Online therapy for teens in Texas
Every therapist at Clear Lake Psychotherapy sees teens by secure video anywhere in Texas, and Rachel Tolentino, LPC-S, centers her caseload on teens and young adults. Parents start with their own session. We are in network with Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare/Optum, Oxford, GEHA, and other PPO plans.
Is this normal teenage stuff, or something more?
Every teenager has bad weeks. When irritability or worry lasts for weeks and starts to affect sleep or school, it is worth talking to someone.
Teens in Texas carry pressure from several directions at once: grades and college plans, sports and activities, friendships, and a social media feed that follows them home at night. Much of the online part happens out of a parent’s view. At home, that pressure can show up as arguments, slammed doors, or long stretches of silence.
Underneath all of it, teens are doing the main work of adolescence: figuring out who they are. That includes questions about identity, gender, sexuality, and self-worth, and what kind of life they want to build. Rachel Tolentino, LPC-S, give teens a private place to work through those questions, and helps parents understand their teen.
What does online counseling help teens with?
Rachel works with teens on anxiety, depression, life transitions, and identity. Anxiety in teens can look like constant worry, panic, refusing to go places that used to be fine, or physical complaints with no medical cause.
Depression in teens often shows up as irritability and pulling away as much as sadness, and it is common: in 2023, 39.7% of U.S. high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, according to the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey (Verlenden et al., MMWR Supplements, October 2024).
Major transitions for teens include starting high school, a move, a new school, or parents separating. Identity work gives teens room to figure out their values, friendships, culture, faith, and sexuality without being told what the answer should be.
Teen therapy at Clear Lake Psychotherapy is for teens ages 13 to 17 who are dealing with:
How does teen therapy work?
Every therapist meetw with parents first, and then the teen.
1. Parent session
Rachel meets with the parent or parents first. You share your concerns and your teen’s history, and she answers your questions about how therapy will work.
2. Teen sessions
From the second session on, Rachel meets with your teen. At the start, she goes over privacy ground rules with you and your teen so everyone knows what gets shared. If a teen’s safety is at risk, parents are told.
3. Parent check-ins
Rachel schedules check-ins with parents as needed, so you know how things are going without hearing the details of every session.
Family sessions
When it would help, Rachel adds a family session, often so a teen can say something hard to their parents with support in the room.
Why would my teen talk to a thrapist when they won’t talk to me?
Many teens find it easier to open up to an adult outside the family who has no stake in their grades, curfew, or friend group. Wanting that kind of outside adult is a normal part of adolescence, as teens start working some things out apart from their parents.
Rachel keeps you informed through parent check-ins, so stepping back from the details of sessions still leaves you involved in your teen’s care.
What makes Rachel a good fit for teens.
Rachel is client centered and trauma informed. Sessions follow what your teen brings in, and nobody is pushed to talk about the past before they are ready.
Meet your teen therapist, Rachel Tolentino
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Rachel Tolentino is a Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor licensed by the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council. She works with teens and young adults on anxiety, depression, life transitions, and identity, and she sees clients by secure video anywhere in Texas. Her approach is client centered, trauma informed, and collaborative: she and your teen set goals together. She is trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT).
Julieta Edmond, MA, LPC is a Certified PCIT Therapist through PCIT International and a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas. She holds a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Sam Houston State University. She provides counseling in both English and Spanish, and works with children, teenagers, families, and couples. She is based in Lufkin and sees clients across Texas by video. PCIT asks parents to be watched while they parent, which is uncomfortable for almost everyone in the first few sessions. That discomfort is expected and it fades.
Read Julieta's full bio →
Questions about PCIT.
Don't see your question? Our team is happy to help.
Sources:
Comer, J. S., Furr, J. M., Miguel, E. M., et al. (2017). Remotely delivering real-time parent training to the home: An initial randomized trial of Internet-delivered parent-child interaction therapy (I-PCIT). Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 85(9), 909-917. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000230.
About PCIT and provider standards. https://www.pcit.org/
California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy program profile. https://www.cebc4cw.org/program/parent-child-interaction-therapy/
Last reviewed: Sept. 2026 by Julieta Edmond, MA, LPC, Certified PCIT Therapist
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