Therapy with Kids

 

Don't you wish you could smooth the road for your child, no matter the challenge they face?

 

As a parent, I understand that feeling - the deep love that motivates us to want to give our children the best, happiest life possible and the heartache when we see them struggle or when something difficult happens in their life. There is no one as important to your child as you are, and there are times when adding a professional to your child's team can be: 

 

a tremendous gift to your child's well-being,

can help you feel more confident and joyful in your parenting and

can bring peace to your family.  

 

Therapy during childhood or adolescence is an investment whose benefits last far into a child's and a family's future.  Many of my adult clients say "if only I had had this kind of help when I was growing up!"  I use talk, play and art therapy, adjunct family therapy and parenting support, referrals and coaching as needed.  Every child's unique temperament and development combine with stressors such as:

 

• learning challenges

• divorce

• bereavement

• sibling rivalry

• exposure to addiction in the family or

• social challenges.

 

Kids who need therapy are usually suffering or insufferable, or both.  Physical, emotional or academic symptoms manifest when a child or a family's coping abilities are over-stressed.  At such times, professional support can improve and resolve these symptoms before they become a lifetime struggle.  

 

I believe in teamwork approaches and collaborate with pediatricians, teachers, educational therapists, psychiatrists or other important providers in your child's life.  I originally set out to be a therapist for grown-ups, but luckily, my kids convinced me that I should also be a "kid therapist."  (Kids can be very convincing, no?)  I have worked as a therapist in the Oakland Unified School District and the Lafayette School District.