Most rooms you walk into are measuring you, or at least feel like they are. School, sports, the group chat. There isn't much space left to think about who you are, what matters most to you, and how to handle everything that comes with being a teenager — somewhere between a kid and an adult.
This workshop is six weeks of exactly that space. It's a place to show up as you are and build real emotional skills. You'll put better words to what you're feeling, learn what stress does in your body and what actually helps, and talk honestly about friendships, boundaries, dating, and consent.
We'll meet every Monday for six weeks, October 12 through November 16, at our Lake Nona office. We cap the group at 10 so everyone has space to contribute.
A 6-week workshop for teens 14–17 in Lake Nona
Week 1 — October 12: Getting comfortable. Introductions, ground rules we build together, and making a group playlist. We start putting better words to what you're feeling.
Week 2 — October 19: Self-esteem and the masks we wear. What sits under the surface emotion, what makes a space feel safe, and which version of yourself you show to who.
Week 3 — October 26: Your nervous system. What stress and anger do in your body, and coping skills that hold up in a real moment.
Week 4 — November 2: Friendships, dating, and boundaries. Saying what you need out loud, and listening when someone else does. The anonymous question box opens this week.
Week 5 — November 9: Consent and body boundaries. An honest, shame-free conversation, including the questions from the box.
Week 6 — November 16: What you're taking with you. Your values, what's changed, and a celebration of finishing.
What we will cover
A Note For Parents
- Name what they're feeling and say it out loud
- Build confidence in their own values and what matters to them
- Understand what stress does in their body, and what actually helps
- Set and hold boundaries in friendships and dating
- Ask honest questions about relationships, consent, and body autonomy, and get honest answers
- Spend time with peers their own age who are working on the same things
A few things to know
You may already be sure this is right for your teen. Even so, we encourage every parent to take 15 minutes with Melissa or Mariana before registering — to ask questions, hear how we handle the harder conversations, or just get a feel for who'll be in the room with your kid.
Weeks 4 and 5 cover relationships, boundaries, consent, and body autonomy.
We will have your teens submit questions anonymously. We answer honestly and age-appropriately. You'll get the full content outline before we start and sign a participation agreement naming these topics. If there's a piece you'd rather your teen skip, tell us and we'll work it out.
What your teen shares stays in the room.
It's the only way a group of teenagers says anything real. Melissa and Mariana are mandated reporters, so if we're concerned about anyone's safety, we'll act and you'll hear from us. Otherwise we'll share themes and skills so you can keep the conversation going at home.
This is a workshop, not therapy.
We teach a curriculum — emotional vocabulary, regulation, boundaries, consent — and give teens a place to practice it. There's no diagnosis and no treatment plan. If your teen is already in therapy, this sits alongside it nicely. If we think they'd benefit from individual support, we'll tell you.
Cost & Registration
That includes:
- Six 90-minute sessions co-led by two licensed therapists
- Take-home materials and skills to practice between sessions
- A content outline for parents, sent before week one
Capped at 10 teens. Payment is due in full at registration to hold the spot. Because this is an educational workshop rather than therapy, we don't bill insurance and can't provide superbills for it.
Melissa is a licensed marriage and family therapist whose whole practice is built around something most of us are never actually taught: how to communicate. She works with couples, families, and individuals on healthy communication, boundaries, and repairing relationships that have gotten stuck — and she's a certified facilitator of the Prevention and Relationship Education Program, a curriculum designed to teach relationship skills before they're needed rather than treat the fallout after.
Meet Your FacilitatorS
Mariana is an associate therapist at Harlowe, trained in trauma-focused therapy, CBT, and ACT. She has a particular love for working with young people on self-discovery, confidence, and figuring out what they actually want — and a lot of experience with teens and young adults who have ADHD and are trying to build structure that works with their brain instead of against it.
Melissa Miranda, LMFT, NCC
Mariana Gomez, MSW, RCSWI
Browse the FAQs
Teens ages 14–17 who are navigating stress, self-esteem, friendships, or big feelings and would benefit from concrete skills and time with peers. It's a good fit whether or not your teen is already in therapy.
No. It's a workshop led by two licensed therapists — we're teaching skills and giving teens a place to practice them, not providing treatment. There's no diagnosis, no treatment plan, and no clinical record. If your teen needs individual therapy, we can help you find it, inside Harlowe or elsewhere.
Extremely common, and not a dealbreaker. Most teens show up skeptical on week one and loosen up once they see it isn't a lecture. A quick call with a facilitator helps more than anything — it lets them meet a facilitator, ask their own questions, and have some say in the decision, which tends to matter a lot at this age.
No. Participation is invited, never required. Plenty of teens spend the first week or two mostly listening, and that's a legitimate way to be in the room — pressure tends to shut this age group down rather than open them up.
Week 5 covers consent, body autonomy, healthy versus unhealthy relationship patterns, and questions teens submit anonymously the week before. We answer honestly, accurately, and without shame, at a developmental level appropriate for 14–17. You'll get the full content outline in advance and sign a consent form covering these topics. If you have questions or concerns, tell us before the series starts — we'd rather talk it through than surprise you.
Not routinely, and the reason is practical: group only works if teens trust the room, and they won't if they think everything gets reported home. We will always contact you if we have a concern about your teen's safety, and we'll share general themes and skills so you can reinforce them at home.
A maximum of 10, so it stays small enough for everyone to participate and ask questions.
As much as possible, yes. This is a closed workshop — the same ten teens every week — and the trust that builds between them is most of what makes it work, so a rotating room would undercut the whole thing. Life happens, though. If you already know about a conflict, tell us up front and we'll figure out whether this series or the next one makes more sense.
Register for Our Next Workshop
Starting October 12th
- Mondays from 4:30pm - 6:00pm
- October 12th, 19th, 26th, November 2nd, 9th, 16th
By purchasing a spot to Harlowe Counseling's Teen Emotional Skills Workshop, I acknowledge and agree to reading the Teen Emotional Skills Workshop Agreement.
