Orange County · Telehealth
Eating Disorder Therapy for Teens
Specialized outpatient care for adolescents, with parents and caregivers involved deliberately and with clear expectations.
For young people
Being brought to therapy is not the same as choosing it, and plenty of teenagers arrive somewhere between skeptical and furious. That is a workable starting point. It does not have to be resolved before the first session.
Therapy here is not about being talked out of how you feel or managed into compliance. It starts with understanding what is actually happening for you — including the parts that other people have got wrong.
For parents and caregivers
Eating disorders rarely affect only one person. For adolescents, parents and caregivers often play an important role in creating structure, supporting recovery, and coordinating care — and that role works better when it is defined rather than improvised.
Adolescence also shapes the clinical picture. Development, school, peer relationships, and growing independence all affect how an eating disorder presents and what treatment needs to account for.
Eating-disorder treatment frequently involves more than one provider. When clinically appropriate and authorized under a signed release, the clinician coordinates with dietitians, physicians, psychiatrists, and treatment programs, and with family members where their involvement is part of the treatment plan.
Confidentiality
Explained at the start, to everyone.
Adolescent therapy involves balancing a young person’s need for a private space to speak honestly against a parent’s legitimate need for information. The clinician sets those expectations explicitly with both at the outset — what is kept private, what is shared, and the circumstances in which she is required to disclose.
The specifics are covered during the consultation and in the consent documents provided before the first appointment.
Common questions
Questions from teens and parents
Will you tell my parents what I say?
Not everything, and not without discussing it with you first. How confidentiality works with adolescents is explained clearly at the start, to both the teen and the parents, including the specific circumstances where the clinician is required to share information — primarily those involving safety. The aim is that nobody is surprised later.
How involved will parents be?
That depends on the young person's age, the clinical picture, and what would genuinely help. Family involvement is approached deliberately, with clear expectations about consent, communication, and each person's role, rather than being decided by default in either direction.
My teenager does not want to come. What do we do?
That is common, and it is worth saying at the consultation rather than working around it. A parent-only consultation can be a reasonable starting point when a young person is not ready, and the clinician can talk through what the options actually are.
Do you coordinate with schools or paediatricians?
When it is clinically appropriate and authorized under a signed release, yes. Coordination with physicians, dietitians, psychiatrists, and treatment programs is a normal part of eating-disorder care.
This page is general education, not individualized clinical advice. Reading it does not create a therapeutic relationship. For guidance about your own situation, speak with a qualified clinician.
Reconnect with yourself beyond the eating disorder.
Zehn is telehealth-first. At the start of every session the clinician confirms your full name and your present physical location. California licensure does not authorize care when a client is physically located in another jurisdiction, and outpatient telehealth must also remain clinically appropriate for your presentation — both are reassessed each session rather than assumed.