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You’ve made it to the right place—well done! On this page, you’ll find a treasure trove of video content that gives you a deeper look into who we are and how we approach the world of teen mental health. Whether you’re a parent seeking guidance or are just curious about our services, these videos are crafted to provide you with valuable information and insight into our practice.

Video Guides for Parents

Parenting is an ever-evolving journey filled with challenges and rewards. Our video guides for parents are designed as helpful primers on a range of topics that we encounter daily in our practice. While these educational videos for teens and their families won’t magically solve all your problems, they offer a solid introduction to the issues at hand. These videos will give you a sense of our approach, offering practical advice for parents. Whether your kids are anxious, depressed or navigating any of the many other complexities of adolescence, these teen therapy video tips are here to help you gain perspective and take the first steps toward resolution.

Teen Dating for Parents

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Welcome to our teen dating guide for parents. We're going to be talking about how to talk to your
kids about dating, when to talk to your kids about dating, what you should be talking about.
Things like what is safe sex, what is consent, respect, dignity, all those fun topics that are
really uncomfortable to talk about, we're going to be addressing. We're also going to be addressing
that really sticky situation of when you really don't like the partner your teen wants to date
and how to address that. If you're watching this video and you feel that perhaps you, your kid,
your family could use a little more support from a therapist who specializes in kids, teens,
and families, please feel free to reach out to us for a complimentary phone consultation or
you can sign up for our weekly e -blast down in the description below. So how do you prepare your
adolescent to date? Well, we're going to talk about how to talk about safe sex, how to talk about
consent, dignity, respect, all and again the

efforts to help your kid have a healthy dating experience. There's a big reason why you should
not be ignoring this topic with your kids. Number one, they're going to have these sexual thoughts
and feelings regardless Regardless of what you do, it's biology. We all go through it. Different
kids are going to go at a different pace. They may start having these feelings or sensations
at earlier ages or later ages, but it's going to happen. So much of the media on TV, the internet,
music is sensationalized sexually, objectification, all these things. We're not going to
hide our children away from sex and sexuality. So, where are they going to learn about how to
have a healthy dating experience, how to have a healthy relationship with sex? Hopefully it's
not TikTok or Instagram or YouTube. Hopefully it's from you. How do you get comfortable with
this if you're not comfortable? That's not an easy thing to do and I want to acknowledge that.
It's possible that you may have a very tumultuous relationship

with sex and sexuality based on whatever has gone on in your life. If you're struggling to find
the comfort to talk about this, I get that. I don't think that's uncommon. I would encourage
you to share that vulnerability with your child. And when you sit down and say, hey, this is kind
of uncomfortable for me too, but I don't want to be uncomfortable for you. But this is your chance
to offer a more supportive experience for your child. And it's okay to be uncomfortable. Maybe
acknowledging the discomfort is a way for both of you to kind of meet in the middle and find a little
more comfort with this. How do you talk about safe sex? You may not want your child having sex
right now. I get that. I still think it's an important topic to have because they may be having
sex before you are ready, before they let you know. And the more valid education information
they have, the safer, healthier choices they're going to make. But talking about what is contraception.
There are many ways of contraception.

Talking about the anatomical parts of the body just directly. There are words, there's penis,
vagina, there's clitoris, there's scrotum. These are all words in the dictionary. These are
not bad words. These are scientific words. And I think the more we use them in context, that is
from a place of respect and dignity, it shows that we're not afraid of this topic. And we can have
an open conversation about things that are generally not talked about. I think it's so important
that kids of every gender are educated about sex and sexuality. No one is immune to the dangers
and pitfalls of not only broken hearts, but of getting in over their head, feeling coerced,
feeling pressured. You know, the more information they have, the better. the more understanding
they have of their own bodies and possible bodies of their partners, I think gives them more
empowerment to make healthier choices and safer choices. So what is consent? Consent is when
two people agree to a course of action. So let's say

it's dating, let's say it's you know how far are they going to go physically, that they've actually
talked about it and agreed upon this, whether that's just kissing, whether it's making out,
whether it's intercourse, whatever that is, there is a mutual understanding and agreement
that was not made from pressure, that both people agree that this is something that feels good
to them. Other topics to discuss are respect and compassion, dignity in a relationship. When
there's a lack of connection and trust, relationships become power struggles. And I'm sure
many of us here have been in relationships were based on power struggles instead of connection,
collaboration, respect, compassion. It's really hard to have respectful, collaborative
relationship. And it's not always like that all the time. There are times when people are in
conflict and it gets into power struggles. And it's important to talk about that. It's also
really important how do you demonstrate as a parent. If you have a co -parent

in the house, how do you demonstrate compassion and collaboration instead of power? Whether
it's with your spouse, whether it's with your children, and granted you are the authority figure
with your children and I get that, but is the authority based on control or connection? And this
is a really big topic, but I want to make sure we have an understanding of Are we setting the example
for our kids of what compassion and dignity is? Not just our own, but an equal amount of compassion
and empathy for our partner as well. And it's really important to have this conversation, not
just once, but it's probably a conversation you have over and over again to help kids start understanding
what that means. So if they are in a relationship and they're not receiving the compassion and
the dignity that you're trying to teach them, Does that help them recognize maybe this is an
unhealthy relationship and maybe I need to get out of this? Again, I want to reiterate, the more
real information and education

your teen has about dating, sex, sexuality, the healthier and wiser choices they're likely
going to make. Teens are naturally impulsive and their emotions are going to be big. But if they
have actual information, that can help guide them a little bit, especially if that information
comes from you, not from their 15 -year -old friends, not from online when you can't really trust
if they're getting valid information. But if you're giving them real information from a place
of compassion and respect, they might be able to integrate that. And when they are in those situations
of dating or sex when you can't control it, hopefully they will make smarter, wiser, safer choices
and when they don't, hopefully they'll trust you that they can come to you for support. What
kind of qualities are you looking for in your teenager to see if they're ready to date? It's a
pretty broad question and every family is going to be different, but how much emotional awareness
do they have? What is emotional awareness?

Hmm, well it's the ability to identify, explore, and express one's feelings in a healthy way.
And this goes back to the connection you have in the family and the ability to talk about emotional
awareness in the family. How much have you guys talked about, again, sex education, dignity,
respect, compassion? How much are they able to articulate these things? And the more they're
able to articulate these things and have open conversations, I think that will help you feel
a little more at ease with allowing your child to explore their dating life. So let's explore
boundary setting. Boundaries are important in all relationships because we have emotional
and personal needs. Our partners have emotional and personal needs. Both should be respected.
But if, let's say, your kid is feeling that his or her needs are not being respected, how does
your kid say no? So let's say your teen is with a partner and that partner wants to go farther physically
than your teen wants to Well, are they able to say?

No, that's as far as this is as far as I want to go and are they comfortable stopping? These are
conversations I think it's important to have and with between you and your child and I think
this is a really important topic was how are you demonstrating your family? Does your kid have
voice to say no? Do they have, are you allowing your kids to voice their opinions and are their
opinions mattering? If they have that in the family, that often can translate into dating relationships.
And again, in talking about those boundaries, because if you're going to have these conversations
and start planning those conversations in their head, when they are in the backseat of the car
and it is going a little too far for them, they are able to say, you know what, But I'm not comfortable
with this, I want to stop. Maybe talk to your teen about, hey, if this is an uncomfortable path
for you to say no, maybe you're not ready. Maybe you need to second guess if this is the path you're
ready for. Not saying

you won't be ready later on, but right now. If you can't say no, how can I help you learn to say no?
Or how can I help you say I'm not ready? Here are some possible rules to consider. Every family
is going to be different and take all these rules with a grain of salt and figure out how they work
with your family. One possible option is a no closed door policy. If they're over your house,
over the significant other's house, they're never in a room by themselves with the door closed.
Another thing, maybe you have, you know, some access and connection to the significant other's
parents that you develop a relationship again, won't always work. Sometimes you're going
to hate the other parents, you know, but have some access to them. Make sure that that significant
other spends some time at your house. Doesn't have to be every weekend, doesn't have to be all
the time, but the ability for you to develop a relationship with that significant other from
a place of compassion, empathy, regardless

of how much of a knucklehead you think that other person is. You can have rules of when they go
out. Let's say they're driving or let's say you're dropping them off. If they have a cell phone
that the locations always turn on, you know where they are. Maybe that's an option too. Another
thing to consider is are they allowed to be in public spaces together by themselves or do they
always have to be with other friends? Every family is going to be different, and it's really
up to you how you want to develop these rules. And I encourage you, when you develop these rules,
that it is a collaboration with your child. So they have some voice. Even if they disagree with
the final rule, you feel you heard them, you understood them, and you value their perspective.
What if the person your teen is dating is a real knucklehead? you do not like this person, or it's
a toxic relationship. How do you handle that? Luckily, in our Tips on Teens section, what we
do every week, we answer questions online on

Facebook Live. We've answered this question bunches of times, so feel free to go to there, but
we're also going to talk about here too. Here's the thing. If you really don't like the person
your teen is dating, you have to really bite your tongue and not let your kid know. This is really
hard to do because if you let your kid know all the reasons why you think their partner is bad for
them, is wrong, is whatever it is, your kid's going to turn around and tell their partner. Their
partner's going to be offended and now try to pull them away from you. So now your kid has to choose,
my parents or my dating partner. Oftentimes, in those situations, your teenager with the impulsiveness
and the lack of experience and the big emotions is going to pick that dating partner because
they feel empowered, they feel strong, they feel important, they feel feelings they've never
felt before and they only get it from this person. If you start alienating that other person,
you're alienating your child. And

now your kid feels like they must defend their significant other against your accusations.
And now there's no way out, no matter how bad or how badly that other person treats your kid. They
feel like they need to hold on to this because if not, they can't save face and come back to you
and say, yeah, that person was really bad for me because they're afraid of the wagging fingers.
Like, I know I told you. So, please do whatever you can to hold your tongue and at least stay neutral.
Now you can ask questions, hey, your partner treated you this way, is that okay? Are you okay
with that? And if they say, yes, I am, let it go. Here's the thing about teen dating relationships,
they generally end, usually quickly. Some take longer than others and when your kid is in a dating
relationship with someone you don't like, it seems like it takes forever. And I get that, but
stay patient, let them go through this process so when they finally do break up, there's no embarrassment,
there's no shame in coming

back to you to have your support. All right, are you doing okay? We've covered a lot of uncomfortable
topics in a very short amount of time, but I'm glad you stayed through and listened and watched
and hopefully this is supportive for you. Before we finish, I just want to remind you that here
at Teen Therapy Center and our non -profit sister organization, Child and Teen Counseling,
we love working with kids, teens, families, parents. It's a lot of fun and we invite you, if you
are looking for support for you and your family and you're in the Los Angeles area, please contact
us. We're happy to give you a free phone consultation. Our contact information is in the description
below. Again, that free phone consultation, we're happy to take the time to talk to you about
what your concerns are, what your goals are, how we can support you, and if you need something
that's outside of our organization, we're happy to provide those referrals to you as well.
So, please feel free to reach out to us.
Also, if this has been helpful, we have a whole bunch of videos on our website and on YouTube and
our social media, Facebook, Instagram, about our Tips on Teens. So what is that? So we have a
whole Facebook group called Tips on Teens where we answer parenting questions every week,
every Wednesday at noon, called on Facebook Live. We take your questions and answer them. If
you'd like your question answered on Tips on Teens, email us at tipsonteens at teentherapycenter
.com or you can direct message us here on Facebook or Instagram. We love your questions. Again,
thank you so much for watching. My name is Kent Toussaint. I'm a licensed marriage and family
therapist with Teen Therapy Center and Child and Teen Counseling. And thank you very much,
and feel free to contact us anytime.

We get a lot of questions about teens and dating, so we’re happy to announce the arrival of our Teen Dating Guide for Parents. It can be “cringey” for parents when your kid starts dating. How do you determine if your teenager is truly ready to date? Our guide offers all the essential information you need to help your teen develop a healthy dating life while keeping your peace of mind intact.

And what if you just can’t stand your child’s choice in a partner? Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered with a simple but effective strategy. Dive into our Teen Dating Guide for Parent today and equip yourself with the knowledge and tools to support your teen through this exciting and sometimes challenging journey.

Guide to Supporting Your Neurodivergent Teen

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Hi. Welcome to supporting your neurodivergent teenager. My name is Kent Toussaint. I'm a licensed
marriage and family therapist. I'm the founder and clinical director of Teen Therapy Center
and I'm also the father of neurodivergent kids. Today we're talking about how you can best support
your neurodivergent 2e child and we're going to talk about your expectations, their expectations.
Let's jump in.

Let's talk about leaning into your neurodivergent child's strengths. We all have to do things
that we don't like to do and we're adults and we do them because we have to. Your child, especially
someone who is neurodivergent, may have a really hard time with this and really emotionally
can't accept doing something they really dislike. So it creates a situation where they feel
they're wrong, they feel they're inferior, they feel they self -doubt. It just builds and builds
and builds and creates this tension and the arguing between you and your child which deteriorates
trust and connection and relationship which is everything we want to do to help promote your
child's self -esteem. When we lean into our child's strengths, it's focusing on where their
interests are, what they like to focus on, instead of focusing on deficits, because when we
focus on deficits, you know, your kid feels stupid. You feel helpless, and instead when we focus
on strengths, it gives your kid a chance to focus on something

they really like and they enjoy, and there's already an innate motivation to do that activity.
So if your kid is really into programming, then how do we lean into nurturing that skill coding
and programming instead of trying to get them to creatively write, which they may not want to
do. So we have to find some way for a child to channel their interests in a way that helps promote
self -esteem, individuation, maturity, interaction with others. It's really important.
Again, the more we focus on what your child likes, there's already an innate motivation for
your child to do that activity and it can help reduce some of the tension between you and your
kid of trying to get your kid to do something productive and not a video game. We're gonna talk
now about how promoting healthy social activities is good for your neurodivergent child.
Appropriate and healthy social activities for your kids helps them adapt to the real world.
Neurodivergent people are as diverse as everyone else. Some people

really like to be in social settings, some don't, some are in the middle. However, having some
social connection is good for all humans. We are not lizards. We need to interact with people.
But some kids who are neurodivergent have a tougher time with it and that's okay. It's okay to
find those avenues where your child can thrive or at least feel okay in certain social environments
that are not just online. Online friends are great, but we need to have some face -to -face communication
too. That can be, as one example, sports, music, robotics, you know, there's no limit to what
that can be, but it doesn't always have to be with same -age kids. There are some kids who are neurodivergent
who just have a tough time interacting with kids their age. They can interact with kids younger,
they can interact with kids older or adult, but sometimes their same age isn't gonna work. So
how do we find avenues? One example, this is a yeah just one of many, but I've had some kids in my
practice who really

connect with senior citizens and finding a way for them to volunteer at the local senior center
and talk to all these grandparents who are living there is a great way for that neurodivergent
child to lean into his strength or her strength. It could also be that maybe your teenager helps
coach the local, you know, eight -year -old basketball team because they really like little
kids and coaching little kids. They just don't want to coach or interact with kids their same
age in high school. So finding ways where they can interact with other people, doesn't always
have to be the same age, can be really helpful for some kids to adapt. When kids are in these kind
of situations, they start developing patterns and experience of interacting, of developing
patience and empathy, which are really important. Collaboration. There are some kids who
are neurodivergent and some people who are neurodivergent who really like being in the coaching,
teaching place. I've had a lot of kids who've grown up to

want to go towards being a professor, you know, or someone who where people come to them and it's
very comfortable being in that situation. If that's a strength, let's lean into that. So how
do they interact with people to support others. It feels good for them to support others and
help others and that feels good for everyone and that helps their own self -esteem and that may
help other self -esteem as well.

Creativity is great for everyone. It doesn't mean you have to be professional at it. It's just
a way to look at yourself, to explore your psyche, your thoughts, your feelings, have a better
understanding of who you are, whether you're neurodivergent or neurotypical or whoever you
are. It's a really great way to have a better understanding and feeling of who you are, build
self -esteem. So your child may not really be into creativity, but if your kid is open to it, again,
not about being a professional, or they can be if they want. It's about identifying, exploring,
and expressing who they are in a more constructive and healthy way. I think creative pursuits
can help promote problem -solving. Any kind of creativity is an exercise in imperfection.
Ask any artist, musician, actor, whatever that is. It's never perfect. It always feels like
you can be better and there's always has to be the place of I just need to accept. Every painter
I know, their painting is not finished and complete and

perfect. They just have to stop working on it, right? Because there's always something that
could be different or better. And I think developing that skill, because we all go through that
as humans. Nothing is ever perfect. But helping develop intrinsically that experience of
acceptance. Acceptance of imperfection is a really good skill to learn, especially for someone
who's neurodivergent, who may have a tough time with very black and white thinking. I think
the collaboration for 2E kids, neurodivergent kids, is really important, as it is for everyone.
Most of us have to collaborate in our world, whether it's with our co -workers, our spouses,
our kids, our friends. Very few of us can just be a dictator in our life and just tell everyone
what to do. Sounds great in fantasy, it's just not a reality. So, I think all people need to have
this experience of how to collaborate and tolerate that it may not be all their idea, that they
may have to share in the idea. And then some other people,

you may need to, what's the word I'm looking for, you may need to find a way to compromise and not
just focus on your own goal and your own idea. and having that real -life experience I think helps
a kid who may be neurodivergent, who struggles with that, to develop as an adult who can collaborate,
who can compromise for the greater good of what their goals are.

It's not that much of an epiphany that we could all do with a little more exercise in our life.
Helps with our physical health, helps with our emotional health. It's great for everyone.
I think it's really important for kids who have processing issues or are, you know, really hyper
-focused on certain things. They can forget to exercise. They can also forget to eat or sleep.
And sometimes as parents, we need to help guide our kids towards having some of these routines
in their lives. You're a neurodivergent, to a amazingly talented kid on the computer or the
violin may forget that oh I need to go outside I need to get some exercise I need to be with other
people because they get so focused on one thing and I think it's really important as parents
we guide kids to have some balance healthy moderate exercise helps everybody all of us right
it creates endorphins which is a feel good hormone in your body. It reduces stress hormones.
It helps you sleep better. And also for your hyper -focused

kid, it helps break up the routine so they can, you know, get away from this one thing and do other
things in their life. That may also help them remember, oh wait, I'm hungry, you know. So it helps
improve the awareness of self -care.

Figuring out how much independence your kid is capable of handling is a really tough question
to answer, and it's not always very clear. That's why I'm hoping that you are able to collaborate
with your child on what that independence is. Obviously, the independence of an eight -year
-old is going to be different than a 17 -year -old, which may be different than And a 25 -year -old
who needs a conservatorship. You know, every child, every person is going to be different in
what they need. So being in tune with what your kid's emotional needs are, what their capacity
is, that could be through working with a therapist, some occupational therapy, maybe neuropsych
testing gives you a much clearer idea of what your kid's capacity is as they grow into adulthood.
Having reasonable expectations for what kind of independence your child can achieve is really
important. And it's tough because we all have these fantasies of what our children will grow
into when they're small and babies even through

childhood. And we have to make sure that we're checking our own fantasies with what our children
are actually capable of. We have to let go and sometimes mourn that fantasy to recognize this
is who my kid is. Every Every human is unique in what their needs are. Some of your kids are going
to need more support beyond 18, beyond 25, maybe their whole lives. It really depends on the
individual. If you had the fantasy that, okay, my kid's going off to college and I can now relax,
you may not be able to do that. Again, you'll know your kid's needs better than anyone else. And
I encourage you to be prepared that for certain individuals, they may need support their whole
life. You may need to set up a conservatorship. So after you pass on, your kid may never be able
to have the kind of independence that you had wished for them. And again, I don't know what that
is. Only you do and your child will know. but I think the more you collaborate with your child
and the support team around your child,

you'll be able to make that determination more clearly and more thoughtfully and in a way that
best supports your kid's needs.

Connection is what binds us all together. It's not about how much you love your child or how much
they love you. You can love someone and not feel connected to them. And someone who is neurodivergent,
it may be more challenging to feel that connection sometimes or have that child feel connected
to you. It's challenging. It's hard. But finding ways to connect. How does your kid feel that
you enjoy them? That you like being with them? That you value them? It's so easy for us as parents
to get stuck into managing our children instead of connecting with them because there's so
much for us to do and it's almost like there's no time because baseball practice and homework
and getting the kitchen clean and hiring the plumber and all these other things that we have
to do a lot of times as parents we could be exhausted especially a kid who's let's say neurodivergent
and struggles to connect in a conventional way so how do you connect with your child in an unconventional
way and again i would lean

into what is your child's interest. If your kid's really into anime, watch anime with them.
Talk about anime with them. You may feel that anime is really boring and tedious, but you have
to like it because your kid likes it. Find the love in it that your kid does and honor that. And
I think if you were able to connect with your kid and what they love to do, you're gonna find that
they are more open to your opinions. They're more open to listening to you. They're more open
to cooperating with you, not gonna be perfect. But I think the more you focus on where they are,
meet them where they're at because your kid may not be able to cross the bridge to meet you where
you're at. It's a big topic. Every child and family is different. Each has their own individual
needs. So take from this video what works for you, leave what doesn't, and also just make sure
that you're able to develop a support team around yourself and your child that helps your child
launch in the best way that they can. If you
are in the Woodland Hills area, San Fernando Valley, Conejo Valley area, and you may need more
support, this is something we deal with all the time. We love working with the 2E neurodivergent
population. Give us a call. We're happy to set up a free phone consultation to see how we can best
support you and your family. Our contact information is in the caption below. Again, my name
is Kent Toussaint with Teen Therapy Center, and we'll see you next time. Thanks, guys.

So, your teen has started dating, and suddenly you’re feeling a bit out of control. You know there need to be some boundaries, but you’re not quite sure what those should be yet. How do you find peace of mind? That’s the topic we discuss in this video.

You’ll want to take our suggestions with a grain of salt and adapt them to what works best for your family. But there’s one key thing to remember when creating these rules: collaborate with your teen so you can get the most cooperation and get the most buy-in from your child. We’ll talk about how to do that later in the video.

How to Tell Your Kids You're Getting a Divorce

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You had to make the decision. You're getting divorced. It was a tough decision, but maybe the
best decision you can make. How do you tell your kids about it? Well, we're gonna talk about some
steps to think about and tell your kids about your impending divorce. Hi, my name is Kent Toussaint.
I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist, and I specialize in helping kids, teens, and
families live happier lives. Now, let's talk about those steps to think about and tell your
kids about your divorce. A really important thing to consider is that when telling your kids,
and hopefully you can tell them together, is that you and your ex need to be on the same page with
this. I know that's a challenge because you're getting divorced. It's hard to be on the same
page. I totally get it. But this is not about your emotional needs. It's not about your ex's emotional
needs. It's about your kids' emotional needs. And for this, you guys have to have an agreement
of what you want to say and how you want
to say it, and deliver that message clearly.

If you need to tell your kids alone without your ex, bring your best self to the table. Remember,
this is about your kids' emotional needs, not your emotional needs. If you come with fire and
brimstone and weaponize what's going on and try to convince your kids to be angry at the other
parent, it's just It's going to make it more confusing, more hurtful, and it's going to be more
chaotic for your kids. So tell them what they need to know, but what they don't need to know, you
don't need to tell them. For example, if there was infidelity and your kids don't know about
it, maybe they don't need to know about that. They may not have the maturity to understand that,
right? If they already know about the infidelity, don't hide it, but also don't try to get it
to be something where it wedges your kids against the other parent. It's not going to help your
kids. They may have anger, and that's fine. They can have their anger, but they don't need to
take on your anger as well. You can have your
feelings. You can even have your vulnerable feelings when you're talking to them. That's fine,
but it's also important to communicate that they are not responsible for taking care of your
feelings, that you are getting your own support, and that you are there for them.

No matter what happens with this divorce, your kids still need a healthy relationship with
you and your ex. No matter how much you may hate the ex, no matter how much you think your kids are
angry at the ex, they still long for that healthy relationship. The more you can demonstrate
that you have a healthy relationship with your ex, the more you can share that, hey, we may be
divorcing, we may be struggling to get along, but we still love each other because we're all
still a family, but the family is just, the dynamic of the family is changing. I think the more
you can focus on that, the more the kids can steer clear of needing to pick a side and needing to
jump into the fight.

Divorce is tough. It's tough on everyone, even the kids, so it's really important to remind
your kids that this is not their fault. This divorce had nothing to do with them, there's nothing
they could have done to change it. They didn't do anything to make this happen. And this is because
you and your ex were struggling to get along, were struggling to collaborate, were struggling
to work together. And that's something the two of you have to work on repair and take ownership
of that. They'll respect it. It's okay. Now, they may have heard arguments between you and your
ex about parenting, and you may need to acknowledge that even though we were arguing about parenting,
it's not because of what you did. It's because we couldn't figure it out. And we think that divorcing
and separating and having two homes is going to help us be better parents. Again, I've worked
with a lot of families going through divorce. And what I see is when parents are very clear and
have a very strong understanding

of what the custody plan is going to be, what the visitation plan is going to be, where they're
living, who's living where, are they nesting, are there two different houses, whatever that
plan is, kids anxiety, anger, acting out, all reduce. Maybe still have some because divorce
is it's a big deal and affects everyone, but it creates safety. They don't have to worry about
this. If you don't have a clear plan yet and you have to tell the kids, that's okay too. Tell them
what you have and let them know that you and your ex are working on more details and give them a
of when they can expect to hear what those details are. That helps your kids understand that
they don't have to worry, they don't have to step in and feel like they have control because they
don't, and helps everyone kind of work through this process in a more clear, patient manner.

Here's the difficult thing you're going to have to do. You're not going to like this advice,
but once you have that plan in place, follow it with the utmost integrity that you have, even
when your ex doesn't. This is hard, because you feel like you're getting punched in the gut all
the time, and the other parent is breaking the rules. Your kids will see through it at some point.
In the beginning, they may not, but over the long term, they will recognize, wow, you, the parent,
have integrity, and I can trust you, and it's safe. The other parent, they start recognizing
it's not safe. And they will see it, and it will backfire at some point, but it takes a while because
you may be painted as a bad guy. This is going to a whole other video about parental alienation,
which we're going to do soon, but just a tidbit of it. Follow your integrity. Be your best self.
It's hard to do, but I encourage you, encourage you so much to do this for your kids. Divorce is
ever -changing, ever -moving, and

plans will change. Either because lawyers say so or you guys agree to it, right? When plans change,
again, if the both of you can tell the kids together, that's ideal. Not always possibility.
I get it. So if it's not possible, make sure you communicate those plans as clearly as possible
and hold space for when your kids are struggling with plan changes and just, you know, be supportive.
Understand. Don't try to get them to agree. just be there to help them understand that you get
their emotions. That's what will help them be more cooperative.

Our last point today, and maybe one of the hardest to follow, is to be your best self. Retain your
sense of integrity in demonstrating how you interact with your kids and your ex. Now there's
going to be times when you're going to feel like you're getting pulled into the gutter. Your
ex is throwing low blows. You feel like you're being left out in the cold. Everyone's against
you. Sometimes because your kids will lash out at you because you are the safe one. Because they
see that you're not going to abandon them. You're not going to manipulate them. And sometimes
kids will lash out at you because you're safe. This is hard to get through. Get support you need
so you can be that rock. So you can demonstrate healthy relationships. You can still self -advocate,
but still have unconditional love for your kids. Don't throw the X under the bus. Don't jump
into the battle. Your kids will see it in time. They will recognize it. It's hard to do. That's
why it's so important that you are getting your

support, so your emotions are grounded and stable, so you can be in those situations where the
stakes are high, the emotions are high, and you are strong.

Well, there it is. Divorce stinks, doesn't it? It stinks for everybody, parents, kids. We work
with families of divorce all the time. We would be happy to talk to you. We'd be happy to provide
a free phone consultation if you want to talk to us. Our content info at Teen Therapy Center is
down in the caption below. We also, at our same office, we run a nonprofit organization called
Child and Teen Counseling, And across both organizations, we have therapists for pretty much
every budget. So please give us a call or send us an email. We're happy to talk with you. It's just
really important that you get the support you need, your kids get the support they need. Thank
you so much for watching today's video, and we look forward to speaking with you soon. Thanks.

Divorce is never easy, and there’s no way to sugarcoat it—especially when children are involved. Breaking the news to your kids can be one of the most challenging aspects of the process, leaving parents unsure of how to handle such a delicate situation. In our latest parent guide, we offer practical tips and strategies to help you navigate this difficult conversation. Our goal is to equip you with the tools you need to approach this topic in a way that minimizes stress and fosters understanding. With the right guidance, you can help your children adjust to this major life change while maintaining a sense of stability. Discover how to achieve the most peaceful outcome possible in our new parent guide.

Rules to Consider Around Teen Dating

View Video Transcript

Your teenager is starting to date. It's a little uncomfortable, I know. But you and your teenager
are gonna have to work out some boundaries around dating. How are you gonna do that? Well, we're
gonna talk about that today. My name is Kent Toussaint. I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist.
I specialize in helping kids, teens, and families to live happier lives. I'm with Teen Therapy
Center in Woodland Hills. And today we're gonna talk about setting up boundaries and rules
for your teenager on dating. By the way, everything I say, please take with a grain of salt. Every
family is different. Every family is unique. So take what I say and adapt what works for you into
how it helps support you, your teenager, and your family.

The first rule we're talking about today is the closed -door policy. Do you have a closed -door
policy or not? It really depends, right? You may not be comfortable having your kid with her
dating partner in the room with the door closed. I totally understand that. It makes sense to
me. However, they will find another place to have those experiences where they can make out
or do more than that. It's been happening for a very long time with teenagers, so know that that
will happen. So I think the key thing is whether you have the no closed door policy or you allow
them to have a closed door, have you explored and talked with your kid in detail about things
like consent and contraception, safe sex, STDs, dignity and respect in a relationship. What
are they expecting in a relationship? What are they expecting from the other person? How do
they respect someone else's boundaries as well? Hopefully those conversations are happening
and happening on a fairly regular basis. This is the first time

your kid is going into dating. This is a whole new world for them. You may have had many dating
partners, so you have an idea of that just intrinsically. Your teenager may not, so it's important
they have these conversations with you and if not with you, with someone else that you trust
that you help will guide them. By the way, we have a whole chapter on this on our Teen Dating Guide
for Parents video. The link is below. You may want to check that out.

When possible, I think it's a really good idea for you as parents to have a friendly relationship
with your kid's significant other's parents. Now your child may feel it's a little intrusive,
but I think it can solve a lot of problems. Number one, if there are certain rules or boundaries
that are really important to you that you want respected at your kid's significant other's
house. Having that relationship with those parents may help you feel that those rules and boundaries
are adhered to. For example, the open -door policy, for example. It also helps, you know, again,
it's their relationship. It's not your relationship. It's your kid's relationship, but it's
the first time going through something like this. So when they're having these big feelings,
big emotions, they're stepping into a whole new world for themselves, having both parents
helping to support them to making healthier, safer choices, I think it's a good idea. Also,
if your kid is out on a date and you can't get a hold of

them, but you need to get a hold of them for some reason, it gives you another access point to connect
and hopefully, you know, support your child if needed.

Have your teenager and their significant other spend time at your house. Maybe not all the time,
but a fair amount of time for several reasons. Number one, it helps you get a better idea of how
their relationship is going. Is it going downhill? Is it toxic? Is it fairly respectful? You'll
get a better idea seeing them at your house and or just hearing them in the house even though you're
not hovering over them all the time.

It helps also you develop a relationship with that person. So the more that dating partner respects
you and connects with you, the more likely they're going to want to respect your child and connect
with them. They'll be more interested in your opinions, your ideas. You want to share them sparingly
and carefully so you don't become too intrusive. Having your teen's dating partner around
also provides a certain amount of acceptance. So your child and your dating partner start trusting
you a little more and it's less likely that you become the prison warden in the whole situation.
I mean kids will naturally pull away from their parents especially when they're dating because
they're so focused on this incredibly emotionally intimate relationship. But they still
need a relationship with you and it's important that you minimize that pulling away by having
that relationship and being the safe place for your teen and their dating partner to be at your
house.

Are you going to track your teen's location when they're dating? Every family is going to be
different, but if you do decide to do this, you need to be very transparent and upfront with us.
If you do this on the down low and secretively, you're setting yourself up for disaster. Because
if you track their location and they go somewhere they're not supposed to go and now you know
this The only way to approach it is to betray their confidence and say aha I've been tracking
you the whole time and the trust is broken even more Just be upfront with it If they don't like
it That's a conversation you guys can have the parameters of what you're tracking what you're
looking for How does that all that work? Every family will be different, right? There's no one
way to do this for a family. But the more upfront and direct about it you are, it sets you up to when
they do go where they're not supposed to go, now you can say, hey, I was tracking you, I saw you
went here, you said you were going to be here,

let's have a conversation about this. Instead of coming down with a hammer and say, aha, I caught
you. You never want to be the prison warden. That doesn't help you. It doesn't help build trust.
So make sure that you are being transparent, allows your kid to be transparent, and you have
to be ready for when they do go to the wrong place, how are you going to handle that from a place
of calm, from respect, and to be the adult in the room.

Should your teenager be allowed to be alone with their dating partner in public spaces. Some
of this may be age -dependent, but this is something to collaborate with your teenager on. Now
I imagine if you're dropping your kid off at the movie theater, they may want to have some alone
time. You may want to have an adult with an eye view of them. And instead of just saying no, collaborate
on how does your kid earn that kind of trust. If they're reaching for responsibility, they're
reaching for healthy independence, how do we nurture that? How do we support that? How do we
help your kid earn that kind of trust and that kind of responsibility with you? Sometimes when
you give your kid the opportunity to earn trust, they actually earn it. Now everyone's gonna
be imperfect, kids will make mistakes, kids will be impulsive sometimes, but it's important
to allow our teenagers to make some mistakes here and there. Most of the mistakes do not end in
disaster. They can, of course, but we want to make

sure that they have some experience developing that muscle of independence, responsibility,
and self -care. And I think the more we allow them to do that, the more they develop it. So when
they're in college and you can't control anything they're doing, they're making healthier
choices then.

In conclusion, the one thing, if you walk away with one thing from this video, is collaboration.
Collaborate with your teen on the rules and boundaries of dating. If you come at this as a dictator,
you're going to build resentment, they're going to pull away. I'm not saying throw away your
integrity and ideals of what you want for your kid, but collaborate because if you're collaborating,
your kid feels trusted, your kid feels valued, and in turn they will be more open to understanding
and respecting your values. So the two of you can find this imperfect middle that everyone can
agree to on dating. It creates a healthy relationship for you guys, also creates the safety,
so if things go badly for this relationship, they still feel there's a safe path to you for support.
If you would like more information about this, again, we have our teen dating guide for parents.
Check out that link. We can go into a lot more depth and detail in that video. And if maybe your
kid is struggling with dating

and they could use a little more support, or you could use some more support, please reach out
to us at Teen Therapy Center. Our contact info is down below. We're happy to provide you a free
phone consultation, talk to you about what your needs are, and see how we might be able to support
those needs. Thank you again. Again, my name is Kent Toussaint with Teen Therapy Center and
our sister nonprofit organization, Child and Teen Counseling, both in Woodland Hills, and
I'm looking forward to seeing you at the next video.

Divorce is never easy, and there’s no way to sugarcoat it—especially when children are involved. Breaking the news to your kids can be one of the most challenging aspects of the process, leaving parents unsure of how to handle such a delicate situation. In our latest parent guide, we offer practical tips and strategies to help you navigate this difficult conversation. Our goal is to equip you with the tools you need to approach this topic in a way that minimizes stress and fosters understanding. With the right guidance, you can help your children adjust to this major life change while maintaining a sense of stability. Discover how to achieve the most peaceful outcome possible in our new parent guide.

How to Make Boundaries Around Screen Time

View Video Transcript

Oh, hi, we're talking about screens. I was just distracted by mine. You may find that you are
distracted by yours sometimes, and especially your kids are distracted by their screens.
Well, we're talking about screen use. Every parent's got to deal with screen use for their kids,
especially nowadays. Every kid's got a smartphone. Every class requires that kids do their
homework online, on a laptop, on a computer. How do you set boundaries? How do you set limits?
How do you find some reasonable balance in your family away from screens? Well, that's what
we're talking about today My name is Kent Toussaint with Teen Therapy Center. Let's jump right
in it

So why are screens so addictive especially for teenagers and it has to do with the teenage brain?
It is different than the adult brain. It's not their fault We all had teenage brains at one point,
but the prefrontal cortex, which is the executive functioning area of the brain handles impulse
control emotional regulation, the ability to see cause and effect, all that is impaired until
roughly 25 years old. You and I as adults, we struggle with screens. We all struggle with screens
because they are so, they just pull you in. They are designed to pull you in. Apps and computers
and phones are specifically designed to have you stay on. Now if you are a 14 year old and your
impulse control is not that of an adult, that means it's even harder to get off that screen.

The danger of all this, with dopamine being hijacked and whatnot, is that it prevents your child,
and adults too, but especially a child, a teenager, from developing connections, social connections
with other people, real face -to -face connections, which in turn reduces their sense of empathy
for other people and their sense of empathy for themselves, thus lower self -esteem. Compounded
on that is when a child doesn't have an opportunity to be bored, they never are creative. Many
philosophers have talked about that boredom is the seed of creativity. If you're never bored,
you never write that book, you never draw that picture, you never learn to play basketball,
you never learn guitar, you never learn anything like that. And without learning a sense of
mastery in anything, not they have to be the best, just something I can do, something that's
mine, it lowers your self -esteem and thus impacts social connections because a child who has
no sense of mastery in their world doesn't feel like

they belong socializing with other people. So we want to make sure that your child develops
a sense of self in connecting with others and themselves and have activities that they have
mastery in.

How do you establish rules and boundaries around screen time to work for your family? What is
the right amount of screen time for your child? Well, you're ready for the answer? It depends.
I know it's a very unsatisfying answer, but it really does depend because every family is going
to be different. Your family's individual needs may be very different than your next -door
neighbor's, or your child's friend, or your niece's family, or whoever that is. It's really
about finding what's right for your family and finding a collaboration with your child. If
you just come in as a dictator and say, these are the rules, your child is going to find it very
easy to reject those rules and rebel and find every way to break those rules. You want to have
collaboration. Now this takes more time than you just laying down the law, but again, a relationship
between a parent and a child based on connection and empathy creates more cooperation and that's
what we want. We don't want capitulation, we want cooperation.

So how does that work? You sit down with your child and you talk about these are what this is what
we're looking for These are the goals that we have with screens. What are your goals now? Your
goals are going to be very different and that's fine We want to find a way to to navigate towards
the imperfect middle ground So if you're not super thrilled with the agreement and your kids
not super thrilled with the agreement You're probably play probably pretty close to a fair
agreement It's not about perfection. It's about good enough. So how do you do that? There's
a lot of ways I'm a big proponent of kids earning screen time and So you can have a base amount of
what screen time they're allowed to have but they can earn more screen time based on Responsibility,
you know, whether that's chores Homework, you know, whatever that is or you know, if you're
doing these activities you you're allowed more screen time It really depends on what is going
to work for you. There's no one -size -fits -all.

You want something that is achievable by your child. You don't want to have, like, you know,
if you do three hours of chores, you get 15 minutes of screen time. That's not equitable. You
have to find some balance. You may also want to find some limits on content. Obviously, there's
a lot of pornography and inappropriate content out there that you can't totally guard against.
It's so pervasive throughout our society, but you can limit it, and there are plenty of apps
out there that can help limit website use, filter website use, app use, and you can put it on your
phone. None of them are perfect. There's workarounds for all of them. If you want to know what
the workarounds are, do an internet search. They'll tell you what they are, because kids are
looking for these all the time. I don't think any of these apps are perfect, but they're all fairly
good. You may have to call customer service to get it fine -tuned for your system, because that's
what we had to do in our house. Most people I

know, the basic setup didn't work. They had to call customer service and set things up, so it's
a pain. But it's probably worth it down the line, because what it does is it prevents the tug of
war of the phone, which isn't good for anybody. If you can just shut it off from your phone, it
makes it easier. But again, if you are shutting the phone off or the device off, you've already
worked out with your child what these boundaries are. You've already worked out how and when
you're going to do this. So they know. Even though they'll still be mad at you and they'll still
lose their cool and blow up and all this stuff, deep down inside, they know that you're following
what you said you would follow.

Here's the bad news. You ready for this? You, as the parent, need to set the example, especially
when your child can't follow it. Which means that if you have a certain designated time of no
screens, you have to stay after screens. There's no exceptions. You can't say, but I'm an adult,
I'm allowed to do it, or, but this is work related, or I need to contact the plumber. Your kid's
not going to see the difference. You may see the difference, but your kid isn't, and if your kid
doesn't see the difference, you're going to empower them to rebel even more. You need to set
the example. So if it's no screens from time X to time Y, you need to be off your screens at that
time and just work around that. And what it does is it sets the example that this time what we're
spending as a family is important. You are more important to me than my work email. You are more
important to me than scheduling the plumber. You are more important to me than Facebook. That's
a really valuable message to give because

you want your kids to adopt that value as well and they're not going to adopt it unless you set
the example.

As I've said before there is no one -size -fits -all solution to screens. Everyone, all of us,
are dealing with this in one way or another. Take everything from this video that works for you
and let go of the rest. Don't worry about things being perfect But what I would really stress
to you is really important is lead by example. Your kids will follow your example more than your
words almost every time. And I'm not saying it's going to be perfect. I'm not saying they're
not going to fight back. But if you keep showing up as the parent you want to be, eventually you're
going to have the cooperation close to where you want it to be with your child. Cooperation from
children is based on connection with their parents. So, make sure you have that quality time
away from screens where you can connect with your kid and develop that cooperation and that
connection. So again, I see the impact of screens on families all the time in my practice here
at Teen Therapy Center. By the way, I'm a licensed

marriage and family therapist specializing in helping kids, teens, and families to live happier
lives. And if you or someone you love can really benefit from consulting with a child and family
therapist, please contact us at Teen Therapy Center. Our contact information is down below.
We'd love to hear from you and we're happy to have a free phone consultation to figure out how
to best support you and your family. Thanks for watching.

Most parents wrestle with setting screen time limits for their kids at some point—it’s a modern parenting challenge. Screens are everywhere, and with schools requiring laptops for assignments, they’re nearly impossible to avoid. So how do you make it work? There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Take what works for you from this video and don’t stress about the rest. Unplugging from your devices not only opens the door to deeper connections but can also make a big difference in strengthening your relationship with your child.

Staff Videos

Our staff members are passionate about what they do, and this shines through in the video content they create. These videos delve into the topics our therapists are most passionate about, providing you with a richer understanding of the specialties and approaches we offer. In addition to the bio videos you may have seen on our staff pages, these mental health vlogs for teenagers give you a glimpse into the personalities, passions, and expertise of the therapists who make up our team. From addressing common adolescent mental health concerns to offering advice for teens through engaging video content, these staff videos serve as an extension of our commitment to supporting teens and their families.

Video Game Addiction and Recovery

View Video Transcript

Let's say you're a teenager and you're asking yourself, am I addicted to video games? How do
I know? What questions should I ask myself? These are the questions. So the first one is how long
are you gaming for? Are you gaming 2 hours a day? 3 hours a day? 6 hours, maybe 12 hours a day? Is
it getting in the way of your goals? And what are your goals? Is your goal to get great grades in
school? To branch out socially? To make more friends? Or maybe connect with friends on a deeper
level? Or have a better relationship with your parents? And the question you should ask is is
gaming getting in the way of that? Video game addiction has a couple of phases to it, but we'll
jump to the phase where it's a full on biological addiction like substance addiction. So the
great part about the recovery process for video game addiction is that if you're addicted to
video games, that doesn't mean you have to stop forever. With substance addiction, we work
on a lot of abstinence only models, or abstinence

recovery models, where if you were addicted to alcohol, cocaine or other drugs, that's it.
You can no longer use those substances, ever. Because if that happens, the addiction starts
again. And we have to start the recovery process again. With video game addiction, the cool
part is that we can go from unhealthy gamers to healthy gamers. We can go from maybe six to 8 hours
a day to maybe 3 hours a day and then maybe down to 2 hours a day and maybe just to one. But it all depends
on the person. But if someone can enjoy their life, accomplish their goals, they set for themselves.
And still game 3 hours a day, that's a healthy game month.

If you’re a teenager who plays a lot of video games, how do you measure the difference between a reasonably healthy habit and a destructive addiction? In this short video our resident gaming addiction expert Robert Jimenez talks about what questions you need to ask yourself, and he explains how recovering from video game addiction is different from substance addiction. Good news spoiler alert: you don’t have to quit completely! If you have questions about gaming addiction, contact Robert through TeenTherapyCenter.com

Using Video Games to Connect with Your Kid

View Video Transcript

Let's say you're a parent and you want to connect with your kid but you don't want to play
video games. You haven't picked a controller in maybe 30 years when since you were a kid. And
you're like that's a little too much. I don't have a I don't have a mental capacity right now to
learn all this. So there's two great ways to connect with your kid through gaming without playing.
One is, let's say your kid is playing a single player game with a really rich story, worry and
complex narratives and themes. A great way to is to ask your kid if you could just come in and just
watch, watch them play. No commentary or maybe ask some questions here and there or just maybe
be a silent view and just watch what they're doing. Another way is there are a ton of board games
about video games. For example, we have Fortnite Monopoly. And it's not just it is actually
they actually implemented Fortnite mechanics into Monopoly. It sounds strange, but it is
super fun. I have a blast with it with clients and you're able to finish a game within 30 to 15 to 30 minutes compared to maybe typical Monopoly
will take 6 hours to maybe a week. Who knows, right? And then the last way to connect with your
kid through gaming is TV shows. Surprisingly, there are a ton of TV shows being made about games.
And maybe your kid doesn't want to start a new TV show with you because they think this new detective
show is boring or this telenovela is just not their thing. Well, asking them about maybe they've
heard of a game about this game or maybe they played it and it's being made to a show. Maybe they'd
be more open or inclined to watching it with you. And right there you have right way to connect
with the kid.

Here at Teen Therapy Center we usually find ourselves talking about the negative impacts of screen time and video games on kids. But guess what? Today we’re going to switch the narrative to healthy ways that you might use gaming to strengthen your relationship with your teen. Video game addiction and how it impacts families Robert Jimenez’s specialty, and in this short video he talks about some of the ways you can actually use gaming to connect with your kid without actually playing them yourself (unless you want to of course)!

10 Years of TTC Videos

In 2023, Teen Therapy Center celebrated a milestone—ten years of dedicated service to the community. Our “10 Years of TTC” video series is a tribute to the people, stories, and moments that have made our center a cornerstone of adolescent mental health support. Through interviews with both current and former team members, we explore what makes our operation unique and effective. A highlight of this series is the two-part video interview with our founder and Clinical Director, Kent Toussaint. In these videos, Kent shares the inspiration behind founding Teen Therapy Center, providing a look at his vision for creating a space where teens feel understood, supported, and empowered.

These videos not only celebrate our past but also serve as a testament to our ongoing commitment to teen mental health. Whether you’re here to explore engaging videos for teen mental health, seeking advice on wellness, or simply curious about the stories behind our center, our 10 Years of TTC series offers something for everyone.

10 Years of TTC with Kent Toussaint, Part I

View Video Transcript

My name is Kent Toussaint. I'm a licensed marriage Family therapist, and I specialize in helping
kids, teens, and families to live happier lives. We love our kids so much, we want so much for
our kids, and it's tough to see them struggle, but our kids are going to struggle because that's
part of being human. But they don't struggle alone. And I think the more they have support from
the parents and when they need extra support from a therapist, we're here, and we really enjoy
the work. We really enjoy supporting kids, families, and teenagers. I want to work with kids
and teens. I've always felt drawn to it. I've always been that listening ear since I was a kid.
I've always been the person that people talk to, and I always felt comfortable being that guy.
And I actually started a career in the entertainment industry for about ten years or so and wasn't
really feeling it, was kind of not really liking it, didn't really find my purpose there. And
then someone said, hey, you should be a therapist.

I started looking into it, went to grad school, saw my first client, and I've loved it ever since.
I think Teen Therapy Center brought a presence of therapists who want to compassionately work
with kids and teens in the area. When I first started, there weren't a lot of therapists who want
to work with kids and teens. I've seen that definitely increase over the years, which I'm really
grateful for. I think definitely there's a need for that. But definitely in this west end of
the San Fernando Valley, we have many therapists now who really are engaged and enthusiastic
about supporting kids, teenagers, families, and that's also spawned the nonprofit Child
Teen Counseling, which is helping even more people. So at our office, between both organizations,
we're helping over hundreds of people a week. And it's really exciting that there are so many
people coming to our facility and are getting benefits, emotional strength, increased communication
skills, coping strategies, things like that. And it's just a lot of fun.

Who better to conclude our series of videos celebrating the ten year anniversary of Teen Therapy Center than Kent Toussaint? In our two part interview Kent touches on what brought him to practice therapy, the challenges of being a small business owner, and the rewards of being a mentor. Get a glimpse into his motivations in this first installment of our series finale celebrating ten years of Teen Therapy Center.

10 Years of TTC with Kent Toussaint, Part II

View Video Transcript

Absolutely. I was terrified to do it. But I think that's the important thing to learn, not
only for me, myself as a business person, as a therapist, but as a human being. And the human beings
I work with is we have to step into discomfort. We have to step into the unknown. We have to do the
scary thing when it's the right thing to do. And I think for me, this was the right thing to do.
What I was scared was I going to be able to meet my clients needs? Was I going to be able to meet the
people I mentor, their needs? Was I going to be able to build a business that was going to be able
to flourish and thrive? And that's the exciting part of being an entrepreneur and doing new
things that you've never done before. I think one of the toughest things about being a small
business owner is all the details that you have to do that no one ever notices, no one ever gives
you thanks, doesn't necessarily even lead to you getting paid to something. But things you
have to do, it can be a thankless

job sometimes, but it's still rewarding because it's yours. And I guess one of the biggest things
also is if your employee, when you leave work, you didn't leave work when you're the boss, you
always had your boss in your head telling you, oh, you didn't do that yet. You haven't done this
yet. Oh, you got to do that still, too. So your boss is always in your head telling you things that
you need to be doing, which is a good thing and a bad thing because it keeps you on your toes. Bad
thing is it's sometimes hard to just not be at work, even when you're not at work. What I really
enjoy is that light bulb moment when someone you're training or mentoring, they're at a block,
they're at a standstill, they're struggling to get through something, and then they take that
leap, and their eyes open a little bit wider, and they see a broader view. It's just an amazing
experience to be a part of that and to help people through that. As the people I train develop
more confidence, more experience, I

learn more and more from them as well. So I definitely feel like I get a lot out of it, and I become
a better therapist by helping other therapists. But the ongoing theme is not only have I helped
people learn, but they help me learn. And I've learned so much about who I am as a person, who I
am as a therapist, who I am as a business person, by the interactions of not only my clients, but
also the interactions with the people that we mentored here and have gone on. And some have come
back and helped train here. Some people have stayed on, and now our licensed therapists, supervisors
here and it's just a wonderful experience. It's a really wonderful community we have here.
And I really am grateful for the supportive environment we have here at Teen Therapy Center
and Child and Teen Counseling.

The ten year anniversary celebration of Teen Therapy Center officially crosses the finish line with part two of our interview with Kent Toussaint. In this final video of our series Kent talks about the terror of starting his own business and the fulfilling thanklessness of being a small business owner. Teen Therapy Center’’s founder also talks about why he enjoys training therapists so much, and the importance of stepping into discomfort. Grab some organic popcorn and enjoy the final installment of 10 Years of Teen Therapy Center.

10 Years of TTC with Jennifer Perez

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I think, you know, Kent has always expressed wanting to be a teacher, right. Like, I think that's
one of his kind of goals in life, and I think he's good at it. He's personable for him. I think it's
important to have people under him and to be able to lead the way and have a path that people can
go down that follows him and that he can also cultivate roads for other people. I mean, there's
been other therapists that have come in a teen therapy center and then gone off into their own
practice and have done very well. And I think that goes to show you that he has taught and been
able to be successful in teaching.

It's nonstop that I hear. When we get intakes coming in from parents, there's not a lot of teen
and children therapists. They're just not there. Obviously, you can go through your insurance
and you can get referrals, but if you don't bring your kids to a therapist who specializes in
children and teens, unfortunately, I do not feel like it's a fit. If you are bringing a child
and a teen into therapy, you must find a therapist that specializes in teenagers or children.
And so it's vital to have places like this that specialize in anything, really. I would say we
should have therapy centers that specialize in anxiety and therapy centers that specialize
specific in depression. But to have one that specializes in children and teens, we're cultivating
a healthier community altogether.

He's nerdy. He's very nerdy. He really is. He's into nerdy things. He's that guy that you would
see, I don't know, D and D, right? He's probably that guy, but then he's also not at the same time.
So he does have little quirks. Like he's growing his I guess it's a goatee, right? And he wraps
it or whatever. Not everyone's going to be that wizard. Right. Or he's a vegan. I think that's
an interesting quality, and I think that's a good trait. My mom's a vegetarian, so I always farewell
to vegetarians vegans. But those are the two things. Yeah, he's kind of a nerd and that he doesn't
eat meat.

Ten Years of Teen Therapy Center with Jennifer Perez: our Ten Years of TTC video series continues with Jennifer Perez. Jennifer is soon to be a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, but she trained at our sister nonprofit, Child & Teen Counseling. Hear what she has to say about Teen Therapy Center’s unique market position, the quirks of Kent Toussaint, and why growing that braided goatee thingy may also involve a 20 sided die. The answers are here in this short interview with someone who really knows.

Ten Years of Teen Therapy Center with Ariel Cohen

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Okay. Hi, everyone. My name is Ariel Cohen. I am a licensed marriage and family therapist in
private practice. I met Kent originally and learned about the idea for Teen Therapy Center
when I was doing my training under another private practice supervisor, friend, and colleague
of Kent's and mine. And Kent expressed his vision to me and told me what he was imagining. And
so I had approached him and said, hey, I'd like to be involved. I want to grow my own private practice
eventually. And I like what you're doing, and I think where you're going is something that's
really interesting, and it's good for the community, and it's good for the field of psychotherapy.
And so around late 2015, the stars aligned, and he hired me, and I became a part of Teen Therapy
Center. So one of the things that I took away that Kent and I worked a lot on together was the idea
that working in context and understanding that kids and teens live within a family and that
family may have issues that they're struggling

with and may need help as well. That became a really big part of my clinical philosophy that I
still work on today. I consult with parents, and I try to support the system as much as I can support
the teen. And I really see Teen Therapy Center as a space for know. Even Kent continuing his tips
on teens is a big part of him offering support outside of the therapy office. We live in a time
and place in society where, luckily, the idea of psychology and personal development psychotherapy
is significantly destigmatized. And to me, on a local level, teen Therapy Center is one of the
communities where that is exemplified. I'm really proud to see where it's gone. I think I was
just talking to someone about how much it's grown. I remember when it was just a couple of Know,
it went from Kent's vision to a couple of us to multiple people and so on and so forth, and a bigger
office and expanding into more space. And I think that's just a real testament to that. Kent's
vision and Teen Therapy Center

is really onto something, and when you're onto something that people are excited about, people
gravitate towards it and it grows. And so I'm excited to see where it keeps going.

These days Ariel Cohen is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with his own thriving practice, but in 2015 he was an Associate at Teen Therapy Center. We asked him what appealed to him about being part of TTC back then. We also found out what makes Teen Therapy Center so different from other practices. Hear the answer in this first video of our series celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Teen Therapy Center.

All The Tea on TTC

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Adriana:
05:00 p.m. Every single day he will start making his mocha coffee. I know this because my office
is right in front of the kitchen. So I see him every single sometimes 04:00 p.m. But 05:00 p.m.
When he does it, I always poke fun at him for the are you feeling supported enough? That word.
I'm always poking fun at him for it.

Robert:
I mean, I'll take it. I've never had a boss be so support it before. I'm like, Dude, it's okay.
I'm good. But it is nice. It's a genuine thing. I'm like, Well, I wish more people did that.

Adriana:
In general, he wants to be so helpful sometimes that he might overdo it in the kindest way possible,
which only leaves him available for drugs.

Robert:
Also, if we have any legal question ever, he will help us. But also call camp.

Adriana:
Yes, always call CAMFT.

Robert:
They are your best friend.

Adriana:
He has a way of walking. I know him coming up the hall without even having to see him because his
walk is so specific.

Robert:
I don't know how he's mastered the art of, like, fast walking.

Adriana:
Very determined. It's a determined walk, for sure.

Robert:
He is. I am going to go see my client or I'm going to have my mocha latte right now.

Adriana:
Oh, my gosh. He's quirky about his parking spot and his corner of the fridge. Can't park in his
parking spot and the right top corner of the fridge is his.

Robert:
If you watch his videos, if you're an avid watcher of TTC videos or teen therapy videos or those
tips on teen videos you've been seeing the progress of his beard really growing out. Yeah. When
he makes a joke, it's pretty not subtle, but it is never an overt punchline. He'll make a joke
here and there, but it's like almost the side of his mouth where you're like, oh, I just heard
you say something. Wait a minute. If you could get a Lord of the Rings or Star Wars reference in
there, that will kill for him. He'll always get a chuckle out of that. I think it's pretty fun.
He gets competitive when it comes to the fantasy football league.

Adriana:
Oh, yeah.

Robert:
Which is always fun. But I like that it's a fun, competitiveness. We definitely text each other.
We've gone against each other on certain yeah.

Adriana:
You'll get the messages and he talks about how he'll destroy you. Then there's great gratification
in beating your boss. Love that.

Robert:
Do you remember that little game with the balls and the little balance board? It was like a seesaw
thing.

Adriana:
I remember it. I don't know the name, the name of it too.

00:02:13 Speaker 2
Very fun game. But I was really playing really dangerously and they were stressing everybody
out. But I could tell Ken was having a real blast with it and because he was having fun, I was having
fun, too. It was competitive in the sense of very like I'm really engaged in playing with you
right now. And this is really fun together.

If you like hearing people roast their workplace superiors you’ll enjoy this video. As part of our ongoing series celebrating the ten year anniversary of Teen Therapy Center, Robert Jimenez and Adriana Navarro Gonzalez go to town in the kindest way possible on the man we call boss. Get all the dirt on Kent Toussaint in this short video replete with “positive disregard” and lively commentary.

10 Years of TTC with Brian Frith-Smith

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Hey, my name is Brian and I am the director of operations at team therapy center and child and
team counseling. I really love working here because Kent gives me so much leeway and so much
freedom to use my creativity. I really feel like I'm a partner running this business, not an
employee. I also love working here because being that Kent is licensed therapist, if there's
something he's not happy about with my work, he has to use I statements to express himself. Teen
Therapy Center brings something amazing to this community, which is that we love working with
kids and teens, and we're really good at it, and there's not that many other therapy organizations
out there doing it. We have incredible supervisors who have treasure troves of knowledge,
and we have incredibly fabulous people working here who are amazing. You can't talk about Teen
Therapy Center without talking about child and teen counseling. Child and Teen Counseling
is our sibling nonprofit organization. We really run it in tandem

under the same roof here. And so much of the work that we do at Teen Therapy Center ends up being
in service of child and teen counseling. So many of the people the intakes that we do on the phone
end up at the nonprofit organization. And same with the marketing we do. And the money we spend
on marketing ends up being in service of child and teen counseling a lot of the time, and that
really fulfills Ken's goal. When he opens a teen therapy center. He really wanted to help as
many people as possible. He was discouraged about turning people away because of money, because
therapy is expensive. And so he opened just a nonprofit organization to help accommodate people
of all budgets, hopefully. And that's something really amazing that we bring to the community
that people need to know about. One of Kent's really kind of funny personality traits is that
even though he's a very transparent boss and very encouraging, if there's something that you're
really excited about that he's not feeling,

he kind of gets this vacant look on his face and goes, okay. And that's maybe how you know that
he's not so into something. Just in conclusion, I'm so glad to be a part of this operation, both
of these operations, and all the people here are really wonderful, and it's just a joy to come
to work.

In his role as Director of Operations for Teen Therapy Center and its sibling nonprofit Child & Teen Counseling, Brian Frith-Smith does it all! Since July 2021 this guy has been preparing financial forecasts, watering the plants and creating these very emails and videos. As part of our series celebrating 10 years of Teen Therapy Center, hear what this strange and reclusive character has to say about working with Kent and the tremendous value Teen Therapy Center has brought to the community.

10 Years of TTC with Erin Anguino

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My name is Erin, and I actually found out about the position at teen therapy center through my
own therapy. So she let me know about the position, and I reached out to kent, and in true kent
fashion, he was very responsive. I mean, almost like minutes later, I heard back from him, and,
yeah, met and interviewed and got the job, and it was great. Although kent is pretty close to
superhuman, I imagine he probably also realized that he was one person and could only see so
many know in a given day, in a given week. And knowing what I do about him, I imagine he wanted to
help as many people as he could, and he also wanted to help upcoming clinicians, as well. So he
opened up his practice, and he was able to offer that. So, teen therapy center was able to expand,
and we were all able to learn, and it just kind of grew from, you know, I think that the teenage years can be a really rough time of life, and it's probably,
in my opinion, a very underserved population, especially in therapy. So, right off the bat,
the fact that kent was able to create this center that was so focused on that age group, I think
is tremendous for the community. I remember from the beginning how much he taught us to be responsive right away, and honestly, that's probably one of the biggest takeaways that I got from kent. You know, it's if you get a
referral, you contact them within 24 hours, ideally right away, just to let people know that
you care and that you're ready to help them. And at the time, When I was working there, I remember
planning my wedding and was looking at that, even with just vendor responsiveness, like, okay,
how quickly are they getting back to me? How eager do they seem? So, that was something that kent
really taught us, and I really do want kent to know, if he doesn't already, just how much he has
helped me personally, but also all therapists that have worked for him. I have no doubt that
he's been a big part of their journey. So I just want to thank him for all of that.

Erin Anguino was an Associate at Teen Therapy Center during our pivotal years from 2015 to 2018. Now she’s a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and has her own practice in Utah. As part of our video series celebrating Teen Therapy Center’s 10th anniversary, we interviewed this energetic and eloquent personality. Find out what she learned at Teen Therapy Center and how working at TTC helped her plan a wedding in this punchy video.

10 Years of TTC with Kayvon Babakan

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Hi, I'm Kayvon Babakon LMFT.

I used to work here with Kent.

At Teen Therapy Center for about seven years.

Currently in my position, I'm in private.

Practice as well as the vice president at Evolved Treatment Centers.

Yes, I was one of the very first employees in the Canoga office, which was myself and Kent, sharing
little probably twelve x ten rectangle. I initially thought Kent was like an SNL character.

He comes from a background of acting totally engaged with you.

Eye contact, smile, direct feedback. It felt like I was talking to.

One of the best listeners in the world who provided great feedback.

I think Kent, not only does he.

Have a huge heart for his family, his friends, especially his kids, he really wants to help teenagers
and kids through life. That's a really underserved population, generally speaking, or back
when I kind of got.

Involved with Kent, and I think his.

Passion to help as many kids as.

Possible really fueled the expansion teen Therapy Center and child and teen Counseling really.

Brings an affordable, reasonable, high quality option for therapy. There's not many places
that exist like this to have kind of everything all in one. And I think that Kent really wants
to help as many kids as possible. So starting the nonprofit branch makes it more accessible
for families who can't afford it and also providing the highest quality of care. It's a given.

And Kent's evolving facial hair, I think is one thing, as it has changed.

Over the last ten years since I've known him, and is now a beard ponytail.

So I love Kent, and we have.

A lot of good memories together that.

I will probably cherish for the rest of my life.

I think that Kent is really in person that I'll know forever.

Every team has a franchise player. Kayvon Babakan is currently VP of Outpatient Services at Evolve Treatment, but during his 7 years at Teen Therapy Center he was our star cornerback. Kayvon was Teen Therapy Center’s very first employee, so he was there at the beginning and saw it all happen in real time. Hear him talk about those ramshackle early days and coin a new phrase for the current evolution of Kent’s facial hair in this short video in our series celebrating Teen Therapy Center’s 10 year anniversary.

Explore More!

As you navigate through our video content, you’ll find a wide range of topics covered—from mental health tips for teens to in-depth discussions on specific challenges like anxiety, stress, and self-esteem. Our video tips on teen wellness are designed to be accessible and engaging, making them perfect for teens and parents alike. We invite you to explore, learn, and connect with our adolescent mental health video content.

Whether you’re looking for teen therapy educational content or seeking out specific advice for teens video series, we hope these videos provide you with the guidance and support you need. Thank you for visiting our page, and we hope you find our videos both informative and inspiring.

If you have more questions or would like more information, please contact our Clinical Director, Kent Toussaint at 818.697.8555.

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