Confidentiality & Trust · Online, in English
A private space for your teen, with clear ways for you to stay involved
Privacy helps your teenager speak freely. Before starting, we explain its limits, how the family participates, and when information may need to be shared.
3 signs this is happening to you
You're not doing anything wrong. You're doing what any parent who loves their kid would do.
You want to know everything
It's natural to want to know what's happening in session. But that need, followed all the way, can break the space your teenager needs.
You're scared
You may be concerned about safety, progress or how to help. Those questions belong in the conversation before therapy begins.
Your teen shut down
If they sense that what they say is going to reach your ears, they start censoring themselves. And therapy loses the reason it exists.
For a lot of families who live between two languages, there's an extra layer: your teenager may be building the words for what they feel in English, in a room where you — who think in Spanish — aren't present. That can feel like a second wall stacked on top of the first one. It's still the same rule.
Who's with your family
I'm Ricardo, and I hold this wall so your teen's process can hold too
I'm a clinical psychologist with more than 15 years of clinical practice, trained in systemic family therapy. I'm Colombian, based in Barranquilla, and I see clients online. Many of the teenagers I work with in English were born or raised in the US or Canada — they reach for feelings in English first, while the parent on the other side of the conversation is still thinking in Spanish. I sit in the middle of that gap every week, and I don't ask your family to close it before we start.
You don't have to explain the language part to me first. What I do ask is that we agree on the frame — what stays inside the session, and what your role becomes outside of it — before your teenager and I ever speak.
Master's in Systemic Family Therapy
Universidad Simón Bolívar
Clinical Psychologist
15+ years of clinical experience
University Professor
16 years teaching psychology
Systemic-Relational Approach
Systemic-relational
Ricardo is licensed as a psychologist in Colombia (Professional License 106127) and works with international clients in private practice. He does not prescribe medication. Rules on cross-border online therapy vary by country and by state, so it's worth checking what applies where you live — and this never replaces local emergency care.
Book a Session With MeHow I work this
This is how I work with confidentiality in teen therapy
I'm not going to tell you not to worry about your teenager. But the rule that protects the process is clear, and it's the same rule that lets the process exist at all.
Privacy with clear boundaries
Privacy does not mean a word-for-word report to parents or secrecy without exceptions. We discuss what can be shared, with whom and under which circumstances, taking the teenager’s situation into account.
The frame comes first
Before I speak with your teen, I set the frame with you as the responsible adult. You'll know exactly what to expect, in English or in Spanish — what you'll hear from me, and what you won't.
Your role doesn't end — it changes
Holding the bond at home, noticing changes, asking without demanding an answer. You stop supervising and start accompanying. For parents managing a teenager's therapy from another country, the pull toward asking for a report is even stronger — but the rule stays the same.
How we start
A clear first step, no pressure
You book your initial session
Message me on WhatsApp or leave your details in the form. We'll set up a first 60-minute video-call session with you, at a reduced rate (25% off), before your teenager and I ever meet.
We talk through what's going on at home
In that first session I listen to what's worrying you about your teenager and what you're hoping therapy does. No rushed diagnoses, no jargon — just understanding, together, what the family needs.
We agree on the frame together
We discuss consent, confidentiality, family participation and the circumstances in which information may need to be shared. Safety is important, but it is not the only consideration in defining those limits.
The wall protects a space to speak. Its doors are agreed in advance: privacy, family participation and the limits of confidentiality.
Your first step
Start with an initial session
If this part raises doubts, talking it through first helps. The US$37.49 initial session is where we talk about the frame — before your teenager's process begins.
60 minutes · Video call · 100% confidential
Book My Initial SessionAlso in therapy
Other processes I can walk with your family through
Prefer to talk first?
Message me and I'll answer personally
If you're not ready to book and would rather tell me a bit first, message me on WhatsApp or leave your details below. I answer personally within 24 hours, no obligation.
WhatsApp Directly📍 Online · Barranquilla, Colombia
🕑 Mon-Fri 8am - 7pm · Sat 9am - 1pm (Colombia time)
If you're in emotional crisis or having thoughts of harming yourself, please seek help right away: in Colombia, call Line 106, or in the US call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), or reach your local mental health line. You are not alone, and help is available right now.