Your Child Is Struggling. You're Doing Everything You Can. Let Us Help.
When your child is hurting, and you’re not sure what to do, it’s one of the hardest places a parent can be. You can see something is wrong. You just don’t know how to reach them.
Maybe your child has become withdrawn. Or angry in ways that feel new. Maybe school has become a battle, friendships have gotten complicated, or anxiety is making things that used to be simple feel impossible.
Kids and teens don’t always have the words for what they’re carrying. That’s where therapy comes in.
At MK Counseling Services in Pittsburgh, we work with children and teenagers to help them build the skills, confidence, and emotional tools they need at every stage of growing up.
Signs Your Child or Teen May Need Support
What to look for.
Children and teenagers show distress differently. Here’s what to watch for at each stage.
In Children Under 12
- Changes in sleep or eating habits
- Complaints of stomachaches or headaches with no clear medical cause
- Increased clinginess, separation anxiety, or fear of new situations
- Regression to younger behaviors: bedwetting, thumb-sucking, baby talk
- Behavioral changes: more defiant, more withdrawn, or harder to settle than usual
- Difficulty at school: trouble focusing, refusing to go, or a sudden drop in performance
In Teenagers
- Declining grades or school avoidance
- Withdrawing from family, friends, or activities they used to enjoy
- Mood shifts that feel bigger or longer-lasting than typical teen ups and downs
- Increasing anxiety: about school, social situations, the future, or things they can't name
- Changes in sleep, appetite, or energy that persist over weeks
- Risky behaviors, self-criticism, or comments about feeling worthless or hopeless
How It Affects the Whole Family
When Your Child Struggles, Everyone Feels It
A child in distress changes the whole household. You find yourself walking on eggshells. Every morning becomes a negotiation. Family dinners get tense. You and your partner disagree about how to handle it.
You lie awake wondering if you’re doing the right thing. Getting support for your child isn’t giving up. It’s one of the most effective things you can do, for them and for your family.
Early intervention makes a real difference. The sooner a child gets the right support, the less time those patterns have to become entrenched.
How We Work With Children and Teens
Our Approach to Child and Teens Therapy
MK Counseling’s approach to anxiety is practical and evidence-based. We don’t just help you talk about it. We help you build real tools to change your relationship with it. Across our team, we draw from:
Play Therapy - For Children Under 12
Young children don't process their experiences the way adults do. Play is their language, and play therapy meets them there. In a play therapy session, your child works through their experiences, emotions, and challenges through guided play in a safe and supportive environment. They don't need to sit still, find the right words, or explain what's wrong. The play does the work. Parents often notice shifts in their child's behavior and mood within a few sessions, at home, not just in the therapy room.
CBT and Mindfulness - For Teens and Young Adults
Teenagers respond to a different approach. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps teens identify the thought patterns driving anxiety, low mood, or avoidance and build practical tools to change them. Mindfulness helps teens slow down the noise: social pressure, comparison, uncertainty about the future, and get better at responding to it rather than being pulled under by it. Sessions with teens feel like a conversation, not a clinical intake. The goal is to make therapy feel like something worth showing up for, not something being done to them.
Maddy Clines, MA NCC works with children, teens, and young adults at MK Counseling.
She brings warmth, patience, and a relaxed style that younger clients respond to quickly.
She works with children and teens dealing with:Â
- Anxiety, worry, and school-related stress
- Depression and low mood
- Behavioral challenges and emotional dysregulation
- ADHD: building practical focus and self-regulation tools
- Self-esteem and confidence challenges
- Social difficulties and friendship struggles
- Life transitions: divorce, moving, changing schools, family changes
What Child and Teems Therapy Looks Like at MK Counseling Services.
For children: The first session is usually a parent consultation, a chance for Maddy to hear from you about what’s been going on, what you’ve noticed, and what your child has been dealing with. Your child may join partway through or in a separate session, depending on their age and comfort level.
For teens: The first session is a conversation, not an assessment. Maddy will talk with your teenager about what’s been going on and what they’re hoping for. Teens stay in control of what they share and how fast they go.
In both cases, nothing is forced. Nothing is rushed. The pace is always set by the child or teen, not the therapist.
Sessions are available in-person at our North Hills Pittsburgh office and via telehealth for Pennsylvania residents.
Early Support Makes a Real Difference
- You've tried other approaches and nothing has shifted
- Your child is open to talking to someone, or at least willing to try
- Their distress is affecting school, friendships, or daily functioning
- Your child or teen has been struggling for more than a few weeks and it's not improving on its own
You don’t need to wait for a crisis. If something feels off, trust that instinct. A conversation with a therapist costs nothing and gives you a clearer picture of what your child needs.
You Don't Have to Watch From the Sidelines
Your child deserves support. And so do you. Fill out the appointment request form and tell us a little about what’s been going on. We’ll match your child with the right therapist and reach out to get started.