Comprehensive Assessments
I provide comprehensive psychological and psychoeducational assessments for children and adolescents. My goal with assessments is to collaborate with the entire family to help you and your child gain increased understanding of their learning and emotional/behavioral style, awareness of strengths and weaknesses, and to identify specific strategies to facilitate changes. A thorough assessment helps us to understand of your child’s learning style, identify any diagnoses that may be relevant, and to collaborate on a plan for change. It also provides information that may be used to request accommodations in school if your child qualifies. Often the assessment acts as a therapeutic intervention in and of itself.
Assessments may be helpful for children who:
Have difficulties focusing
Procrastinate
Can’t complete work on time
Are underachieving in school
Don’t following directions
Have difficulty with reading, writing, or math
Show behavioral problems
Have social problems
Experience anxiety or frequent worry
Are frequently sad or depressed
Child & Teen Therapy
I provide individual and family therapy for elementary aged children and adolescents who are experiencing difficulties in their home, school, or social environments. The children I work with may have difficulties due to anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, or ADHD. I view therapy as an active and collaborative process. I take an eclectic approach, utilizing principles from motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral therapy, behavioral activation, and social learning theory. When providing therapy for children, I view parental involvement as crucial to children’s therapeutic success for several reasons.
First, parents provide important information about their children’s past and present experiences which informs the identification of specific therapy goals and helps determine targeted interventions.
Second, parental involvement is essential in order to help parents fully understand their children’s emotional experiences and behaviors.
Third, it is difficult for anyone, especially children, to generalize skills learned in the therapy room to their natural environments; including parents in the therapeutic process allows for parents to help their children generalize and practice skills to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.
When providing therapy for adolescents, parental involvement is often beneficial to the therapeutic success. However, in some instances it may be important to slowly build towards parental involvement so that your teen can develop a sense of agency and independence in their therapeutic work. At our first appointment we will discuss what type of parental involvement will be best at the beginning and a plan for increasing involvement if needed.
Young Children & Parenting Support
Many families are feeling intense pressure to meet more demands and achieve at higher levels than ever before. Parents can find themselves frazzled, with less time and energy to keep consistent family routines or to spend quality, technology-free time with their children. Managing this family stress shouldn’t have to be a full time job. Creating a cooperative communication style when children are young can help families form a united front to manage busy schedules with more ease and less stress. Behavioral therapy helps parents and children become an effective team.
Therapy for Parents
I provide individual therapy to parents whom might be struggling for a variety of reasons. Some of the reasons parents come to see me include:
Postpartum depression or anxiety
Difficulties adjusting to new parenthood, even in the absence of significant anxiety or depression
Difficulty parenting in a way consistent with their values
Uncertainty over how to handle challenging situations with their children
Difficulty finding time for self-care and independent activities while balancing their role as parent
Difficulty managing parenting roles and ADHD