CHILD AND ADOLESCENTS
Children (4-10) In play therapy, children are encouraged to express, through play, all the things they may have difficulty saying or contextualizing into words. Activities are used to develop social skills, improve communication of problems, deal with grief and loss, trauma, and other areas of needs. |
Preteens and Adolescents (11-17) Pre-teens and adolescents are faced with unique challenges of both childhood and entering adulthood. My office space offers causal seating for those more comfortable with sitting and talking and other self-expression tools including games, media, and art materials, for those struggling to find the words to express their feelings and thoughts. |
"Life is like a puzzle. There may be difficulty finding the right pieces, but in the end your puzzle will be complete"
Areas of Counseling Services
Adjustment to Change/Transition
Adoption-Related Issues
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Anger Management
Anxiety/Worries
Behavioral Issues
Grief and Loss
Impulse Control
Mood Disorders
Peer Relations
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(Rostered TF-CBT Clinician)
Adjustment to Change/Transition
Adoption-Related Issues
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Anger Management
Anxiety/Worries
Behavioral Issues
Grief and Loss
Impulse Control
Mood Disorders
Peer Relations
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(Rostered TF-CBT Clinician)
Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: TF-CBT is an individual, short-term treatment that involves individual sessions with the child and parent as well as joint parent child sessions. TF-CBT is most appropriate for children (ages 4 to 18) and most effective with a supportive caregiver who is heavily involved. TF-CBT has an 80% success rate in minimizing behavioral or emotional problems that are related to traumatic life events, even if they do not meet full diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Treatment results improvements in PTSD symptoms as well as in depression, anxiety, behavior problems, sexualized behaviors, trauma-related shame, interpersonal trust, and social skills.
Adoption Competency Therapist: Training for Adoption Competency (TAC) is a training program specifically developed to provide licensed mental health professionals with the clinical skills they need to provide quality clinical services to adopted persons, birth families, prospective adoptive parents, adoptive families and kinship families. Research shows that children with traumatic experiences of abuse, neglect and abandonment and challenging behavioral and emotional responses are at greater risk of presenting with adjustment problems within their adoptive families. These children’s emotional issues are often complex, and adoptive parents often identify these issues as the primary contributors to family stressors post-adoption. Access to adoption-competent mental health services is a critical factor in the outcomes for these children and their adoptive families and the success of their adoptions.
Adoption Competency Therapist: Training for Adoption Competency (TAC) is a training program specifically developed to provide licensed mental health professionals with the clinical skills they need to provide quality clinical services to adopted persons, birth families, prospective adoptive parents, adoptive families and kinship families. Research shows that children with traumatic experiences of abuse, neglect and abandonment and challenging behavioral and emotional responses are at greater risk of presenting with adjustment problems within their adoptive families. These children’s emotional issues are often complex, and adoptive parents often identify these issues as the primary contributors to family stressors post-adoption. Access to adoption-competent mental health services is a critical factor in the outcomes for these children and their adoptive families and the success of their adoptions.