By the time a parent finds this page, the easy answers have been tried. Tutors, therapists, the summer program that was supposed to help. The teen is still in there — just behind a closed door.
Mentor Counseling® is not therapy.
It is the developmental work of growing up — helping a teen build what adolescence demands but no class teaches: identity, ownership, direction, the ability to take a hard decision and stand behind it. The work happens in real conversation with a trusted outside adult who listens for what’s underneath, names the pattern in language the teen can use, and gives them something to walk away with.
This is mentoring, not clinical care. Most parents who land here have already worked with a therapist; some teens carry a diagnosis. Either way, this is different work. We do not diagnose, label, or medicate. For many families, Mentor Counseling® begins where therapy has done what it can; for others, the two run in parallel.
If a teen is in crisis, that first call belongs to a clinician.
What Teen Life Coaching Is
Teen life coaching is one-on-one work with an outside adult — not a teacher, not a therapist, not the family. It addresses the developmental work of adolescence: building character, taking ownership, finding direction. At Evolution Mentoring, this happens through Mentor Counseling, a methodology Jeff developed in 1998 for teens who are bright, sensitive, and stuck — what he sometimes calls the deep water kid.
Sessions run 50–60 minutes virtually, weekly at first and tapering as the family’s rhythm finds itself.
How It Works?
Mentor Counseling is built on three things working together: life coaching, leadership development, and deep listening. Each one applies slightly differently for a teen than for an adult.
Life coaching is the clarity layer — naming what the teen actually wants, separately from what teachers, parents, and college applications want them to want.
Leadership development is the skills layer — the daily capacities no class teaches: making a decision and keeping it, raising a hard topic at home, recovering from a setback.
Deep listening is the foundation. Jeff spends most first sessions listening, because most teens have not been heard the way they actually need to be. Each session closes with one specific thing to try before the next call.
What We Address
Mentor Counseling supports teens across the issues that surface in late adolescence:
- Motivation and academic engagement.
When the teen is capable but the engine isn’t running. The work targets underlying ownership, not the symptom of unfinished homework. - Identity and confidence.
Figuring out who they are separately from what’s expected. The teens here often feel the weight of that question more than their peers. The work helps them find their own answer. - College readiness.
Applications, the choice itself, and the harder question of whether college fits at all. Not every bright teen thrives on the conveyor belt. - Communication at home.
Fewer dinner-table standoffs, more conversations that go somewhere. An outside adult gives the teen a different audience for their interior life — which usually changes what they bring home. - Resilience under pressure.
Setbacks, competition, and the velocity of high school. Today’s academically-engaged teens carry a load their parents did not carry. The work builds skills that make the load sustainable. - The “what comes next” conversation.
Exit ramps for paths that don’t fit the standard track — gap years, alternative programs, or pathways our young-adult practice supports later.
Why Evolution Mentoring and Life Coaching
The teen years are short. Patterns set under pressure follow a teen into adulthood. Parents aren’t built to interrupt — too close, too invested, too easy a target for the teen’s normal differentiation. What helps is an outside adult — competent, present, not the parent.
Jeffrey Leiken has worked with teens since 1998. Across more than 25 years of practice, the work has reached families in 17 countries.
Jeff’s training matches the work: a Master’s in Educational Counseling, adjunct teaching at the University of San Francisco, guest lectures at Stanford. A TEDx talk and book on adolescent leadership extend the work beyond the practice.
What Families Commonly Report
Over three to six months, parents tell us what they notice:
- Studying without being asked, even on a low-motivation day.
- Conversations at home that don’t end in slammed doors.
- Initiative the parent didn’t have to prompt — homework, plans, questions raised.
- Steadiness through high-school weeks that used to undo the household.
- Talking about the future with less avoidance, more curiosity.
The Process
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- Start with a 30-minute consultation — a working call that surfaces what’s going on at home and whether this is the right work.
- If it fits, weekly virtual sessions of 50–60 minutes begin within a week.
- Direct reach-out between sessions — when something hard happens, you don’t wait.
- Cadence recalibrates as the work matures.
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Standard agreements:
- No obligation to continue after the first session if the fit isn’t right.
- Confidentiality holds within the bounds of mandatory reporting law.
- No diagnoses, no clinical labels, no treatment of mental illness.
If you are not ready to schedule yet, two no-friction next steps-
Read the Book
Jeff’s book distills 25+ years of practice into a framework for raising capable, grounded young adults.
Watch the TEDx Talk
Jeff’s TEDx talk on what it actually takes to mentor adolescents into capable adults.
About Jeffrey Leiken, MA
Jeffrey Leiken built Evolution Mentoring and Life Coaching around a single question: how do you reach a teenager who is bright, sensitive, and stuck? He has been answering it through Mentor Counseling® — the methodology he developed for that work — since 1998. More than 25 years of practice with teens, parents, and the family situations where the conventional playbook has run out.
Jeff holds a Master’s in Educational Counseling. He teaches as adjunct faculty at the University of San Francisco, has guest-lectured at Stanford, and spoke at TEDx on adolescent leadership — the same topic as his book. His practice has reached families in 17 countries from Marin County, California.
Sessions are virtual. The work begins with a 30-minute consultation.
What Parents say
“Jeff served as an invaluable mentor and coach in guiding our son to think more logically about the short- and long-term consequences of his personal choices so that he could begin leading a more intentional, value-driven and value-aligned life and to also communicate his choices, desires and needs more effectively and maturely with important individuals in his life. Jeff did this all with 100% commitment, 100% accessibility, and a great sense of humor, which we deeply appreciated. We will forever view Jeff’s involvement with our family as a blessing and gift.”
— Peter and Julie
“I often think of Jeff as my secret weapon in helping to raise my daughter successfully as a single parent. Most times it’s reinforcement of a discussion I’ve already had with her that cements it in for her, other times it’s something that he’ll drop in that will connect for her and make sense in a way what I’ve offered didn’t, and there are those times where she just can’t speak to me as freely as she will with Jeff and this moments have made all the difference for her, I know.“
— Joseph, Princeton
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is this the same as therapy?
No. Therapists treat mental illness with diagnoses, labels, and sometimes medication. This work is character and direction, not clinical. It often follows therapy — rarely replaces it.
How is Mentor Counseling different from a generic life coach?
Mentor Counseling is Jeffrey Leiken’s trademarked methodology, developed in 1998. It combines life coaching, leadership development, and deep listening — specialized for “deep water kids,” bright teens not well served by surface-level interventions.
How long are sessions, and how often do we meet?
Sessions run 50–60 minutes. Most teens meet weekly for the first three to six months, then move to a maintenance cadence.
Are sessions virtual or in-person?
Virtual and worldwide. Jeff’s practice is based in Marin County and reaches families in 17 countries.
How do I get started?
Schedule a 30-minute consultation with Jeffrey Leiken. No obligation to continue if the first session isn’t the right fit.
Neighbourhoods we serve in California-
Neighbourhoods we serve in other US states-
- Chicago Teen Coaching
- Dallas Teen Coaching
- Houston Teen Coaching
- Jacksonville Teen Coaching
- Los Angeles Teen Coaching
- New York City Teen Coaching
- Philadelphia Teen Coaching
- Phoenix Teen Coaching
- San Antonio Teen Coaching
- San Diego Teen Coaching
- Austin Teen Coaching
- Fort Worth Teen Coaching
- San Jose Teen Coaching
- Columbus Teen Coaching
- Charlotte Teen Coaching
- Indianapolis Teen Coaching
- San Francisco Teen Coaching
- Seattle Teen Coaching
- Denver Teen Coaching
- Oklahoma City Teen Coaching
Schedule a Consultation for Young Adult Coaching
Jeff offers a consultation to learn about your family’s situation and determine whether this mentoring relationship is the right fit. There’s no pressure—just a chance to get real answers and explore a different path forward.