Grow Therapy offers a new framework for youth mental health: Compass Parenting

New findings show that when something's wrong, most teens tell no one; Compass Parenting helps parents open the door without forcing it.

NEW YORK, Aug. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Grow Therapy (Grow), a leading mental health platform that connects patients with rigorously vetted, insurance-covered therapists, today released new data and introduced Compass Parenting, a framework that shifts parents from gatekeepers of their children's digital experiences to guides who help them navigate those experiences themselves.

The findings draw on three sources: Grow and Morning Consult's Youth Mental Health Survey, a peer-reviewed study of clinical outcomes among Grow clients ages 9-17, and the company's internal reporting. Together, they point to a generation willing to seek support, and a disconnect between how parents and teens perceive mental health.

Introducing Compass Parenting
As technology limits a parent's ability to fully control what young people see and experience, the traditional role of parent as "gatekeeper" is being challenged. Grow worked with renowned clinical psychologist Dr. Jacinta Jimenez on the concept of Compass Parenting to serve as a framework for raising children in a complex technology-centered world. Rather than attempting to enforce rigid rules about screen time, parents act as guides equipping children with internal emotional regulation, self-awareness, and professional support.

"Our goal should be to raise children with enough emotional resources that technology isn't their first and only refuge," said Jacinta Jimenez, Psy.D., Clinical Advisor to Grow Therapy. "We have introduced the idea of 'Compass Parenting' because shielding young people from every challenge isn't realistic, but helping them overcome those challenges through connection, context and guidance is a viable long-term strategy. It's about giving parents a new way to support their children as they build the skills and confidence to navigate the world on their own."

An important starting point is realizing distress doesn't always look the way adults expect. The Youth Mental Health Survey reveals a divide between parental perception and youth reality:

• 91% of parents rate their child's mental health as good or excellent, compared with 54% of youth who say the same.
• When something's wrong, 59% of youth said they usually keep it to themselves; only 24% of parents think their child does, a 35-point gap.
• Parents also overestimate their role as a confidant: 65% believe their child often or always turns to them when upset, compared with just 27% of youth who say they do.

When upset, youth pick what's immediately available, but potentially least helpful:

• Social media is the most popular place youth turn when upset. 67% report scrolling under emotional strain, compared to just 9% who talk to a therapist or counselor.
• Teens with good mental health tend to have more open dialogue with parents. Nearly 50% say they'd talk to a parent when stressed.
• Teens with poor mental health show the opposite pattern. Only 23% would talk to their parents, but they're 11 percentage points more likely to say they'd see a therapist (24% vs. 13% of peers with good mental health).

These numbers suggest that for the teens who need support most, parents can't wait for a child to reach out first. They have to be the ones to open the door, and how they open it matters. For parents ready to put Compass Parenting into practice, Dr. Jimenez offers three practical principles that make up the GPS of Compass Parenting:

• G: Get Curious. Approach teens with genuine interest rather than judgment, swapping "Why are you always on your phone?" for "What does scrolling do for you when you've had a hard day?"
• P: Partner, Don't Police. Build solutions together, whether that's phone-free moments the whole family joins, nighttime routines that protect sleep, or a shared plan for who to turn to when stress builds.
• S: Seek to Understand Rather Than Assume. Because parents and teens often perceive adolescent distress differently, use open-ended questions like "What's been the hardest part of this week?" to invite conversation without interrogation.

Finding the right therapist also matters

Even when practicing the GPS principles of Compass Parenting, there are scenarios that warrant bringing in a professional. Today, youth mental health remains a national emergency, but only about half of youth who need treatment ever get it. New peer-reviewed research on nearly 10,000 young people ages 9 to 17 treated through Grow shows that when children and teens get into care and stay engaged, they get better.

• The big picture: The bond between patient and therapist typically takes hold around the third session, which is exactly when many young people drop out of care. In this study, roughly 3 in 4 attended at least three sessions, staying past that critical threshold.
• Real results: The majority of Grow clients ages 9-17 with elevated depression or anxiety improved enough to meet a high clinical standard, e.g.:, symptoms like loss of interest, low mood, nervousness, and excessive worry became meaningfully less frequent, less severe, or both.
• Other recent developments: Demand surged from 2024 to 2025, with Gen Alpha utilization up 57% and parenting-related searches increasing 145%.

"Half of all lifetime mental health conditions emerge by age 14, which makes these years the most important window we have to intervene," said Inderpreet Dhillon, MD, Senior Medical Director at Grow Therapy. "What this study shows is that when young people connect with a therapist and stay in care past those critical first sessions, most see real improvement. Reaching kids in that window can shape not just how they feel today, but the trajectory of their adult lives."

Methodology:

Youth Mental Health Survey: Commissioned by Grow Therapy with Morning Consult; conducted online June 18-25, 2026, across two independent samples: 500 parents of children ages 13-21, and 525 youth ages 13-17. Margin of error: ±4 percentage points for the full samples; margins for subgroups are wider.

Digital Health Study: "Engagement and outcomes of children and adolescents enrolled in a technology-enabled mental health treatment platform," published in DIGITAL HEALTH, 2026. Retrospective cohort study of Grow Therapy patients ages 9-17 with a first provider visit between January 2022 and April 2024.

Grow Internal Reporting: Anonymized platform data from 2024-2025

About Grow:
Grow is a mental health platform that delivers exceptional in-person and online therapy and psychiatric care. Its rigorously vetted national network of 27,000 mental health professionals provides high-quality care covered by insurance, with 230 million Americans able to access Grow through their health plan. Grow Therapy has raised $328 million, and key investors include Sequoia Capital, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Transformation Capital, TCV, SignalFire, Plus Capital, BCI and Menlo Ventures. More information about Grow Therapy can be found at growtherapy.com.

Media Contact: Kristina McPherson [email protected]

SOURCE Grow Therapy