Reclaim stability for your teen.
The shifting logistics of parental separation—the constant back-and-forth, the two-city parenting schedules, and the relentless pressure to manage different emotional climates at both homes—can shatter a teenager's sense of stability.
In San Diego, this instability is often exacerbated by:
Academic Stress: The difficulty of maintaining focus in high-achieving school districts (e.g., La Jolla, inland suburbs) while dealing with profound personal chaos.
Social Isolation: Feeling like the "odd one out" in a highly social, visually-focused environment, leading to withdrawal from friends or avoidance of the social scene.
The Travel Drain: The constant movement required by coastal or regional custody agreements, preventing them from ever feeling truly rooted in one place.
I’m Allie Evans, LMFT, specializing in working with adolescents in San Diego, CA. I help teens process the trauma of family separation so they can stop surviving the divorce and start focusing on their own lives.
Teen Therapy for Divorce in San Diego
Finding Solid Ground: An Integrated Approach
Your teen isn't just "sad" or "mad"—they're reacting to a seismic shift in their world. Their emotional distress is a direct result of a dysregulated nervous system struggling to adapt to a sudden loss of safety.
My work utilizes sophisticated, research-backed modalities to address this root cause:
Somatic Body-Based Healing: We immediately work to reduce the physical symptoms of stress—the anxiety knots, the inability to sleep, and the sudden mood swings—by teaching your teen practical ways to calm their body's automatic panic response.
Healing Inner Conflict with IFS: We help your teen separate from the intense pressure they feel to manage their parents' emotions. By addressing the inner Parts that feel responsible or guilty, we empower them to step out of the middle and focus on their personal growth.
Trauma-Informed EMDR: For memories of specific conflict, blow-ups, or moments that cause intense emotional distress, we use EMDR techniques to reduce the sting of those emotional flashpoints, allowing them to recall the event without the immediate, overwhelming panic.
Therapy creates a confidential sanctuary where your teen can finally be honest about their feelings without fear of judgment or upsetting a parent.
Our focus is on three key outcomes:
Emotional Regulation: Stabilizing their nervous system so they feel less reactive to conflict.
Authentic Voice: Teaching them how to communicate boundaries and needs clearly to both parents.
Re-Centering Self: Shifting their focus from the divorce to their own identity, goals, and future.
If your teen is struggling to find stability amidst the chaos of family change in San Diego, California, you can help them find help. Contact me today to schedule a free consultation.