Therapist in West Hills, CA | Child & Teen Counseling
West Hills families know the value of investing in their children’s wellbeing. But finding a therapist who is both highly qualified and genuinely accessible can feel like a challenge. At Child & Teen Counseling, we offer something a little different: professional, compassionate therapy for children, teens, and families, provided by a nonprofit organization dedicated to making mental health care available to everyone in the community.
Located just minutes away in Woodland Hills, we serve families throughout West Hills and the surrounding areas of the West San Fernando Valley. Whether your child is struggling with anxiety, your teenager needs support navigating adolescence, or your family is going through a difficult transition, we are here to help. Call us at (818) 912-6001 or contact us online to schedule your free phone consultation.
Therapy Services for West Hills Families
Every child, teen, and family is unique, and the challenges they face are too. Our therapists take the time to understand your family’s specific situation before building a personalized treatment plan. We offer a full range of services to families in West Hills, including:
Child Therapy
Young children often do not have the words to describe what they are feeling. Our child therapists use play therapy, art therapy, and other developmentally appropriate approaches to help kids ages 5 and up process big emotions, build self-confidence, and thrive at home and at school.
Teen & Adolescent Therapy
The teenage years come with real pressures, and teens often need a safe space outside of home and school where they can be heard without judgment. Our therapists are specially trained to connect with adolescents and help them work through anxiety, depression, social challenges, low motivation, anger, academic stress, and more. We meet teens where they are and work with them in a way that earns their trust.
Family Therapy
When one member of a family is struggling, the whole household feels the impact. Family therapy helps parents, children, and teens improve communication, reduce conflict, and rebuild connection at home. Whether your family is navigating divorce, a significant life change, or simply a breakdown in communication, our therapists help everyone move forward together.
00:00:01 Speaker 0 If you're wondering whether your teen is struggling with depression or anxiety, here are some things most parents don't realize. 00:00:06 Speaker 1 It doesn't always look like sadness or panic or worry. A lot of the time, it just looks like normal teenage behavior. 00:00:13 Speaker 0 One of the most common signs we see with teen depression is withdrawal. It may not just be wanting alone time. It's pulling away from family, spending less time engaging, and asking for more and more isolation. 00:00:25 Speaker 1 It doesn't always look like sadness. It can look like distance. Another big thing that we see is irritability. Um, teens don't always express their anxiety or depression through saying it out loud. Uh, sometimes it's just through shutting down. It's becoming snappier with you, snippier, snappier. 00:00:42 Speaker 0 Teens don't always express verbally that they are anxious or depressed. So what looks like attitude can sometimes mean they're overwhelmed and don't know how to express it. 00:00:52 Speaker 1 A third sign can be any changes in sleep, motivation, or energy. Could be sleeping way more or struggling to sleep. 00:01:00 Speaker 0 Maybe they're sleeping too much or too little compared to how they used to be before. Maybe they're not engaging in things, uh, they used to enjoy. 00:01:08 Speaker 1 Having a harder time getting through daily activities, things that they used to do pretty smoothly. 00:01:14 Speaker 0 Most parents don't miss these signs because they don't care. They miss them because on the surface, it tends to look like normal teenage behavior. Teens pull away, they get moody, they want space. 00:01:25 Speaker 1 So it's easy to second-guess yourself or wait it out. 00:01:28 Speaker 0 When do we pay closer attention? What matters most isn't just what you're seeing, it's how long it's been going on and how much it's affecting them. 00:01:36 Speaker 1 If these patterns are impacting your teen and starting to affect their academics or their sports, their friendships, their relationships with you in a more significant way, it might be time, time to really take a look.
Individual Therapy for Adults
Parents and caregivers carry a lot. We offer individual therapy for adults managing stress, anxiety, relationship challenges, parenting struggles, or life transitions. Supporting your own mental health is one of the most meaningful things you can do for the people you love.
Group Therapy
Group therapy offers teens a chance to connect with peers, build social skills, and realize they are not alone in their struggles. We currently offer two groups serving teens in the West San Fernando Valley:
- High School Girls Group: A supportive space for high school girls to build confidence, develop healthy coping skills, and form meaningful connections with peers.
- Middle School Boys Group: Designed for boys ages 11-14, this group combines education, support, and fun in a safe and engaging environment.
Ask about current group availability when you reach out for your free consultation.
Quality Therapy, Accessible Fees
Child & Teen Counseling is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, which means our mission is your family’s wellbeing, not a bottom line. We believe that high-quality mental health care should be within reach for families across the West San Fernando Valley, and we work hard to keep our fees reasonable without compromising the quality of care we provide.
We are a cash-pay practice. If the cost of therapy has held your family back from reaching out, we encourage you to call us anyway. We will do our best to find a path forward together.
Our Approach to Therapy
Our therapists are master’s level clinicians in supervised training, guided by licensed professionals with years of experience working with children, teens, and families. This training model lets us offer high-quality, attentive care at a more accessible rate.
What sets our team apart is their genuine passion for working with young people. They bring warmth, creativity, and deep clinical skill to every session. Our work draws from a range of evidence-based methods, including:
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Play therapy and art therapy
- Attachment-based therapy
- Mindfulness and emotional regulation techniques
- Narrative therapy
Every treatment plan is personalized and regularly updated as your child or teen makes progress. We involve parents and caregivers throughout the process, because lasting change happens both inside and outside the therapy room.
You. Hi. Welcome to Child and Teen Counseling. I am the Executive Director, Kent Tussant. I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist. I'd like to take a moment to tell you a little more about who Child Teen Counseling is and how we can support you and your family.
First of all, we are a 501 c three nonprofit organization in Woodland Hills, California, with two main objectives the first objective is to offer affordable mental health care to children, teens, and families.
For example, a five year old little boy struggling with anxiety and fear because his family is going through a divorce, maybe is an angry 14 year old girl who is lashing out at her family, her friends, her teachers, because she doesn't know how to really cope with the uncomfortable feelings inside of her. Perhaps it's a young man who's graduated high school and has lost all his motivation, doesn't know what his passion is, and just feels lost on his path in the world. It could even be a parent who is just at her wits end, and she's trying to connect with her kids, she's trying to set boundaries, she's trying to guide them, but she just feels like she's hitting her head against the wall.
We want to help, and the way we want to help is with objective number two, and that is to be an elite training program for pre licensed therapists to compassionately and effectively work with kids, teens, and families in a therapeutic way to help them be happier and healthier in their lives.
That can be individual therapy, family therapy, couples therapy, group therapy, parent education workshops. We want to be an active member in the community and help support as many people as we can to live happier and healthier lives. I invite you to read through our website, watch some more videos, get to know more about us, and then go to the contact page and give us a call.
We're happy to take the time to talk with you about what your concerns are, what your goals are for your help with that. Also, to stay in touch with us, please follow us on Facebook. We're going to constantly be listing new workshops, new seminars, new articles, new videos to help support you as best we can. Thank you so much for spending time here at Challenge Counseling, and we look forward to speaking with you soon.
Conveniently Located for West Hills Residents
Our office is located at 5550 Topanga Canyon Blvd, Suite 150 in Woodland Hills, just a short drive from West Hills via the 101 freeway or Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Most families from West Hills find the commute takes around 10 to 15 minutes, making it easy to work sessions into an after-school or weekend routine.
We also offer virtual therapy sessions for families who prefer to meet from home. In-person or online, our goal is to make getting started feel as simple and stress-free as possible.
How to Get Started
STEP 1 – REACH OUT
Tell us a little about what’s going on with your child or teen.
STEP 2 – GET MATCHED
We’ll connect you with a therapist who fits your needs and availability.
STEP 3 – BEGIN SESSIONS
Your child begins therapy and starts building skills and support.
Start With a Free Phone Consultation
Not sure where to start, or whether therapy is the right fit for your family right now? That is exactly what our free phone consultation is designed for. One of our team members will take the time to learn what is going on, answer your questions honestly, and help you figure out the best next step.
No pressure. No commitment. Just a real conversation with someone who wants to help.
