For the college-age kid who's struggling, and the parent in it with them.
Virtual therapy for college students, young adults, and teens, and guidance for the parents walking through it with them, in PSYPACT states.
Maybe you're the student. Anxious all the time, behind on everything, telling everyone you're fine. Maybe you're the parent, watching from three hundred miles away or from across the kitchen, trying to figure out how much to say. Either way, struggling right now doesn't mean something is wrong. It usually means no one taught this part yet.
Virtual therapy with a licensed psychologist, wherever school takes you in a PSYPACT state
I'm Eric Schleifer, PhD, a licensed psychologist with more than 20 years of experience working with teens, college students, young adults, and their parents. My practice is fully virtual. I'm licensed in New Jersey and authorized through PSYPACT to provide telehealth in 42 participating states, so a student can start with me at home and keep going once they're away at school.
I also offer Parent Guidance, a parenting consultation for parents of kids of any age.
Getting into college isn't the same as being ready for it.
We spend eighteen years getting kids ready for college. The grades, the applications, the résumé. We spend almost none of it on the part that's actually hard: handling a bad week, asking for help, living on your own when no one's watching.
So a lot of really capable kids hit the leap and quietly come undone. The anxiety gets louder. Motivation disappears. Some come home after one semester and can't seem to get going again.
That's not a character flaw. It's a skill nobody taught yet. Skills can be learned.
Who I work with
College Students
For the student who's barely holding it together at school, or trying very hard to look like they are. Anxiety, low motivation, loneliness, drinking more than they meant to, a semester going sideways.
Therapy for College StudentsYoung Adults and Failure to Launch
For the 18-to-26-year-old who's supposed to have it figured out and doesn't. Stuck at home, stuck at work, just stuck. Not lazy. Not behind. Just not there yet.
Young Adult TherapyTeens and the Transition to College
For the high schooler everyone's a little worried about, and the family trying to get them ready for the leap.
Teen TherapyParent Guidance
For parents of kids of any age, from toddlers to twenty-somethings. Sometimes the person who needs support isn't the kid. It's you.
Parent GuidanceThe behavior is almost never the real problem.
The shutdown. The avoidance. The bad semester. The "I'm fine." Underneath almost all of it is a young person who never learned how to sit with a hard feeling, so they tuck it away until it erupts, or until they go numb.
My job is helping them face what they've been avoiding, at a pace that doesn't pretend they should already be fine. No jargon. No lecture. I've tried lecturing my own kids. It doesn't work on them either.
We're all in the muck together.
I'm a psychologist and a parent. That means I've spent more than 20 years helping families through this, and I've also raised my voice about bath time at a kid who'd just had the best day of her life. I don't pretend to have it all figured out.
What I bring is experience, honesty, flexibility, and usually some laughter. You don't need a polished explanation of what's wrong to get started. "Things have been weird lately" is plenty.
Your therapist shouldn't disappear when your ZIP code changes.
College students move. They go home for break, transfer, take an internship in another city. Most students lose their therapist every time.
Through PSYPACT, I can keep working with clients who are physically located in any of 42 participating states. A student can start with me at home, continue on campus, and check in over winter break without starting over. What counts is where you are at the time of each session, so we'll confirm your location and eligibility before we begin.