LPC, 10 years of experience
Hi there! Are you looking for therapy for children & adolescents? Great, that's my thing! I work exclusively with children, teens, and young adults (think "college kid" age). I'm a kid person at heart, and I know it shows in my ability to connect with and support my young clients. Working with this special age group is more than a job; it is both a calling and an honor.
First sessions will always take the form of an intake appointment where we will have the opportunity to discuss your/your child's psychosocial history, current symptoms, and goals. I have an intake form that I will talk through with you/your child to help me get a better idea of the big picture. Please note: for children under 14, the intake session must include a parent/guardian; for those over 14, you can decide whether or not it would be helpful for me to speak with your parent/guardian first.
Growing up, I was made to feel too sensitive, too anxious, too shy...the list could go on. I still carry some of that with me, and it is my greatest joy to help you/your child feel accepted and seen in a way that I was not. That's not to say we won't work to improve our habits & symptoms, but there's a way to do that and it never involves shame. I also appreciate my eclectic approach to therapy. There are countless approaches and modalities; different things work differently for different people. I like to use something I call the "best of the best" approach; I pull the best or most impactful/relevant bits from many modalities and apply them to you/your child's individual needs. My go-to approaches to pull from include: CBT, DBT, Child-Centered Play Therapy, Somatic Therapy, Art Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, Strengths-Based Therapy, Feminist Therapy, and Gestalt.
My ideal client is a child, teenager, or young adult who is comfortable with, and capable of having meaningful conversations via telehealth. I don't like to use an exact age limitation because everyone is unique. I have held impactful virtual sessions with children as young as 8, but have also struggled to keep an 18 year-old engaged in the session. You know your child/yourself best, but generally speaking my telehealth clients are between the ages of 8-22. Some of the most common themes in my work with clients include: building self-esteem, self-reliance, and self-advocacy; coping with family stressors like a move or a divorce; exploring one's identity; managing depression, anxiety, stress, and anger; processing difficult or traumatic events; and addressing feminist issues and concerns.
All health professionals should be looking at their work with patients through the lens of Trauma Informed Care. Trauma is defined as any experience big or small, that causes feelings of significant distress, fear, anxiety, or shame. We can carry trauma with us for years after the event; it lives in our bodies and in our minds, and can affect our physical health and the way we behave and think. In my work with young people, it is an honor to support them in processing their trauma(s) so that it does not follow them into adulthood.
CBT is an amazing tool for anyone at any age. The main idea of CBT is that our thoughts directly impact our feelings. If we can change our thoughts, we can our feelings. CBT helps us recognize unhelpful patterns in our thinking that often contribute to chronic feelings of anxiety, frustration, anger, and depression.
Child-centered Therapy is the cornerstone of every interaction I've ever had with my young clients. Child-centered Therapy (which is simply the kid version of Person-centered Therapy) involves treating children with something called "unconditional positive regard." This is the belief that children deserve warmth, empathy, acceptance, and love regardless of their actions, beliefs, or circumstances. It's sort of like the technical term for the saying "I love you no matter what you do." This reassures children that their worth is intrinsic; it is not dependent on their actions.
Play Therapy is the single, most developmentally appropriate method of therapy for young children. I said what I said! It is not fair to expect children to come into session and verbally discuss their lives for an hour like adults do. That's difficult for many adults as it is! Children do not have the language, vocabulary, cognitive ability, self-awareness, and abstract-thinking skills needed to benefit from this type of therapy alone. Children do however, have the play skills to explore, process, experiment, and express things through play; it is the universal language of kids. It is quite tricky to utilize play-therapy interventions in a telehealth setting, but that doesn't stop me from trying. There are several virtual resources that allow young clients to play in session, including things like a virtual dollhouse or sandbox.