Children/Adolescents

I am trained in Child-Centered Play Therapy and have worked extensively with children and teens between the ages of 3-18 years old. I offer individual therapy for children while encouraging high levels of family involvement throughout treatment. While I find that it can be helpful for children to have a dedicated and separate space to share and process their feelings through expressive play and direct communication, I believe strongly that treatment is most effective when family is involved. Children are intrinsically connected to and embedded within their family systems. I find that a child's presenting issue is often part of a larger family dynamic that can only be healed when other members of the family are open to exploring the family system as a whole.

Family

I have training and experience in modalities including Filial Therapy and Pain in the Heart Healing Theory (a model developed and taught by Dr. Pamela Parkinson, PhD, LCSW and derived from Structural Family Therapy). I am skilled at providing parent guidance in addition to my work with families and individual children. My overall approach to family work is to help families communicate their individual and shared pain with one another, make the unspeakable speakable, and give permission to all members of the family, from the youngest to the oldest, to share their unique perspectives and truth. I will help you find ways to connect and reconnect on the basis of shared hopes, dreams and values.