Families are busy, often going in many different directions. Online family therapy is easy and convenient. Kids are also more at ease meeting with a therapist from the security and comfort of their own home. I use lots of movement and activities in family sessions which are fun for online work.
Yes. You will always meet with me before we bring in the children. This gives you the opportunity to speak freely with me. I will also use this time to teach you lots of positive parenting tools and strategies. When the children come into the session, you will practice your new skills with real time feedback and support from me.
No. I do not meet with children in individual therapy unless I need to assess a safety issue. I see you, the parent, as the agent of change. When you change the way you see your child, your child will change. This is a family systems approach to therapy. I will be working closely with you to help you become the healer in the family. My work with families is effective even if your children do not attend.
My online family therapy sessions are 90 minutes long. The first hour or so, I meet alone with parents. Then, the children come in for the later part of the session.
My families meet weekly for family therapy. Weekly sessions are important for continuity. It is hard to remember what everyone is working on if several weeks pass between sessions. This makes treatment less efficient and take longer.
The work that you will be doing is foundational. You can expect to be working with me for at least six months, but most likely longer. Rewiring brain pathways takes time and practice. Treatment will move along more quickly when you practice the interventions during the week. You can consider our work together a marathon, not a sprint.
Your first session will be a 90-minute parent only session. We will begin reviewing the paperwork you electronically signed and discuss my guiding principles. This is an opportunity to get to meet me before you introduce me to your children. I want to make sure that you are comfortable and want to move forward.
After the first parent-only session, we will begin our regular routine. You will meet with me for about an hour. In this time, I will ask you about your wins and celebrations (the progress you are making) and review the intentions you set the week before (homework). I will then respond to any issues or concerns you want to discuss. I will have a lesson or strategy to teach you and we will prepare to bring in the children. When the children arrive, we will start with a brain balancing movement or other self-regulation skill. Everyone will then be invited to participate in a family therapy activity. We generally end our family sessions with a time of sharing and connecting.
I come to my work with families from a neuroscience perspective. You will learn so much about you and your child’s brain. You will learn about the different areas of the brain and how they respond to stress. We will discuss levels of neurological arousal and how you can attune to your children during challenging episodes to help them feel seen and really heard. We will work on emotional regulation for everyone in the family using brain balancing movements which help to integrate primitive reflexes. I will fill your parenting toolbox with strategies that match your child’s level of arousal to help you down-regulate meltdowns. You will also learn how to get on the same team as your child with a problem-solving strategy that moves away from “being in trouble” to “being with” your child. Therapy will also be filled with activities to help heal, strengthen, and grow connections in the family. It is never too late to bond with your child.
I do not accept insurance. Because I work from a family systems perspective, I see your family as my client. There is no family diagnosis for which an insurance company will reimburse you.
Many types of families who have children in elementary school and junior high school come to my practice. I have a specialty in working with families who have gifted or twice-exceptional children. I also work with families who are in the post-adoptive stage with the understanding that adoption is a life-long issue.
Here are all my fees:
50-minute individual session with older teens and adults: $175
55-minute parent coaching session: $225
80-minute parent coaching and family therapy session: $250
I do not work with families who are involved in complicated divorce situations. This requires specialized training. Additionally, I do not work with teenagers, who often would benefit from individual therapy.
After a brief phone call to see if we are initially compatible, you can schedule a free phone consultation. This call takes place with both parents through a conference call and will last approximately an hour. I work you through a decision tree, pausing along the way to see if you are interested enough to continue the discussion. By the end of this consultation call, we will all have a good idea about goodness of fit. I have a few appointment times available during the day, select weekday evenings. You will need about a week to fill out my paperwork and we can get started soon after that.
You can give me a call at (626) 755-4059 to schedule your free consultation call.