Child Therapist & Teen Therapist for Palo Alto & Peninsula Families
You didn't sign up for this level of hard. But your family can find its way back.
Serving: Palo Alto · Menlo Park · Atherton · Redwood City · Los Altos · Los Altos Hills · San Carlos · Portola Valley · Woodside · Belmont · Hillsborough · Burlingame
You're doing everything you can. It still doesn't feel like enough.
The meltdown in the parking lot. The email from the teacher — again. The bedtime that turns into a 45-minute battle that leaves everyone in tears. The child you love more than anything who feels completely out of reach right now.
You've tried the breathing exercises. You've read the books. You've adjusted your schedule, your tone, your approach. Some days it works. Most days it doesn't. And underneath all of it is a quiet, exhausting question: am I missing something?
You're not missing something. You're just at the point where your child needs more than what any parent — no matter how present, how patient, how dedicated — can give on their own. That's not failure. That's exactly when therapy is supposed to help.
Meet Hannah Ly, Child and Teen Therapist for Peninsula Families
I'm Hannah Ly, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and I've spent my entire career doing one thing: helping children and teens express what they can't yet put into words — and helping the parents who love them understand what they're hearing.
I believe behaviors are communication. The meltdowns, the shutting down, the outbursts — your child isn't giving you a hard time. They're having a hard time. My job is to figure out what they're trying to tell you, and then help you hear it.
Every family I work with gets both — weekly sessions for your child or teen, and monthly parent coaching built in. Because your child's progress can't live only inside my office.
Get Started! Schedule a Consultation Now!
Here's what parents say
when it's working.
"My kid actually wants to go back."
"I finally understand what my child is trying to tell me."
"There's joy in our family again."
That's the goal. Not a perfectly behaved child. Not a stress-free home. Just a family that feels like itself again — connected, calmer, finding its way back.
You've been carrying this long enough. Let's figure out the next step together.
Therapy for children, teens, and the parents who love them.
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Long before a child can say "I'm scared" or "I don't know how to handle this," they show it. In the games they choose. The stories they tell with figures. The way they paint or build or knock things down. In play therapy, I follow them into their world — watching, reflecting, helping them feel understood.
When children feel seen and understood, the behaviors that worried you start to become less necessary. Not because I fixed anything — because your child doesn't need them anymore.
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No clipboard. No interrogation. Just a space where your teen can actually exhale.
Most teens aren't resistant to support — they're resistant to being managed by another adult who already thinks they know what's wrong. Teen sessions look different here: we draw, play games, have real conversations. I get to know your teen as a person first, not a problem to solve.
I use Brainspotting for anxiety, trauma, and what's hard to put into words. And before every parent session, I check with your teen on what they're comfortable sharing — their trust stays intact.
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You're on the team. Not in the waiting room.
Every family gets monthly parent coaching built into the model — not optional, not an add-on. Because what changes in 50 minutes with me has to be able to live in your home too. We meet without your child, I share what themes I'm seeing, and you walk away with a clearer window into your child's inner world.
Practical suggestions based on your values, not a one-size-fits-all curriculum. Over time, you stop reacting and start connecting — that's the shift.
Our Redwood City Therapy Office
Address: 611 Veterans Blvd suite 210, Redwood City, CA 94063