Child and Family Therapy

I use Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) to work with families of young children (1.5 - 7 years old) navigating challenging behaviors and big expressions of feelings. This includes children who:

• Refuse/defy adult directions or commands

• Are easily frustrated or lose their temper easily

• Whine and delay

• Engage in “attention-seeking” behaviors

• Are physically or verbally aggressive towards others

• Have difficulty staying seated, playing quietly, or taking turns

• Are experiencing challenges related to safe behavior at school

• Might be considered “strong-willed” or “defiant”

My work is neurodivergent-responsive and LGBTQIA+ and People of Color affirming. I believe each child and family who comes to see me brings experience and knowledge that are strengths. Using these strengths as starting points, we do the work together to move towards improved functioning.

For families with young children, I use Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). PCIT is an evidence-based treatment backed by over 30 years of research for children ages 2 to 7 who have challenging behaviors. PCIT teaches parents and other caregivers how to enhance their relationship with their child, increase positive behaviors in children, and reduce problem behaviors in home, school, and public places. PCIT therapists work with the caregiver and child together to improve child behavior and reducing parenting stress.

PCIT addresses these concerns by:

• Teaching parents strategies to promote positive behaviors and improve the quality of the parent-child relationship

• Providing in the moment coaching of parent-child interactions

• Teaching techniques to manage and reduce problem child behaviors

In my therapy room:

• We know that child work is family work and the importance of family, whatever that looks like, is incorporated.

• We acknowledge that broader societal context and issues of race, class, sexuality, gender, ability and other identifiers inform everyone’s experience.