I work together with children and families to promote and restore mental health through processes of assessment and intervention, with different approaches designed for:
- Babies (birth to age 3 years)
- Preschoolers (ages 3 - 5 years)
- Elementary School-Aged Children (ages 5 - 10 years)
- Adolescents (ages 10 – 18 years)
Children and their families participate in a preliminary assessment when we begin. This process emphasizes strengths and includes interviews, questionnaires, games and challenges, review of records, and real-time observation of skills in a variety of areas. Positive features of children's families, neighborhoods and communities are identified, as well as challenges to development and well-being. In these ways, children and their families are able to establish a preliminary plan for nurturing strengths and capacities while addressing concerns as they emerge.
Intervention:
I work with children and their families to help them coordinate their thoughts, feelings, behaviors and physiology in order to promote and restore their mental health. Together we identify and practice ways to nurture their close relationships and explore their everyday world so that their overall development keeps pace with their emerging talents, hopes and dreams.
Families seek me out for:
DEVELOPMENTAL GUIDANCE
to help them navigate transitions and challenges that are influencing their children’s social-emotional development and well-being. This might include:
Phase transitions relating to sleeping, feeding/eating, crying, toileting, thinking / feeling, communicating, or various skills of daily living associated with infancy, toddlerhood, childhood, or puberty and adolescence.
Family transitions relating to births, deaths, marriages, divorces, adoptions, new jobs, new child care , new schools, moves, or out-of-home placements.
Friendship transitions relating to changes in peer group, child care, school, neighborhood, or community networks.
Challenges relating to difficult encounters with educational, legal or social service systems, or to experiences of bullying, discrimination, or other forms of disrespect.
CHILD AND FAMILY PSYCHOTHERAPY
to address issues when social-emotional and behavioral patterns are leading to distress or making it difficult to reach goals, enjoy life, and flourish. This might include issues associated with:
- Worry, Fearfulness or Anxiety
- Sadness, Anger, Depression or Mood Swings
- Hyperactivity, Inattention or Impulsivity
- Challenging Behaviors
- Aggressive or Defiant Behaviors
- Extreme Shyness
- School Avoidance
- Grief and Loss
- Trauma
- Attachment Difficulties
- Bedwetting
- Obsessive or Compulsive Behavior
Using an individualized and personalized model, we consider ways to incorporate approaches from:
- Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health
- Place-Based Mental Health
- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
- Family Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Play Therapy
- Trauma-Informed Therapy
- Relationship Building and Attachment Enhancement
- Restorative Practices
REFLECTIVE CONSULTATION
when families are not experiencing any difficulties but want to fully embrace the unique opportunities for growth that are possible during that special stage of family life while children are young.
I collaborate with families to identify ways of tracking progress over the course of our work together.
I also assist families in connecting with other families, professionals and resources that may be useful sources of support, and in coordinating the various services and supports they seek out for their child and family.
In these ways, we work together to take a whole-child approach to promoting and restoring mental health and well-being.