Grow Therapy offers support at every stage of life, including childhood and adolescence. If you are a parent or guardian of a minor seeking mental health services, our platform makes it easy for you to help them get started with the care they need. This article walks you through how to search for a provider, complete the booking form, activate their client portal, and understand what account access looks like going forward.
🚨 Important: If you're under 18 and don't currently have a parent or guardian who can help you get started, you won't be able to book sessions through Grow Therapy, but support is available. If you're in immediate danger, call 911. For emotional support anytime, text HOME to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line (available 24/7). You can also find additional emergency resources in our Help Center. A trusted adult in your life, like a school counselor or another family member, may also be able to help you find care.
Key Points
A parent or legal guardian must complete the booking and provide consent for a minor's therapy. The child cannot register themselves.
If you use your own email address for your child's account, they'll be able to toggle between your account and theirs once they have portal access, which means they could view your therapy history. Use a different email address to keep accounts fully separate.
The primary parent or guardian has full portal access. A secondary parent or guardian receives only appointment notifications.
When your child turns 18, contact Support to transfer full account control to them.
Sessions with minor clients do not automatically initiate AI transcription. If your child's provider uses AI transcription, they'll confirm your presence before recording begins.
🎥 To watch this video with closed captions enabled, hover over the video and select the CC icon in the bottom right.
Schedule an appointment
Follow these steps to enroll a child or adolescent in therapy:
Use the Grow Therapy Marketplace to search for a therapist who fits your child's needs. For tips on narrowing your search, refer to How to find a provider.
Once you've selected a provider and confirmed they work with your child's age group, choose your preferred appointment time and click Book session.
In the booking form, go to the "Client information" section and use the drop-down menu to indicate whether you are the parent/guardian or a legally authorized representative. Then enter your child's information.
📌 Note: If you use your own email address when enrolling your child, they'll be able to toggle between your account and theirs once they have portal access — which means they could view your therapy information. To keep accounts fully separate with no cross-visibility, use a different email address for your child's account.
Add insurance or self-pay details, credit card information, and your child's residential address.
In the "Authorized consent" section, enter your contact information to provide consent for care. If you are registering as a parent or guardian, check the box to indicate if custody is shared. If checked, additional fields will appear to collect the contact information of the other parent who shares legal responsibility for the child's care.
Review and accept Grow Therapy's terms and policies. See the informed consent requirements section below for details on what's included.
Click Book now to confirm the session.
A confirmation message will appear, summarizing the appointment details. You'll also receive a confirmation email with a link to activate the minor's account.
Activate their account
Follow these steps to activate the minor's client portal:
Locate and open the confirmation email sent during booking.
Click Prepare for my appointment.
You'll be taken to the Grow Therapy client login page in a new browser window.
If you already have a Grow Therapy account at this email address
If you already have a Grow Therapy account at this email address
Sign in with your existing credentials. You can then use the toggle in the bottom left corner of the portal to switch between your account and your child's.
If you don't already have a Grow Therapy account
If you don't already have a Grow Therapy account
Click Activate your account.
Fill in the required fields and click Activate account. You can also choose Sign in with Apple or Sign in with Google to use your existing Apple or Google account. For step-by-step instructions, click here to view the full account setup guide.
Manage account access
Primary parent or gaurdian
The primary parent or guardian — the person who completed the booking — has full access to the client portal, including the ability to view and manage account details, appointments, and billing information.
Secondary parent or guardian
A secondary parent or guardian receives email notifications about upcoming appointments but does not have full portal access. This is the contact entered under Other parent/guardian in the authorized consent section during booking.
📌 Note: Secondary parent or guardian access cannot be added after booking is complete. If you need to update consent or contact information for an additional guardian after the fact, contact our Support Team.
Transition at age 18
When your child turns 18, their account can be updated to reflect their own contact information and login credentials, giving them full control of their therapy account going forward. To begin this process, contact Support with your child's name, date of birth, and the email address associated with the account. The Support Team will guide you through the steps to complete the transfer.
Informed consent requirements
🌟 Note: Sessions with minor clients do not automatically initiate AI transcription. If your child's provider uses AI transcription, they'll confirm your presence at the start of each session before recording begins, even if consent has already been provided.
When booking your child's first therapy session, you'll be asked to review and agree to a series of consent checkboxes and complete an Informed Consent Form to confirm your approval for treatment. If the client's parents are separated or share legal guardianship, it is essential that the other parent or legal guardian also provides consent.
Frequently asked questions
What age groups does Grow Therapy serve? Grow Therapy serves clients of all ages, including children and adolescents. When searching for a provider, you can filter by age group to find therapists who specialize in working with minors. Confirm with the provider's profile that they accept clients in your child's age range before booking.
Can I pay out of pocket instead of using insurance? Clients with active, accepted insurance coverage are required to use their benefits for eligible services. If you choose to see a provider who is out of network or does not accept your insurance, you may opt to self-pay for sessions, meaning you'll be responsible for covering the cost privately. During the booking process, you can enter a credit or debit card if you are opting to self-pay. Your child's therapist sets their self-pay rate, which is listed on their profile.
Can both parents have full access to the client portal? Currently, only the primary parent or guardian (the person who completed the booking) has full portal access. A secondary parent or guardian receives appointment email notifications only. For questions about access arrangements specific to your situation, contact our Support Team.
I didn't receive the confirmation email. What should I do? Check your spam or junk folder first. If the email isn't there, contact our Support Team and they can resend the activation link.
How do I reschedule or cancel my child's appointment? Log in to the client portal and navigate to your child's upcoming appointments. From there, you can reschedule or cancel directly.
What happens to billing and insurance information when my child turns 18? When you contact Support to initiate the account transfer, the Support Team will help update all account details, including login credentials, billing information, and insurance, to reflect your child's information. It's a good idea to have this information ready when you reach out.