Your Brain, Explained

An Open-Ended CBT Skills Group for High School Girls

Watching your teenage daughter struggle with stress or anxiety can be overwhelming and scary. You may notice worry, avoidance, irritability, physical stress symptoms, or a loss of confidence — and wonder how to help without pushing too hard or increasing pressure.

Your Brain, Explained is an open-ended Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) skills group designed to support teenage girls as they navigate stress, anxiety, identity development, and increasing life demands.

A CBT Approach Designed for Adolescents

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps teens understand how thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and behaviors interact. Small changes in one area can lead to meaningful relief and improved functioning.

In a confidential, supportive environment, teens learn that:

Anxious thoughts are patterns, not facts

Physical anxiety symptoms are part of the brain’s threat system

Behaviors like avoidance can unintentionally maintain anxiety

Skills can be practiced to create new, healthier patterns

CBT offers teens a practical framework for problem-solving, emotional regulation, and resilience that can be used throughout adolescence and adulthood.

Who this Group is For

This group is appropriate for high-school aged girls who experience any of the following:

Anxiety, overwhelm, or chronic worry

Overthinking, perfectionism, or avoidance

Pressure related to academics, social relationships, or performance
Symptoms like edginess, shutdown, negative thought patterns, sleep problems
Other physical, mental or emotional issues related to stress and anxiety

A formal diagnosis is not required.

Why a Group Format?

Group-based CBT supports key developmental tasks of adolescence, including identity formation, increased autonomy and self-efficacy, peer connection and social learning and confidence in problem-solving and emotional regulation.

Hearing peers describe similar experiences helps normalize anxiety and reduce isolation. Practicing skills together builds confidence and resilience.

Furthermore, an open-ended group allows teens to join when they are ready and remain for as long as it is clinically helpful. This format supports flexibility while still providing consistency, structure, and evidence-based skill development.

What Your Teen Will Learn

This group integrates CBT with mindfulness and body-based strategies to address the cognitive, emotional and somatic aspects of anxiety. Participants will develop skills to:

Identify unhelpful thinking patterns and cognitive distortions
Challenge and reframe anxious thoughts
Regulate the nervous system through breathing and grounding exercises
Reduce avoidance and build confidence through gradual approach strategies
Strengthen problem-solving and coping flexibility
Build a clearer, more confident sense of self

Group Structure and Details

Open-ended enrollment with ongoing weekly sessions.
Participants must register before attending.
Tuesday and Wednesday evenings
Sessions held at Endeavor Counseling Center in Falls Church, VA

$50/session, billed after each session. 4-session minimum.

Predictable session format including:
- Check-in and emotional awareness
- CBT psychoeducation
- Structured skill practice
- Reflection and real-life application
Small group size to promote confidentiality and engagement