Childhood trauma brings both short- and long-term consequences.  Undiagnosed trauma in children can lead to unhealthy behaviors as teens or adults such as smoking and alcohol or drug abuse, or worse.  Identifying trauma symptoms in children helps get them into the therapy they need and lessens the likelihood they will engage in risky behaviors as adults.

Children who struggle to solve their problems misbehave and act out at home, with their friends, and at school when they have used up their problem-solving skills.

I have worked with children, teens and their parents since 1995, first as a learning specialist and now as a psychotherapist.  Parents have sought my help in handling their children’s acting-out behaviors.  Others needed help for their child’s learning differences.  What I learned is parents need help in recognizing and addressing the broader issues of child rearing before addressing a particular problem.  

“Emotional development begins in infancy and I’m passionate about helping parents and families learn to understand their young children and themselves as complete human beings.”

Parents, Infants, Toddlers (Up to age 4)

Children actively progress through emotional and intellectual stages, each with its own characteristics and requirements.  My work with infants, toddlers and parents at this stage focuses primarily on helping parents develop a sense of the major emotional goals at this stage of life so they can nurture their infants and young children as they grow through the milestones in their emotional development.

“Adjusting to parenthood while maintaining a loving relationship as a couple is the greatest gift you can give your child.”

Young Children (Ages 4 and up)

Therapy with very young children is not the traditional talk therapy because their ability to articulate is not well developed.  However, they can and do express themselves. 

My approach with very young children is to utilize the child’s communication style (play).  Developing a positive relationship between therapist and child through play therapy sessions brings a corrective emotional experience so necessary for healing. 

Interactions between a child’s problems and their family are very complex.  Sometimes children develop problems as a signal of family discord.  Other times the family becomes distressed because the child's problems are so disruptive.  Children and families heal faster when they work together.  

Throughout the process of therapy with very young children I communicate regularly with the parents and help them develop a plan for resolving problems and monitoring progress of their treatment.

Tweens and Teens

Negotiating this difficult stage of life can be problematic for teens and their families.  Teens today are stressed from social and academic pressures.  Many times they’re referred because of trauma or issues related to abuse.  Teens are brought to therapy for a variety of reasons, mostly acting-out behaviors.  But those behaviors are usually the manifestation of deeper issues. 

My work with tweens and teens focuses on crisis intervention when necessary, self-esteem issues, helping them develop healthy coping mechanisms, working through their issues of trust and struggle for independence, improving communication and developing life skills necessary for a successful transition into adulthood. 

Parenting
As your children grow through their different stages of development, your parenting techniques must grow and change with them.  Each child is different  and what works with one child may not work for his or her siblings. 

Many parents have expressed frustration with parenting.  They also express frustration with their spouse’s parenting.  Samples of complaints I’ve heard from parents are:

Extreme indulgence vs. excessive discipline

Ignoring feelings vs. being overly sensitive to every expression

Teaching young infants and children overly structured tasks (such as learning to read) vs. ignoring early cognitive development.

Parents usually come to my office when they’re completely exhausted. 

My goal for parents is to help them develop new techniques which complement the context of their family.  Parents will leave each session with a plan customized to their family’s unique needs along with techniques for reducing stress and building a new relationship with each other and their children.