Looking for a therapist for your teen in Dallas?
When parents search for a therapist for teens near them, they are usually worried about something specific: a child who has gone quiet, grades that dropped overnight, a discovery on a phone, or panic attacks before school. The next problem is practical. Dallas is large, traffic on I-35E, Central Expressway and LBJ is unpredictable, and after-school hours are already packed.
Dr. Audrey Kteily solves the distance problem by seeing Dallas teens online, through secure, HIPAA-compliant video. Your teen joins from a private room at home, and you skip the drive across town entirely. The “near me” part of the search becomes your own living room.
Signs your teenager may benefit from therapy
Every teen has moody days. These signs suggest something more is going on, especially when they last for more than a couple of weeks:
- Pulling away from friends, family or activities they used to enjoy
- Big changes in sleep, appetite or energy
- Falling grades, skipping classes or refusing to go to school
- Frequent irritability, angry outbursts or tearfulness
- Constant worry, perfectionism or panic about performance
- Cutting, burning or other self-harm, or talk of not wanting to be here
- Experimenting with alcohol, vaping or drugs to cope
- Questions about identity or sexuality that feel isolating
If you are in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) or 911. Dr. Audrey's practice is not a crisis service, and any immediate safety concern should go to emergency services first.
Pressures Dallas teens face
Dallas teens attend everything from large Dallas ISD high schools to suburban districts and competitive private schools. Many feel pressure to build a perfect college resume through advanced classes, varsity sports, club teams and volunteer hours. Others are dealing with long bus rides, family financial stress or the challenge of fitting in at a school of thousands.
Social media adds another layer. A teen can carry an argument, a rumor or a comparison home and replay it all night. Dr. Audrey regularly helps teens with school stress, performance pressure, social anxiety, depression, ADHD, autism spectrum differences, identity questions and LGBTQ+ concerns. Her practice is LGBTQ+-owned and affirming, which matters to many teens who are still figuring out who they are. Learn more about the adolescent issues she treats.
How Dr. Audrey works with teens and parents
Building trust first
Most teens did not choose therapy. Dr. Audrey starts by getting to know them as people: interests, friends, what annoys them about adults. Teens tend to engage once they realize sessions are not a lecture and their perspective is taken seriously.
Privacy with clear limits
Teens get private time, and Dr. Audrey explains up front what stays between them and what parents will hear about, especially anything involving safety. Clear rules help teens open up and help parents trust the process.
Skills that work under pressure
As a C-DBT certified clinician, Dr. Audrey teaches Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills that are well suited to adolescents: calming intense emotions, tolerating distress without self-harm, and asking for what they need without blowing up.
Parents as partners
Teens live inside families, and lasting change usually involves parents. Dr. Audrey meets with parents to align expectations, reduce power struggles and respond to their teen in ways that build connection. Her family systems training shapes this part of the work, and her article on how parent counseling improves parenting skills goes deeper.
What a typical session looks like
A session usually begins with a quick check-in on the week: anything that went well, anything that blew up, and how sleep, school and friendships are going. From there, Dr. Audrey and your teen focus on one or two real situations, such as a fight with a friend or a test that triggered panic, and work out what happened and what could help next time. Sessions often end with a small, concrete skill to try before the next meeting.
Some weeks include a short parent segment at the end. That keeps everyone aligned without making the teen feel discussed behind their back.
When parents need support of their own
Watching a child struggle is painful, and many parents carry guilt, fear or exhaustion they rarely talk about. Separate parent sessions give you room to sort through your own reactions so you can respond to your teen with more calm and less urgency.
Why online therapy often works well for teenagers
Teens grew up on screens, and many find video less intimidating than sitting across from an adult in an unfamiliar office. Joining from their own room, sometimes with a pet nearby, lowers the guard. There is also no risk of being seen walking into a therapist's office by a classmate.
For parents, online sessions mean no leaving work early, no fighting traffic and no sitting in a waiting room for an hour. Siblings do not have to be dragged along. If a session falls on a hectic day, it can still happen.
Researchers have studied telehealth with adolescents extensively, and you can browse that work through PubMed. The APA Monitor on Psychology also reports on trends in youth mental health and treatment.
How online teen therapy works in Texas
Dr. Audrey is a Texas Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor, licensed since 2001 and a supervisor since 2004. She can work with your teen whenever they are physically in Texas during the session. Sessions run on Central Time and are scheduled flexibly around school and activities.
Your teen needs a phone, tablet or laptop with a camera, headphones and a private spot. The link opens in a browser with nothing to download. Parents can join from the same device for family portions, or from a separate one. Dr. Audrey also holds licenses in New Jersey and New York, which helps if your teen later heads to college in one of those states.
She has served the DFW metroplex for over two decades from a long-standing Coppell practice, and all sessions are now online. Her post on teen counseling for adolescents in the area describes this work in more detail, and what a family counselor does explains how family sessions fit in.
Dr. Audrey's credentials
Dr. Audrey Kteily holds a PhD in Family Studies and a bachelor's degree in psychology from Texas Woman's University, plus a master's in counseling from Dallas Baptist University. She is a Texas LPC-S, a New Jersey LPC and a New York LMHC, a Certified Family Life Educator through the National Council on Family Relations, and C-DBT certified. She has published on family dynamics and has more than 20 years of clinical experience with teens and families.
When comparing clinicians, it helps to understand the different professional boards. The National Board for Certified Counselors covers counselor certification, and the American Board of Professional Psychology certifies psychologists. Learn more on Dr. Audrey's full bio and how her practice is set up, see her other specialties, or send a general question to Ask Dr. Audrey.
How to get started
Dr. Audrey is an out-of-network provider and provides a superbill you can submit for possible out-of-network reimbursement. Ask your plan about out-of-network mental health benefits.
Request a first appointment through the form on the home page or the secure request form on this page. Dr. Audrey responds within one business day. You can also text or call (917) 905-3183; texting is easiest, and please keep your teen's health details out of texts.