TEENS, YOUNG ADULTS & COLLEGE STUDENTS · MISSOURI & ILLINOIS
Teen & Young Adult Therapy in Missouri and Illinois
You're not falling behind. You just weren't given the playbook everyone else seems to have.
Free 15-minute consult · In-network with most major insurance · 100% online · Evening and Sunday availability
93% of new clients come back after their first session.
Your grades are still fine. Your job is still fine. So nobody around you can tell how hard you're working just to keep it that way.
Therapy for teens, young adults, and college students at CLS is for the space between doing okay on paper and actually feeling okay.
Book a free consult with Carolina →
CLS Counseling & Consulting offers online therapy for teens 16 and up, young adults, and college students anywhere in Missouri and Illinois, from St. Louis, Columbia, and Kansas City to Chicago, Champaign-Urbana, and the Metro East. Sessions are with Carolina Dolan-Dominguez, LCSW, who focuses on clients ages 16 to 28 and helps with ADHD, anxiety, depression, identity, and the pressure of being bicultural or first-generation. Sessions are available in English or Spanish, with evening and Sunday availability, and we're in-network with most major insurance plans.
Is this you?
This covers a wide age range on purpose, from high school through the first few years after college, because a lot of the same struggle shows up differently at each stage.
You reread the same page five times, put the assignment off until 2 a.m., then tell everyone you're fine.
You're in college or newly out of it, and everyone around you seems to have a system you were never given.
You moved out, started college or a first job, and the version of you that worked at home doesn't seem to work here.
You're bicultural or grew up speaking Spanish at home, and want a therapist who gets both worlds without you over-explaining.
Your grades or performance are still fine, which is exactly why nobody around you suspects anything is wrong.
What keeps people from reaching out
A lot of teens and young adults put off therapy for reasons that feel practical but usually aren't:
“I'm still doing fine in school or at work, so this probably doesn't count.”
“My parents wouldn't really get why I need this.”
“I don't want to be the one who's struggling.”
“I've just been trying to push through it.”
Doing fine on paper isn't the same as actually being fine.
Sound familiar? Start with a free 15-minute consult. Book with Carolina →
What it can feel like when okay on paper is okay for real
You feel as okay as you look on paper.
You have a system that actually works for your brain and your schedule.
You can hold your family's expectations and your own at the same time.
Asking for help stops feeling like proof you're failing.
The next transition feels like a step forward, not a free fall.
What Therapy Looks Like for Teens and Young Adults at CLS
Sessions are practical and collaborative, not a weekly check-in about your grades. You'll get something concrete to try, room to actually process what's going on, and zero lectures about screen time.
In the 2024-2025 Healthy Minds Study of more than 84,000 college students nationwide, 37% reported moderate to severe depression symptoms, 32% reported moderate to severe anxiety symptoms, and 52% reported high levels of loneliness (Healthy Minds Network). If this is you, it's an extremely common experience among your peers, even if it doesn't feel that way from the inside. Coming back from a break can make it harder. Here's why post-break strain is a regulation issue, not a willpower issue.
Carolina works with ADHD, anxiety, depression, identity, and the cultural or family pressure that often comes with being bicultural or the first in your family to navigate something. Evening and Sunday appointments work around a school or work schedule.
Why this works
Therapy works well for young people. A review of five decades of research, covering 447 studies and more than 30,000 young people, found that those who got therapy did better on average than those who didn't, with the strongest results for anxiety (Weisz et al., 2017).
Clinically reviewed by Cassandra Sissom, LCPC, LPC, clinical director · Last reviewed October 2026
Related: ADHD therapy · Identity & life transitions
Getting started
1
Book a free consult with Carolina
15 minutes to share what's going on and see if Carolina is a good fit, in English or Spanish.
2
Get a plan
Your first session figures out what's making things harder than they need to be, and where to start.
3
Build skills that stick
Leave each session with something to try that fits your schedule. As things improve, sessions space out.
Wondering about cost? We're in-network with most major insurance plans, and we'll verify your benefits before your first session.
Meet your therapist
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Carolina Dolan-Dominguez, LCSW
LCSW (MO & IL) · English & Spanish · Ages 16 to 28
Best fit for teens 16+, young adults, and college students who look fine on paper and don't feel it. Helps with ADHD, anxiety, depression, identity, and the cultural or family pressure that often comes with being bicultural or first-generation. Evening and Sunday times available.
Structured, compassionate, and practical.
Common Questions
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Yes, Carolina works with teens 16 and up. For clients under 18, a parent or guardian is involved in scheduling and consent.
If you're in crisis right now, call or text 988, or call 911 if you're in immediate danger.
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Yes. You don't have to be struggling visibly to benefit from therapy. A lot of clients who reach out are managing fine on the outside and just want support with what's underneath.
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Campus counseling centers are often short-term and can have long wait times. Therapy at CLS is ongoing, private, and scheduled around you, not a shared campus resource. It also continues through breaks and after graduation.
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Yes. Carolina offers sessions in Spanish or English, anywhere in Missouri or Illinois. Terapia en español →
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Yes. We're in-network with most major insurance plans, and we'll verify your benefits before your first session. Self-pay and superbills are available too.
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Yes. Carolina offers evening and Sunday appointments so sessions can work around school and work schedules.
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It's a free 15-minute consultation or chat to see if it's a good fit, for you and for Carolina. No commitment, just a chance to ask questions and get a feel for how she works.
Related: ADHD therapy · Identity & life transitions · Anxiety & depression therapy
Doing fine on paper isn't the same as being fine.
A free 15-minute consultation or chat with Carolina. In English or Spanish.