I help teens who are experiencing hard, painful, and confusing moments in life
You know your teen, and you know when she’s hurting. You’ve probably thought one or more of the following:
- My daughter is involved in a lot of activities and she seems so stressed out by everything in her life.
- My child seems to have a lot of anxiety about school, friends, her future, the family…it’s a lot!
- My daughter gets down on herself all the time. She always says “I can’t do it.” Or “I’m not good enough.”
- My daughter has to deal with a lot of peer drama at school and on social media, and I know that’s really stressful for her.
- My child is a perfectionist. She gets really frustrated when things don’t go her way–especially with grades and her extracurricular activities.
As a parent, you have an understanding of the problems you are seeing. You’re looking for a professional that offers a safe place for your teen to vent her feelings and work through these challenges. You’re looking for help now, because you’ve been noticing your daughter has been stressed out for some time. Maybe you have a sense of what’s going on and you’ve tried the strategies that you know would work for you. But yet for some reason your daughter isn’t feeling better. In fact life just seems to be feeling worse for her.
You want your daughter to have a happy, fulfilled life. I can help.
How I can help your teen
- What if your daughter had the ability to cope so she could handle life without the meltdowns, shut downs, or blow ups?
- What if she could be proud and confident of herself and her abilities?
- What if your teen expressed her feelings in a way in which you could understand and help?
During our first session your daughter will get a full assessment of her challenges. You will be listened to, and your child will feel heard as I get feedback from both of you regarding treatment goals. You will leave the first session knowing the plan for how we will work toward those goals.
Once we identify what the challenges are, treatment will focus on your child’s strengths. I will partner with your daughter to introduce successful strategies that lead toward positive change. Through guided activities and conversation your child will work toward the goals we discussed.
Your participation is encouraged in your child’s treatment process. Parent education, strategy, and feedback are integral parts of your child’s progress.
Does progress take time? Yes. But therapy with me is designed for you and your child to start focusing on solutions, and see small successes turn into big ones.
Challenges I treat
I have over 8 years of experience working with children and teens. The challenges I most frequently treat are teens with:
- Behavioral difficulties like defiance, and anger outbursts
- Challenges with low self-esteem, depression or chronic moodiness
- Perfectionism and “loud inner critics”
- Peer issues with making or keeping friends as well as “peer drama”
- Chronic worrying, anxiety, and panic attacks
Every child is different and my philosophy is that your daughter has unique strengths that make up who she is. Those are the strengths we build upon to help your child make changes. I am here to partner with you to help your child grow, develop, and thrive.
Get to know me
Helping families is my life’s work. My first job was as a preschool teacher, working alongside my mom (yep, she made me volunteer, and who knew, I loved it!). I loved assisting children understand the complicated world, and help their self-esteem blossom.
I also worked for several years as a kindergarten teacher at the Boys and Girls Club and as an Instructional Assistant for children in the first and second grade. I learned a lot about the challenges children experience in the school system and how to help them function within an increasingly pressured world.
Eventually I learned I wanted to have the skills to work with families on developing their child’s mental health and emotional well being. I went to school to become a clinical social worker/therapist, which means I get to engage children and teens with therapeutic strategies that support transformation into thriving beings.
Over the last 10 years I have interned or worked as a therapist in schools helping kids develop the skills to have a successful school day, and in inpatient psychiatric hospitals helping teens come back from their darkest depression and most debilitating anxiety. I’ve helped young teen women in a residential treatment facility to conquer the demons that’s been holding them back, and worked in community mental health agencies helping teens get the happiness they’ve been searching for.
Eventually, I opened my own business where I can focus on my passion—whole-family emotional wellness, with a specialization in teens and parenting teens. I have a special love for helping high performing teens confidently find their direction in life, as well as focusing on healthy and effective mother-daughter communication.
If you have any other questions about me I’m an open book and you can always call or message me to ask!