The best way to support a teen in therapy is to make it easy to go and safe to talk: handle the logistics without drama, respect the confidentiality agreement, ask open questions without demanding a recap, take part in the parent pieces of treatment, and know the safety plan. Much of what helps is what you stop doing, like interrogating after sessions or treating therapy as a punishment.
In Colorado this also means understanding the law. Colorado allows many minors 12 and older to consent to outpatient psychotherapy on their own, so the ground rules about what parents hear are worth settling at the start. That section is below.
For what to expect from therapy itself, see our teen therapy page. This list is about your role alongside it.
1. Settle the confidentiality ground rules on day one
Ask the therapist, with your teen in the room, what will stay between them, what you will be told, and when safety overrides privacy. Most adolescent therapists keep the content of sessions private while sharing general progress and anything involving serious risk. Hearing the rules together builds trust on both sides, and it means you are not left guessing whether silence means things are fine.
2. Ask open questions, then drop it
Try "How are you feeling about therapy?" or "Anything you want me to know?" instead of "What did you talk about?" If the answer is "fine," accept it for now. Teens often share more on car rides, late at night or during a shared task than in a sit-down conversation. Pushing for details can make therapy feel like one more place they are being watched.
3. Protect the appointment
Consistency matters more than almost anything else in the early weeks. Put sessions on the family calendar, arrange rides or a quiet private space for telehealth, and do not cancel as a consequence for unrelated behavior. Therapy should never be used as a punishment or a bargaining chip ("If you keep this up, I'm calling your therapist").
4. Show up for your part of treatment
Many evidence-based teen treatments include parents directly. Adolescent DBT, for example, is described by the federal Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse as including multifamily group skills training, optional family therapy and optional parent training sessions. If you are invited to parent sessions or a multi-family skills group, treat them as seriously as your teen's sessions. Our list of DBT skills for parents of teens covers what is usually taught.
5. Learn the language your teen is learning
Ask the therapist, or your teen, which skills they are working on this month, and learn the basics yourself. When you know what "check the facts" or a "fear ladder" means, you can prompt it gently in the moment and use it yourself. Parent training sessions are designed for exactly this.
6. Validate first, fix second
When your teen brings up something hard, reflect the feeling before offering solutions: "That sounds humiliating." Validation is not agreement. It is the signal that they can bring things to you without a lecture, which makes them more likely to tell you about the things you really need to know.
7. Stop accommodating avoidance, gradually and with a plan
Parents often ease a teen's distress by writing the excuse, making the phone call, or answering the same reassurance question again. Research links this family accommodation to more severe anxiety symptoms. Pulling back suddenly can backfire, so ask the therapist which accommodations to reduce first and how to explain it to your teen.
8. Share what you see at home, openly
You see things the therapist does not: sleep changes, school emails, arguments, a sudden drop in eating. It is fine to email or call the therapist with observations. Tell your teen that you are doing it and why. Secret back-channel reports tend to damage the trust therapy depends on.
9. Expect uneven progress
Things sometimes feel worse before they feel better, especially when treatment starts asking a teen to face avoided situations or talk about painful experiences. Track a few concrete markers, such as school attendance, blowups per week or hours of sleep, rather than your teen's mood on a given day. Raise concerns about pace directly with the therapist.
10. Take fit seriously
Give a new therapist a few sessions, but take persistent objections seriously. Ask what specifically is not working; sometimes it can be fixed, and sometimes a different therapist is the right answer. Our guide to teen therapy practices in Denver can help if you need to compare options.
11. Look after your own mental health
Supporting a struggling teen is stressful, and your own regulation shapes the household. Your own therapy, a parent support group, or simply protecting your sleep is part of supporting your teen, not a distraction from it.
12. Know the safety plan and crisis numbers
If your teen has any history of self-harm or suicidal thinking, ask the therapist for a copy of the safety plan and your role in it, including which warning signs mean you should call. Save 988 in your phone and your teen's. Call or text 988 to reach the 988 Colorado Mental Health Line, and call 911 if there is immediate danger.
Colorado law on minors, consent and confidentiality
Colorado Revised Statutes section 12-245-203.5 (added by House Bill 19-1120, signed May 16, 2019) allows a mental health professional to provide psychotherapy to a minor 12 or older without a parent's consent if the professional determines the minor is knowingly and voluntarily seeking services and that the services are clinically indicated and necessary to the minor's well-being. As published in the current statute text:
- The professional may notify a parent or guardian with the minor's consent, unless doing so would be inappropriate or detrimental to the minor's care.
- The professional must discuss involving parents with the minor and encourage it to help support the minor's care.
- The professional may notify a parent without the minor's consent if, in their professional opinion, the minor is unable to manage their own care or treatment.
- If a minor communicates a serious threat of imminent violence, the professional must follow Colorado's duty-to-warn law and inform the parent unless that would be inappropriate.
- The provision applies to outpatient psychotherapy; the statute excludes inpatient treatment. It also says a minor cannot refuse services when both the professional and the parent agree treatment is beneficial.
- The statute also requires the professional to document attempts to contact parents, or the reasons for not contacting them.
What this means for parents
In practice, most teens in therapy have a parent involved, and most therapists work hard to keep it that way. The law mainly means a teen who wants help can get it, and that parents should not expect session-by-session detail. Separately, therapists follow safety procedures when a teen is at risk of suicide or self-harm, so ask how and when parents are brought in if that happens. Rules about access to written records, and the rules for medication and inpatient care, are separate questions, so ask the practice how it handles them. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Cost should not be the reason a teen goes without help. Colorado's I Matter program lists up to six free counseling sessions for youth 18 and under. Mountainside's fees and out-of-network reimbursement details are on its insurance and pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
Can a teenager go to therapy without parental consent in Colorado?
Under C.R.S. 12-245-203.5, a mental health professional may provide outpatient psychotherapy to a minor 12 or older without parental consent if the minor is knowingly and voluntarily seeking it and it is clinically indicated. The professional must encourage parent involvement.
Will my teen's therapist tell me what they talk about?
Usually not in detail. Most adolescent therapists share general progress and anything involving serious risk; ask them to explain the ground rules to you and your teen together at the start.
Should I ask my teen about their therapy session?
A light, open question is fine ("How are you feeling about it?"). Avoid asking for a recap, and let your teen decide how much to share.
What if my teen refuses to go to therapy?
Ask what specifically they dislike, try a few sessions, and consider a different therapist if the fit is poor. Parent sessions can still help even when a teen is reluctant.
Related reading
- Teen Therapy in Denver
- Parent Training With CBT Techniques: Support for Families in Denver
- DBT Groups in Denver
- Therapy Cost, Insurance & Pricing in Denver
- Best Teen Therapy Practices in Denver (2026)
- Best DBT Skills for Parents of Teens
Talk to someone
Mountainside Behavioral Health offers DBT and CBT for adolescents, adults, couples and families in Greenwood Village and by telehealth across Colorado. Consultations are free, and we will tell you if another provider is a better fit. Call (720) 762-4619 or request a consultation.
If you are in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Colorado Mental Health Line (free, confidential, 24/7). If you are in immediate danger, call 911.
Sources (6)
- C.R.S. 12-245-203.5, Minors: consent for outpatient psychotherapy services (statute text)
- Colorado General Assembly: HB19-1120, Youth Mental Health Education and Suicide Prevention
- Title IV-E Prevention Services Clearinghouse: Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents
- Shepherd et al. (2025). Transdiagnostic correlates of family accommodation in anxious youth (PMC)
- I Matter Colorado
- NIMH: Suicide Prevention