Services

Due to the current public health crisis, I am expanding online and tele-therapy options for all new and returning clients.

Services for Adults

EMDR therapy for adults with a history of trauma. One of the most effective ways to free yourself from symptoms of past trauma is EMDR therapy. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) can provide quick and lasting relief from disturbing memories, reactivity, anxiety, excessive worries, and other emotional distress stemming from traumatic events in the past. This evidence-based integrative brief psychotherapy approach has been extensively researched and proven effective for the treatment of trauma.  Both the World Health Organization and the American Psychiatric Association recommend EMDR as an effective trauma treatment; the Department of Veterans Affairs/Department of  Defense placed EMDR therapy in the “A” category as “strongly recommended” for trauma.

Coaching for adoptive & pre-adoptive parents. Adoption is a lifelong journey for parents and children alike, not a one-time event. Preparing for the normal and predictable challenges of adoption helps pre-adoptive parents attune with their new child from the first days and weeks of their lives together, promoting secure attachment right from the start. Down the road adoptive parents may seek short-term consultation on handling current parenting challenges in an adoption-savvy way, as when preparing to disclose difficult information or handle the issues that come up for parents regarding their child’s relationship, thoughts, and feelings about birth family.

Services for Children & Families

Please note:  I do not engage in treatment services for the purposes of custody evaluations, immigration evaluation, mediating divorce/separation disputes, or making recommendations regarding placement, custody, or caregiver competency.  

Adoption-competent family, child & adolescent therapy. Please see the section on Adoption & Adoptive Families on this website.

Attachment-focused, trauma-informed family & child psychotherapy. If attachment is insecure or disorganized, I often recommend that at least one parent participate in therapy with the child. Please see the section on Child Trauma on this website.

Integrative psychotherapy for children & adolescents. Children ages 6 and up and especially teens may benefit more from individual therapy than very young children, with parents included in the assessment and invited to join sessions as appropriate.  Regular collateral meetings with parents to listen to your concerns and keep you informed are always part of the treatment plan. Family therapy can also be effective with this age group.

Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) for early childhood trauma and insecure attachment/developmental trauma/RAD. Recognized as an empirically supported treatment by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network , CPP is also well suited to adoptive and foster families with children ages 0–6 to promote secure attachment and build resilience.

Filial Therapy, an evidence-based family play therapy suitable for children ages 3–12 that directly involves parents as the agents of therapeutic change. Filial Therapy has been used successfully with many child and family problems, including oppositional behaviors, anxiety, depression, perfectionism, abuse/neglect, single parenting, traumatic events, attachment/adoption/ foster care, relationship problems, and others.

Parents’ Role in Child and Adolescent Therapy: You are the most important people in your child’s life. Your support and involvement are essential to the therapeutic process. As primary players on your child’s support team, you can expect either to participate in sessions or to come in for monthly parent consultations with the therapist, depending on your child’s and family’s needs. Attachment style, trauma history, temperament, and parent-child/family dynamics will be assessed and discussed throughout the treatment process. This may include discussing the parents’ own childhoods and exploration of feelings regarding parenting. Even in dyadic or family therapy, parent consultations (and sometimes sibling sessions) are essential to the therapeutic process. Without parental involvement and openness to change, difficulties in the parent-child relationship are highly unlikely to improve.