Clinical Services

Individual Child/Play Therapy

Children are often stuck in a pattern of maladaptive behaviors that repeat themselves. Speaking directly to a child about the behaviors can be frustrating. Many times, a child knows right from wrong and will verbalize a wish to do things differently but in the moment, they are unable to alter the outcome. Play therapy is a traditional therapy used with children to help explore and understand unconscious conflicts; wishes and fears. This approach helps the practitioner arrive at why a child is stuck, what gets in the way of optimal functioning and informs the treatment for moving the child forward.

Adolescent Therapy/Problem Solving

Adolescence marks the transition from childhood to young adulthood. It is an historically tumultuous time as teenagers face the stress of class choices, test taking, competing in sports, building a resume in preparation for college, managing friendships and navigating the land mine of social media, partying and peer pressure. This period can often strain the resources of even the highest functioning adolescent. My goal with teenagers is to help them understand their changing role in the family and in society while strengthening their inner resources and capacity for problem solving.

Life Transitions/Young Adulthood

Whether the transition is from toddlerhood to childhood, childhood to adolescence, adolescence to young adult or young adult to adult, these shifts often present challenges that can be intensified by stress and anxiety. In my practice, I work with young adults navigating the social, professional and emotional world of independence and autonomy. I team closely with families struggling to manage the delicate balance between supporting their child financially and emotionally and allowing that child to trip and fall in the wide world outside of the childhood home.

Parent Consultation

The focus of the work in parent consultation is on finding effective coping strategies and practical solutions that fit your family. A major goal is in assisting parents to alleviate stress and increase their effectiveness in managing behavior. I aim to guide parents to better understand their role as it relates to their specific child. At times, the focus must be on methods for dealing with differences in parenting styles. Other times, the work is about developing strategies for understanding, predicting and responding to particular behaviors. When a child veers away from the trajectory of growth whether cognitively, emotionally or behaviorally, I help parents help their children to get back on track.