Psychologist for Teens & Adolescents in Bergen County
Bergen County's high schools are academically intense, and the mental health picture reflects it: performance anxiety, perfectionism, sleep deprivation, social comparison amplified by phones, and a reluctance to appear to be struggling. Parents often reach out after months of watching something drift.
Dr. Josephine Kim works with adolescents and their families from her Englewood office, and by telehealth across New Jersey.
What brings teenagers in
- Anxiety that has started to affect sleep, attendance, or willingness to participate
- Low mood, withdrawal from friends, or a drop in grades that does not match ability
- School refusal and escalating morning conflict
- Perfectionism and fear of failure, often in students who look successful from outside
- Trauma, loss, or a family transition such as separation or a move
- Behavior that has become difficult to manage at home
- Questions about attention or a possible learning difference
How teenagers are engaged
Adolescents rarely refer themselves, and many arrive convinced therapy is a punishment or a verdict on them. The first sessions are spent establishing that this is their space and that they have real say in what gets worked on. Confidentiality is explained plainly, including its limits around safety, because a teenager who does not know the rules will not use the room.
Parents are not sidelined. They are given a defined role, updated on themes rather than transcripts, and coached on the specific responses at home that either maintain or reduce the problem.
When testing is the right call instead
Sometimes what looks like avoidance or laziness is an unidentified learning difference or attention difficulty, and no amount of therapy will resolve it. A psychoeducational or ADHD evaluation answers that question directly and produces a report Bergen County schools can act on. Because Dr. Kim provides both therapy and evaluation, that decision can be made early rather than after a year of treating the wrong target.
Working with schools
With parental consent, findings and recommendations can be shared with a school counselor or child study team, framed in terms of accommodations and supports rather than diagnosis alone. Districts respond considerably better to a specific, well-argued recommendation than to a general request for help.
Getting Here
From Bergen County to the Englewood office
The Englewood office at 155 N Dean St, Suite 3B is convenient to Tenafly, Englewood Cliffs, Teaneck, Cresskill, Demarest, Closter, Leonia, and Fort Lee, and reachable from Ridgewood, Paramus, and Franklin Lakes via Route 4 or Route 17. Telehealth is available statewide, which many families use during exam periods and sports seasons.
155 N Dean St, Suite 3B
Englewood, NJ 07631
Telehealth available
Secure video sessions anywhere in New Jersey
Common Questions
Bergen County questions
- Do you work with teenagers in Bergen County?
- Yes. Dr. Josephine Kim is a licensed clinical psychologist working with adolescents on anxiety, depression, school refusal, trauma, academic pressure, and behavioral concerns, in person in Englewood and by telehealth across New Jersey.
- My teen refuses to go to therapy. What can I do?
- Start with a parent consultation on your own. Much can be accomplished by changing how the household responds to avoidance and distress, and a consultation also produces a realistic plan for raising the subject so the first appointment is not a fight.
- Will you tell me what my teenager says?
- Not verbatim. Adolescents need a confidential space for therapy to work at all. Parents receive updates on themes, progress, and any safety concern, and those limits are explained to everyone at the outset.
- Can you evaluate for ADHD or a learning difference too?
- Yes. Psychoeducational, cognitive, and ADHD evaluations are offered alongside therapy, which means a question about attention or learning can be answered directly rather than assumed.
Serving Bergen County from Englewood
Dr. Kim is accepting new clients. A first consultation covers what you are experiencing, what you have already tried, and which approach is likely to fit.