If you're a parent searching for a teen therapist in Wellesley, you've probably navigated this already: a long list of providers, vague descriptions of “talk therapy,” months-long waitlists, and no clear sense of whether what you're paying for is actually going to help.
Onto Therapy was built to offer something different for adolescents and young adults. Our care is structured, evidence-based, and designed to produce measurable progress — not open-ended therapy that drags on for years.
Who we work with
We work with adolescents and young adults across Wellesley, Needham, Newton, Weston, Natick, Dover, and Wayland — including students at:
• Wellesley High School
• Dana Hall School
• Wellesley College
• Babson College
• Olin College of Engineering
• Public middle and high schools across Needham, Newton, and the MetroWest region
Common reasons families come to us:
• Anxiety, perfectionism, and academic pressure
• Depression, low motivation, and withdrawal
• Emotion regulation difficulties — intense reactions, mood swings, self-destructive patterns
• Trauma, including impact of medical events, loss, or adverse experiences
• Family conflict and communication breakdowns
• Life transitions — high school to college, college home for the summer, post-college launch
How we work with teens and young adults
Structured programs, not open-ended therapy. Every engagement begins with a comprehensive intake, a treatment plan with measurable goals, and a defined timeline. You and your teen will know what we're working on, what progress looks like, and how long it should take.
Evidence-based protocols. We use DBT-informed care for emotion regulation, gold-standard trauma protocols (CPT, PE, WET), and Values-Based Transdiagnostic Psychotherapy. The same approaches used in leading hospital programs — in a personalized outpatient setting.
Parents involved, appropriately. For minors, parents are part of the treatment process — we'll define exactly what that looks like at intake. For young adults, we coordinate with families when the client consents and when it serves clinical goals.
School coordination when helpful. When it serves the client's progress, we coordinate with school counselors, deans, and college counseling centers (with consent).
Why Onto for teen therapy
McLean 3-East lineage. Onto was founded by Kerry Rivard, LMHC, former Program Director of the 3-East DBT Residence at McLean Hospital — one of the country's most rigorous DBT programs for adolescents and young adults. Few practices anywhere bring that depth of clinical experience to teen mental health.
Hospital-grade scientific oversight. Our Scientific Advisor is Douglas Katz, PhD, on staff at Massachusetts General Hospital and Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Family Therapy and Care Management available. When the work needs to extend beyond the individual teen — to communication patterns, parent-teen conflict, or healthcare coordination — we can integrate Family Therapy or Care Management into the program.
What to expect
Treatment begins with a free 20-minute consultation between us and the parents (or directly with a young adult). If we're a fit, we schedule a comprehensive intake within two weeks. From there, we build a treatment plan with clear goals, defined timeline, and regular outcome measurement so progress is visible to everyone.
Billing and access
Onto is out-of-network private pay. We provide superbills monthly for families submitting for out-of-network reimbursement, and accept FSA and HSA. This model allows us to deliver the longer intakes, structured protocols, and provider coordination that work for adolescent mental health.
What happens next
If you're a parent considering whether Onto is the right fit for your teen, the best next step is a free 20-minute consultation. We'll discuss what's going on, walk through our approach, answer questions, and help you decide whether to schedule a full intake.