients through a structured process that includes recalling distressing memories while simultaneously engaging in bilateral stimulation (typically through eye movements). This approach aims to reprocess traumatic memories, reducing their emotional charge and enabling individuals to integrate their experiences more adaptively.
Today’s teens and young adults often grapple with anxiety, depression, and stress, leaving parents concerned and unsure of how to provide support. When young people struggle to cope, engage in harmful behaviors, or avoid important aspects of their lives, they require more assistance than a loving home can provide.
At Julie Baron & Associates, our highly trained therapists offer specialized counseling services to help teens and young adults overcome these challenges and reach their full potential. Don’t wait to seek the support your family needs – contact us today to begin your journey toward a healthier, more balanced life.
A key developmental task during adolescence is building independence. Teens and young adults need to be informed, involved, and willing to take the first steps in therapy. Their investment is crucial for success.
If counseling isn’t your teen’s idea, share your concerns and explain how therapy might help. If they resist, consider offering them a choice between two different providers and let them pick. Encourage them to set their own goals, even if it’s something simple like reducing pressure from adults. Take things one step at a time without imposing ongoing commitment to therapy until they feel more comfortable and engaged.
Once you’ve chosen a therapist, you’ll be asked to provide your email to set up a client portal, where you’ll receive intake forms. If your child is 18 or older, they will need to initiate contact and fill out these forms themselves. Make sure the financially responsible party reviews and signs the fee agreement.
All forms should be completed before the first session, and they will be securely uploaded to your confidential electronic health record in Theranest.
Some counselors specialize in working with children as young as 4 or 5. At Julie Baron and Associates, we primarily focus on adolescents and young adults. However, some therapists in our practice are trained to work with younger children, depending on the child’s issues and the needs of the family.
The duration of therapy varies based on several factors, including:
At Julie Baron & Associates, our highly trained therapists offer specialized counseling services to help teens, young adults, families, and individuals overcome challenges and reach their full potential.
Don’t wait to seek the support your family needs – contact us today to begin your journey towards feeling and functioning better.