Will my parents know what I say in therapy?

No. What you say in session is between you and your psychologist. Your parents know that you go, how it is going in general terms and little else. The only exception is a serious risk to your safety: then your psychologist tells you first and you work out together how to share it.

Can I choose the psychologist?

Yes. You can look at the profiles, see who works with people your age and say who you want to start with. The adult responsible for you does the booking and the payment, but the choice can be yours. And if you do not feel comfortable in the first session, you can change.

What if I am under 11?

You can ask for help too, and everything on this page applies to you as well. In that case the family tends to be more present in therapy. If you do not want to talk to your parents, you can call 800 911 2000 (Línea de la Vida) for support and guidance.

All resources

Guide

For you, if you are 11 to 17

If you are here, something is not right and you want to understand it. This page explains what talking to a psychologist is, what you can do if you do not want to tell your parents, and when it is better not to wait.

Updated: September 11, 2026

If you need urgent help

If there is immediate danger: Call the emergency number. It answers 24 hours a day. 911
If you are having suicidal thoughts: Call the Línea de la Vida. It is free, confidential and available 24 hours a day, every day. 800 911 2000

We Are Psycho is not an emergency service and does not handle crises. The free information call explains how therapy works: it is neither crisis care nor a clinical assessment. If this is not an emergency, you can book a session below.

Wanting to talk to someone is normal

Wanting to talk to someone who is not from your home or your class does not mean there is something wrong with your head. It means you are carrying something heavy and do not know where to put it down. At your age a lot happens at once, inside and out, and there is not always an adult nearby who listens without judging or getting nervous.

A psychologist is that: an adult, trained to listen, who is not your family or your teacher and who will not tell them what you say. In therapy you talk about what is going on, at your own pace, and work out together what to do with it. You will not get a lecture, you will not be given homework you do not want, and nobody will decide for you.

At Psycho you can look at the profiles of the psychologists who work with people your age and choose who you would feel comfortable with. What you cannot do on your own is book and pay: an adult responsible for you has to do that. If you do not want it to be your parents, further down we explain what other options you have.

If any of this is happening to you

At home there is fighting all the time, or a silence that weighs more than the fighting, and you are in the middle.
You feel that nobody gets you, at home or outside, and that explaining would be pointless.
Going to school has become an uphill climb every morning, and it is not about grades.
Your friends have turned on you, left you out of the group or make you feel bad when you are with them.
You do not sleep, or sleep terribly, and go through the day in a fog.
You have hurt yourself on purpose, or thought about it, and have not told anyone.

What helps

Telling someone. It does not have to be the perfect person and you do not have to explain it well. An adult you trust (a mother, a father, an aunt, a teacher, the school counsellor, a friend's mother) can be the first step towards a professional. You can start by writing it down, if talking is hard.

If the problem is at home. More friction with your parents during adolescence is common: you need more space while they are still focused on keeping you safe, there are expectations about school or the future that do not match yours, and sometimes each side misreads what the other does. A few things tend to help:

Talk when you are all calm, not in the middle of an argument. If you feel you are about to explode, it is fine to say "I need a moment, let's talk later".
Say how you feel instead of accusing: "I feel frustrated because I think you do not trust me" works better than "you never let me do anything".
Listen to their side too, without interrupting. Many rules come from fear that something will happen to you, not from wanting to control you.
Ask for autonomy in concrete terms, with agreements on times, privacy or responsibilities, instead of fighting about everything at once.
Look for solutions rather than someone to blame, and share something you all enjoy, such as a film, cooking or sport: when things are more relaxed it is easier to talk about what matters.
Be patient: things at home do not change overnight.

If the arguments keep repeating in the same way, family therapy can help all of you change how you talk to each other, not only you.

If you do not want to involve your parents. You have options. You can call 800 911 2000 (Línea de la Vida) for free, confidential support and guidance. You can go to your school counsellor. And if what you feel is very strong and you cannot take any more, there is a helpline for exactly that, 800 911 2000, which answers at any hour.

What therapy does. It helps you put in order what is happening, understand why you feel this way and try ways of feeling better that make sense to you. What you say stays there. Your psychologist will take you seriously, even if what is going on seems small or strange to you.

What it does not do. It does not fix your parents or your school, and it does not turn you into someone else. It does not make you talk about what you do not want to. And it is not forever: you keep checking whether it is helping, and you can say no.

When not to wait

Feeling bad for a few days over something specific is normal, and it usually passes. Do not wait if it has gone on for weeks, if you have stopped doing things you enjoyed, if going to class is hard or if you catch yourself thinking it would be better not to be here.

If there is physical or emotional violence at home, or you are afraid to be there, it is not a conflict you have to fix on your own. Tell an adult you trust or your school counsellor, and if you are in danger right now, call 911.

If you have hurt yourself or are thinking about it, call 800 911 2000 (Línea de la Vida) now: it is a line for exactly this, and it does not have to be an emergency. If you are in danger right now, call 911. We Are Psycho does not provide emergency care, but these lines do.

Who you would talk to

Licensed professionals on our team who work on this. You choose, and you can change if it does not fit.

Ainhoa Corbera
Licensed psychologist · Clinical director
View profile
Melanie Olvera Ventura
Child and adolescent clinical psychologist
View profile

Frequently asked questions

Will my parents know what I say in therapy?: No. What you say in session is between you and your psychologist. Your parents know that you go, how it is going in general terms and little else. The only exception is a serious risk to your safety: then your psychologist tells you first and you work out together how to share it.
Can I choose the psychologist?: Yes. You can look at the profiles, see who works with people your age and say who you want to start with. The adult responsible for you does the booking and the payment, but the choice can be yours. And if you do not feel comfortable in the first session, you can change.
What if I am under 11?: You can ask for help too, and everything on this page applies to you as well. In that case the family tends to be more present in therapy. If you do not want to talk to your parents, you can call 800 911 2000 (Línea de la Vida) for support and guidance.

Sources

An informational guide prepared by We Are Psycho from reference bodies and guidelines. It does not replace an individual clinical assessment.