❋

Child Therapy

❋ Therapy approach

Many children feel big emotions or become overwhelmed without yet having the tools to understand or express what they are experiencing. Therapy helps children build awareness of their internal world, communicate their needs more clearly, and develop a stronger sense of safety and confidence within themselves.

Before focusing on skills or challenges, I help children feel safe, supported, and understood within their nervous system and relationships. When children experience attuned connection and emotional safety, learning, communication, and growth can unfold more naturally. From this foundation, we gently support the development of emotional regulation, social awareness, and functional communication.

My approach emphasizes attuned connection, secure relationships, and respect for each child’s unique pace of development. Through play, creativity, and supportive guidance, children build confidence, flexibility, and self-trust while learning meaningful ways to regulate their emotions and connect with others and their environment.

Children I work with include

  • Children and teens who have experienced stress, adversity, or trauma and need support rebuilding a sense of safety in their bodies and relationships

  • Young people whose nervous systems become easily overwhelmed, leading to anxiety, shutdown, or emotional outbursts

  • Highly sensitive and neurodivergent children and teens, including those with ADHD or autism, who benefit from regulation-based support

  • Young people struggling with transitions, flexibility, or frustration tolerance when their nervous system is under stress

  • Children and teens navigating sensory sensitivities or environments

  • Young people learning emotional regulation, body awareness, and nervous system regulation skills

  • Children and teens developing functional communication to express needs, feelings, and boundaries safely

  • Young people building confidence, resilience, and a stronger sense of safety within themselves and in their relationships

❋

❋ I offer:

Clinical Art Therapy for Children

Children who have experienced stressful or frightening events, such as family conflict, loss, medical experiences, bullying, transitions, or disruptions in attachment , often express their distress through behavior rather than verbal communication. Through drawing, painting, sensory materials, and creative play, art therapy allows children to externalize feelings, regain a sense of control, and safely explore emotions at their own pace. The creative process helps regulate the nervous system, reduce anxiety, and support emotional expression while the therapeutic relationship provides consistency, attunement, and safety. Over time, art therapy helps children make meaning of their experiences, strengthen resilience, and rebuild trust in themselves and in relationships, allowing healing to unfold naturally through creativity and connection. I have a Masters in Art Therapy and 2 years of in depth art therapy training.

Nervous System Regulation for Children

Somatic Experiencing for children is a gentle, body-based approach that helps young nervous systems from stress, overwhelm, and trauma. Chronic stress can leave a child’s nervous system stuck in fight, flight, freeze, or shutdown responses, which may appear as anxiety, emotional outbursts, withdrawal, sleep difficulties, or challenges with regulation. Somatic Experiencing supports children by helping them notice body sensations, movement impulses, breath, and moments of safety in a playful and developmentally appropriate way. Through co-regulation with a calm therapist, children gradually release stored stress, build regulation skills, and develop a stronger sense of safety within their bodies. I am in Intermediate post graduate SE (Somatic Experiencing) practitioner.

Attuned ABA and Neurodivergence Support

Therapy focus on approaches to child and family therapy that support sensitive nervous systems and neurodivergence.

Play therapy is a developmentally appropriate form of psychotherapy that allows children to express thoughts, feelings, and experiences through play rather than words alone. Children naturally communicate through imagination, movement, and symbolic play, and therapy meets them in this language.

Relational ABA and ACT therapy provides behavioral support for both children and adults. As a licensed BCBA in practice for over 10 years, I help with parent training, ADL’s, functional communication training, developing executive function skills and social/emotional support.

❋Parent collaboration

Parent collaboration is an important part of the work we do together. Regular parent sessions provide a supportive space to reflect on your child’s needs, deepen understanding of behaviors, and learn practical ways to support regulation, communication, and emotional development at home. These meetings are collaborative and compassionate, helping parents feel more confident, connected, and supported as their child grows and develops.