Life After College in Marin County: Finding Direction as a Young Adult Many young adults from Marin County and Mill Valley find the post-college years disorienting without a clear path forward. Jeffrey Leiken, MA offers virtual Mentor Counseling® to help emerging adults build direction, identity, and momentum. Learn about life coaching for young adults at…
When Therapy Isn’t Enough: A Parent’s Guide to Next Steps in Mill Valley For Mill Valley and Marin County parents whose teen’s therapy has not produced lasting change, Jeffrey Leiken’s Mentor Counseling® offers a different approach: relationship-based developmental mentoring addressing direction, identity, and confidence rather than symptoms. Learn about the parent coaching consultation or explore…
Why Teens in Mill Valley Struggle Despite Every Advantage Teens in Mill Valley and Marin County often struggle with anxiety, disengagement, and identity challenges despite access to exceptional schools and resources. Jeffrey Leiken, MA explores why conventional interventions often fall short for bright, sensitive adolescents and what Mentor Counseling® offers instead. Learn more about teen…
No one knows what it’s like to be the parent of “that kid” until you’ve been the parent of “that kid.” No one. That’s a fact. I know. I have been one. And over the last 30 years, I’ve met countless other parents who do too. The stories vary, but the experiences are remarkably similar.…
I Don’t “Treat” Teen Anxiety. I Resolve What Causes It. “ “Anxiety” is becoming the single most self- or parent-diagnosed condition among teenagers. What is anxiety? Anxiety is the physical manifestation of a person hyper-overreacting to a perceived threat—typically not an actual threat. With their limited maturity and unsophisticated understanding of the world, teenagers fear…
When Teens Are Overwhelmed by Peer Pressure and School Stress Teens being overwhelmed by peer pressure and school stress is not, in itself, cause for a mental illness diagnosis or treatment! There is another way. What it is a sign of is that they are dealing with too many things that feel complicated to them—making…
I have a side hobby of making up new “mental health” diagnoses that I think should exist, but don’t yet. Yes, it’s partly for my own entertainment. But it’s also a way of acknowledging phenomena that are clearly unhealthy and largely unaddressed. Introducing: Grade Dysphoria (GD) Grade Dysphoria is the condition by which certain…
What if the very sensitivity you fear will hold your son back is actually his greatest untapped strength? You recognize his high intellectual…
Traditional therapy often fails the brightest young minds because it treats a developmental stall as if it’s a clinical disorder. You’ve likely…
Why “Hook Up & Hope” Is A Bad Dating Strategy “I just wake in the morning and feel so bad about myself!” one college girl client recently shared with me after yet another night of partying and a casual “hook up”. She is far from the only one to wake up this morning feeling…