Helping Professionals Series: Integrity Counseling and Teen Center for San Diego Teens.
Cory Anderson, LMFT #53391
Founder & Director of Integrity Counseling Group
For this week’s Helping Professionals Series, I interviewed Cory Anderson, the founder and director of Integrity Counseling Group. I am happy to share about the work of this group practice helping teens in San Diego County.
Anderson began his career in 2005, with a passion for helping teens. While he still enjoys his work with the occasional teen, he loves running a group practice with a teen specialty. The group practice provides the opportunity to help more teens, by empowering associate and licensed therapists who love this age range as well.
Learn more about Cory Anderson and his team at Integrity Counseling Group from our interview below!
How did Integrity Counseling get started providing Therapy in San Marcos?
I’ve been providing therapy in Carlsbad and Rancho Bernardo since 2008. It was when I started my group practice (Integrity Counseling Group) in 2019, that I opened the San Marcos office with four other therapists who started with me.
Integrity is a group practice with many specialties, including teen therapy. What do you all love about working with teens?
Our hearts connect with teens and their manifold struggles during this time of immense growth and transition in their lives. It is so crucial that they have all the support they can get. Which is also why we value working with parents of teens as well, to help support them as they struggle through raising budding young adults. There is something about the uniqueness and challenge of each teen that comes into our offices which honors us to partner with them on their journeys.
You started a Teen Center in San Marcos. Can you share a bit about the center?
Yes, this was an organization I started over a decade ago called teencounselingSD, with the goal to provide more specific resources for parents and direct them to great therapists who specialize in working with teens. Throughout the years we have provided workshops for parents as well. Currently, we are under the banner of Integrity Counseling Group, so all the paperwork, etc. goes through our parent company.
What do you wish parents knew about Therapy for Teens?
Our role is to come alongside the amazing work you are already doing as a parent, shore that work up, and help your teen understand more of their needs and stressors, so we can all work on helping them grow and heal.
Many kids are struggling with Anxiety. What kind of Anxiety Treatment for Teens do you offer?
This is so true and so prevalent, especially since the pandemic. We use a wide variety of methods to help teens with anxiety, largely based on the chosen therapist's own skills. In general, we help teens learn to recognize small signs that they are anxious and teach them tools and techniques to care for themselves at that level, and not when the anxiety is causing a full-on meltdown. Methods that we use include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), mindfulness, and Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT), which is based on Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT).
What happens during a first appointment for a teen?
This is a key question to have the answer to before even talking to your teen about the possibility of therapy. Our intake specialist can help with this as well as a recent blog post we wrote, but in short: the first thing is, we like to get the paperwork out of the way first, so the session can just focus on the people present. Thankfully, all the paperwork can be easily done online before coming in (or starting the virtual appointment).
We also help you assess if it's most appropriate for you to have a parent-only session first, or a combined session where one or both parents come in with their teen, or if the teen is older, maybe the first session will only have the teen in it. And with teens, the first session is so important for our therapist to connect with your teen in a normal, even enjoyable way--like talking about their favorite hobbies or TikTockers. Of course, some background information will be discussed, but ultimately, it's a win if your teen leaves feeling, "she (your teen's therapist) was OK".
It's important after the session, as a parent, to not do "20 questions" with your teen about their first therapy session--this is a quick way to get them to shut down and not want to return to therapy. If you can't hold back asking a question, maybe something like "How are you doing?" or "What did you think of [therapist's name]?" would be OK.
Do you offer group therapy for teens?
We really love offering groups for teens. It can be hard to gather enough teens who are willing, but most find it valuable to experience a safe space, led by a therapist, where they can process anxiety, depression, or other stressors. We try not to focus too much on one issue in our groups, since teens can often relate to a lot of difficult emotions shared by their peers. Therefore, we typically offer what are called general process groups so we can meet each teen where they are at. That said, occasionally we will run a specific group working through a workbook on anxiety or a group working through a book on depression.
What resources do you recommend for parents with teens?
Our therapists have tons of great resources in their back pockets for parents--it really depends on what you are specifically needing. There are amazing books out there, as well as groups for teens, and parents of teens. One of our favorite parenting authors is Daniel Siegel, so feel free to browse his books.
Is there anything else you would like to share about the Teen Center or the Teen Therapy provided at Integrity Counseling?
Sure, I'd also draw attention to our focus on dealing with trauma and compulsive behaviors in teens as well. We are highly trained (EMDR, etc.) in helping teens who have experienced either "little t" trauma or "big T" trauma in their lives. And we can also help your teen grow through issues like video game, internet, or pornography addiction.
What tips do you have for parents who think their teen may need therapy?
First off, talk to your teen and be honest, please don't pull the "Hunny, we're going to a doctor’s appointment" and then just surprise them at our office. The conversation could be difficult but let them know your concerns and level with them. We are also here to help even at this phase, so please call our intake specialist at 760-283-7000, and she can talk you through the process in more detail.
For more information about the topic of talking to your teen about therapy please read our recent blog, “How to talk to your teen about starting therapy.”
Share one fun fact about you that most people don’t know.
My first business was breeding and raising sheep on my parent's 20-acre property in Temecula.
What’s one of your favorite things to do in San Marcos?
That's tough (to pick one!). I'm a big hiker so I love doing the Double Peak trail from Discovery Lake. I also enjoy some great tacos after church, with friends, at Tacos Alex.