We are sorry to hear things have been difficult at home. With COVID-19 precautions, so many young people are feeling stuck at home and many are struggling with challenging family situations. Your ability to access counseling without parental knowledge depends on where you live. Some states in the USA allow 16-year-olds to engage in therapy without their parent knowing. It may be worth having a conversation with your parents about your desire for additional support. Your primary care doctor can help you with this conversation. If talking to your parents is not an option, you can access crisis resources such as the Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741), which is free and private.
Our health guides are developed through a systematic, rigorous process to ensure accuracy, reliability, and trustworthiness. Written and reviewed by experienced healthcare clinicians from Boston Children's Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and consistently ranked as a top hospital by Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report, these guides combine clinical expertise, specialized knowledge, and evidence-based medicine. We also incorporate research and best practices from authoritative sources such as the CDC, NIH, PubMed, top medical journals, and UpToDate.com. Clinical specialists and subject matter experts review and edit each guide, reinforcing our commitment to high-quality, factual, scientifically accurate health information for young people.