Adolescents and young adults
For adolescents, their parents, and young adults
We work with adolescents and young adults who are dealing with anxiety, difficult emotion, family conflict, or demands that have started to feel unmanageable, and with the parents trying to help.
Who you would seeFor parentsFor young adultsIf you are reading this yourself
Who you would see
Dr. Inzinna sees boys from age 10 through adolescence, and young adults. Carlos Espinal, LMSW, sees children and adolescents of any gender, and young adults, with particular attention to executive functioning, ADHD, autism and NVLD, to the pressure of school and sport, and to twins and their parents. Either of us may be right for a teenage boy; the first call settles it. About Mr. Espinal · Consultation with Mr. Espinal
For parents
You can see your son's intelligence, humor or talent, and you are worried about how he is doing. He may be shutting down, avoiding schoolwork, pulling away from friends, or clashing with you more than before. He may be handling a divorce, a new school, or an experience that has shaken his confidence. What is hardest is often that he will not say what is wrong, or does not know.
We take time to understand what he wants for himself, because that is usually where engagement begins, even when therapy was your idea, and we work to reduce his distress and to build the ways of handling emotion, relationships and responsibility he will need as he becomes more independent. Dr. Inzinna's training includes five years in a DBT research lab and clinical work with students at a high school and at The Quad Preparatory School.
Parents, privacy and school
At the first meeting we agree on how you will be involved. You hear from us about how the work is going, what we are working on, and what would help at home. The content of sessions stays between the young person and Dr. Inzinna or Mr. Espinal, with the exception of a risk to his safety, which we would tell you about. Many families come to us by way of a school, and with your consent and his, we coordinate with a school counselor, learning specialist, tutor or neuropsychologist so that the adults around him are working on the same thing.
Dr. Inzinna and Mr. Espinal are also forming a weekly therapy group for boys ages 13 to 18. About the group
For young adults
In your twenties you may be caught between the expectations you grew up with and a life that does not yet feel like yours. College, a first job or living on your own asks more than you expected, and self-doubt, avoidance or anxiety keeps interrupting plans you still care about. We work on what is getting in the way and on what you actually want.
If you are reading this yourself
You may feel overwhelmed, find yourself shutting down or avoiding things, or be trying to work out what you want from school, your friends and the future. We will be direct with you, and your own interests and hopes will be central, including when coming in was a parent's idea. What stays between us, and what your parents hear, is something we go over together at the start.
Getting started
The first conversation is a free 15-minute phone call with Dr. Inzinna or Mr. Espinal. Sessions are held in person at our office on East 89th Street.