Introducing Cleo Teens

The influences and challenges facing teens today look different from when parents were teenagers themselves, leaving parents at a loss for how to navigate this crucial period for their kids. VP of Product Yasi Baiani shares how Cleo Teens provides a solution.

Parenting is one of the most rewarding gifts in life, but it isn’t always a walk in the park. If you’re the parent of a teenager, it can often feel like climbing Mount Everest. Adolescence is a tumultuous time for many families. As a company led and operated by working parents, our team at Cleo knows how difficult these years can be firsthand—behaviors and societal pressures change, and you might find your teenager pulling away to make independent decisions and form their own identity. Many working parents feel overwhelmed between work and family responsibilities which has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Beyond that, they’re often unsure of how to connect with their teens, have difficult conversations about sensitive topics, or fully prepare them for adulthood.

Furthermore, the challenges of being a teen have never been more pronounced. Rates of depression and anxiety among teens have doubled during the pandemic; 20% of teens report being bullied at school, and 14% of teens are diagnosed with ADHD. These are just a few of the stark challenges parents of teens are facing while simultaneously maintaining their own mental health along the way. Navigating these challenging and chronic conditions has underlying effects on working parents, and therefore employers, leading to high levels of anxiety amongst working caregivers, reduced productivity, and increased absenteeism and attrition at work.

Employers are recognizing the need

Our clients want broader more inclusive support for their populations and much prefer to use existing benefits which they already have in place, like Cleo, rather than implement point solutions. With limited support designed for families with older children, we recognized a need for more equitable support for this group.

It’s for this reason we’re thrilled to announce Cleo Teens, our newest family benefit offering for employers that helps parents better navigate the shifting landscapes of adolescence and emerging adulthood. With the launch of Cleo Teens, Cleo’s employer clients can now provide end-to-end, proactive expert support to all caregivers in their workforce, from planning a family through the teenage years.
image showing a sequence of screen grabs from the Cleo app and featuring Cleo Teens content.

Introducing Cleo Teens

Designed in partnership with Cleo’s global employer clients and backed by research and evidence-based clinical guidelines, Cleo Teens builds on the success of our highly utilized, high impact products Cleo Baby and Cleo Kids. Cleo Teens provides holistic support with access to uniquely trained Cleo Teens Guides and a network of teen specialists designed around issues particularly relevant to children ages 13-18: mental health, sexual health, academic assistance and college planning, social development, and gender identity exploration.

What do families get with Cleo Teens?

Parents using Cleo Teens will now have access to resources for:

  • General parenting
  • Support with eating disorders
  • Transitioning children from primary to secondary school
  • Addressing issues related to emotional distress and bullying
  • Difficult or mature conversations (e.g., substance use)
  • Education related to sexual orientation, gender identity & sexual safety
  • Guidance related to motivation and academic achievement, and
  • Planning for the future (e.g., college planning, career coaching)

Cleo Teens leverages the proven Cleo Guide model that matches expert help to the unique needs of each member and their family. Guides supporting parents with teens consist of psychologists, professional counselors, middle and high school educators, and more. These trained and certified Cleo Guides provide evidence-based solutions in response to questions around gender identity exploration, mental health, social media and technology use, and much more while simultaneously offering support for parents’ own needs and career demands.

All Cleo members will also have access to our network of specialists whose support is often challenging to obtain through traditional channels. This is in addition to tools and resources available through Cleo’s intuitive mobile app, including webinars, curated content, virtual events, and community support groups.

Cleo’s continuum of care

Parenthood is a journey. No matter what stage you’re in, there will always be new challenges and lessons that come up along the way. This doesn’t mean you have to meet these challenges all on your own. With Cleo, all working parents can enjoy their journey through parenthood with support and guidance from professionals and other parents—as is often said, it takes a village.

At Cleo, we are inspired every day to reimagine whole family health. Most importantly, we understand how impactful it is to have ongoing, holistic and inclusive support when you need it most. Cleo Teens is a testament to our constant innovation and growth in the market, and will allow Cleo to expand its support to 25% more of the workforce. We’re excited to see what possibilities are in store for Cleo and our customers as we continue to support every stage of parenting.

Contact us today to learn more about offering Cleo Teens to your employees.