Child Therapy

I believe behaviors are communications and we need to shift the way we’re looking at these difficult situations to move through them with love and connection.

People often ask me how I work with kids. I wish I had a simple answer for this, but the truth is, just like adults, I tailor my approach with each child and family based on who the child is and what's most helpful to them. I work collaboratively with parents as active partners in their child's therapeutic process.

Parenting Support
All parents worry about making the right choices for their children. Whether you are struggling with day-to-day discipline strategies or have larger concerns about your child's developmental trajectory, I can help you navigate this challenging role. I believe that you are the most knowledgeable expert about your own child. I share my understanding of child development and parent-child relationships, while honoring your deep knowledge of your child and helping you make choices that are practical for your family, consistent with the culture of your household, and that promote the values you wish to impart to your children.

Early Relational Health for Parents and Children 0-5

I have extensive experience with attachment, birth trauma, pregnancy loss, perinatal anxiety/depression, feeding difficulties, colic, self regulation issues, and some of the normal transitions that occur during this phase of life. It is unique to each of us, families and couples with young children benefit tremendously in getting support early on.

Children 6-12

Some common struggles for kids

  • Anxiety/fearfulness

  • Self-esteem

  • Parent-child relationships

  • School related concerns

  • Social concerns

  • Grief and loss

  • Trauma

  • Difficulty with self regulation

  • Aggression

  • Life stressors- hospitalization, death, medical illness of a parent or family member or invasive medical procedure.

I encourage parents to seek out additional activities for kids such as, dance, karate, nutrition, occupational therapy, chiropractor, sports, cranial sacral, creative arts, theatre, yoga, nature, biking, cooking, gardening, and other activities that enhance well-being.


Therapy for Teens

I can help your teen deal with the overwhelm, learn to express feelings, and learn healthy ways to manage life. Teens who come to see me feel like I understand what they're going through and how stressful it can get.

Some teens feel like their parents “just don’t get it” and so they are often feeling frustrated, judged and misunderstood. They desperately wish their parents understood.

Self esteem issues and not feeling ok is pretty common and the demands and pressure from social media, peers, teachers and parents can make it really tough for kids to feel OK. We can work on healthy boundaries, more compassion and self acceptance.

It can be a really hard time of life and the pressure to succeed in school can be so incredibly stressful for teens. There are more and more demands placed on them with academics, sports, work and volunteer service to get into college. So many kids struggle with keeping up with their homework and worrying about grades that they are often left feeling exhausted and stressed out. I can help your teen stress less and feel more calm and confident.

Common reasons parents bring their teen to me for counseling:

  • Anxiety or depression – not seeming as happy as they used to be

  • Major life transitions – medical, move, transition from middle school to high-school, death of a loved one, divorce/separation and blended family.

  • Sudden decline in grades or school performance

  • Communication issues at home, getting into arguments and not feeling like your teen is respecting any of the limits

  • Significant changes in weight, appetite, sleep habits, and or energy levels.

  • Social concerns, change in peer groups, spending an unusual amount of time alone in room or being too busy leading to overwhelm

  • Intrusive thoughts

  • Emotional dysregulation

  • Grief and loss

  • Concerns with substance use

  • Trauma

  • Boundaries

  • Sometimes teens just need to have a safe confidential space to share feelings, access their own inner wisdom and build resilience.


Helping teens manage strong emotions

Helping our children develop interiority will require us to develop it as well. What we model to our children in terms of dealing with our own distress – and theirs – will in large part determine what they learn about managing emotions. When something upsetting happens, all of us have an immediate desire to make the problem go away as quickly as possible. It may be difficult to stay with upsetting feelings of fear or despair, and so we get really uncomfortable and plunge into action to try to fix things.

While this is an understandable and normal response, it can often work against us. Rushing to fix a problem leaves us with little time to feel our feelings and be curious about them. It encourages our kids to see the inner life as something that needs to be managed rather than experienced. It is easy as a parent to fall into the trap of responding in this way. When children are upset, we feel an urgency to resolve their distress.

There will be times when our teens come to us in distress and some advice and problem solving may be necessary. However, there will be times where listening with openness and curiosity shows respect for the feelings in their own right. It gives those feelings space to just be there, and time to see if those feelings need to transform into something else. Attending to our feelings helps us cultivate an awareness of and appreciation for our inner life.

Parents, I always want to hear from you. Your thoughts and concerns about your teen are an important part of my work.

Please reach out if you are concerned about your teen, I’m here to support you through it.