Welcome Home Family Therapy – Supporting Families Across California
When the world feels overwhelming, our children feel it too—and for neurodivergent kids, that fear often lives deep in their nervous systems. Whether they’ve overheard news about a tragedy, witnessed adults in distress, or simply picked up on your tone of voice, they absorb what’s happening faster and deeper than most people realize.
As a therapist—and as a mom of gifted, neurodivergent, and emotionally intense daughters—I understand the heartbreak of watching your child carry worry that’s too big for their age. I also understand how helpless it can feel to know they’re scared and not know how to help.
At Welcome Home Family Therapy, we begin by creating safety—not just in the world around your child, but in the relationships within your home. The work I do with parents focuses on helping you come home to yourself, and helping your children feel at home in their bodies, their emotions, and your presence.
Why Neurodivergent Children Struggle More with Fear
Children with ADHD or autism often experience heightened sensitivity to their environment. Loud sounds, rapid changes, facial expressions, and emotional tones all register more intensely. When exposed to frightening news—like natural disasters, mass violence, or even just the emotional dysregulation of the adults around them—their nervous systems may go into protection mode quickly and stay there longer.
Their questions might seem endless:
- “Are we going to die?”
- “Why would someone do that?”
- “Will that happen to me?”
- “What if something bad happens when I’m at school?”
What they’re really asking is: Am I safe? Are we okay? Can I trust you to hold this with me?
You Are the Anchor—Not the Answer Key
When terrible things happen, we can’t always offer clear answers. But we can be a safe place for our children to land.
In Family Counseling for Parents of ADHD and Neurodiversity, we focus on helping parents stay regulated so they can support their child’s sense of safety. That doesn’t mean shutting down your own feelings. It means learning how to process your fear without transferring it to your child.
Here’s what that might look like:
- Staying grounded in your body before answering your child’s questions.
- Using co-regulation strategies to calm their nervous system.
- Letting them talk, cry, rage, or play their fears out with you nearby.
This work becomes even more important if your child is also gifted or twice-exceptional. Their intellect might allow them to understand the mechanics of global events, but emotionally, they may not yet be able to regulate the fear those insights bring. Through Family Counseling for Gifted/2e, we help families navigate this unique combination of high sensitivity, asynchronous development, and emotional depth.
Creating Safety in the Everyday
One of the most effective ways to soothe your child’s nervous system—especially after exposure to frightening or chaotic events—is to maintain predictability and connection in your daily life.
That includes:
- Keeping routines as consistent as possible (especially meals and bedtimes).
- Limiting your own news intake when your child is nearby.
- Offering simple, developmentally appropriate answers to tough questions.
- Letting them know that you are not afraid to talk about hard things.
When the world feels unpredictable, home can become the place your child learns what it means to feel safe again. That’s what I mean when I talk about creating a Welcome Home—a space where your child feels seen, protected, and emotionally held.
What If the Family System Feels Unsafe?
For many families, fear and disconnection don’t just come from the outside world. They come from within the home—from ruptures between parents, misunderstandings between siblings, or patterns of dysregulation passed down from generation to generation.
If you or your partner experienced trauma, grew up in a home where emotions were shut down or explosive, or are dealing with unresolved grief, those dynamics can make it harder to create the safety your child needs. That’s where Online Family Trauma Therapy can be a lifeline.
Together, we look at how to:
- Break cycles of fear, avoidance, or emotional shut-down.
- Repair trust and co-regulation between family members.
- Rebuild your child’s sense of home in the context of healing relationships.
And if you’re parenting across two homes after a separation or divorce, Co-parenting Therapy Near Me helps you and your co-parent develop shared language around fear, safety, and resilience—even if you don’t always agree.
When to Seek Additional Support
Some children continue to show signs of distress long after a frightening event. These might include:
- Sleep disturbances or nightmares
- Clinginess or separation anxiety
- New phobias or intense fears
- Emotional outbursts or regression
- Withdrawal or shutdown
If that’s the case, we can explore support options through Online Family Therapy in California, where your entire family can receive guidance and tools to co-regulate and heal together.
In some cases, the work might begin just with you. In Online Parent Therapy When Parenting is Hard, I support parents who feel alone, stretched thin, or unsure how to show up when they themselves are overwhelmed by fear or helplessness.
Let’s Talk First. No Pressure.
If you're still reading, maybe you're feeling a spark of hope. Or maybe you're skeptical, and that’s okay too.
To get started. we will have a brief screening phone call and if it feels right, we will schedule an hour-long, free phone consultation to see if we are a good match for therapy. This is my offering to you, at a time when you are struggling the most.
Book a free Discovery Call: Click here
My Motto: Helping parents become the healers in the home.
FAQs
What if I don’t know how to answer my child’s questions?
You don’t have to have the perfect words. What matters most is being emotionally available and honest in a developmentally appropriate way. “That was a really scary thing. I don’t have all the answers, but I’m here with you” is a powerful response.
Can therapy help even if the trauma didn’t happen to my child?
Yes. Children can experience vicarious trauma just by hearing about or imagining scary events. Therapy helps them (and you) make sense of that impact and regain a sense of agency and safety.
What if I’m more scared than my child?
That’s common. Many parents realize their own trauma or anxiety is activated by current events. We work on supporting your nervous system so you can lead with calm and connection.
Do you work with families where the parents are in conflict or not aligned?
Absolutely. In addition to individual and family sessions, I offer Parent Coaching Grounded in Brain Science, where we focus on alignment, repair, and building capacity—even when co-parenting is hard.
What can I do while I am waiting for therapy to start?
Listen to the Big Baffling Behavior Show, a podcast by my mentor, Robyn Gobbel. In this episode, she talks about safety in the environment (the outside). You can listen here.
Final Thoughts: Home Is More Than Shelter
We can’t control everything our children will hear or see. But we can offer them a sense of home that lives inside their relationships with us.
A home that says, “You are safe with me.” A home that says, “Your feelings belong here.” A home that says, “We can handle hard things—together.”
At Welcome Home Family Therapy, I help parents become that emotional home—not just through words, but through presence, nervous system safety, and repair. You are not alone in this work.
You’re already building a safer world, one relationship at a time.
You Deserve Support
To get started. we will have a brief screening phone call and if it feels right, we will schedule an hour-long, free phone consultation to see if we are a good match for therapy. This is my offering to you, at a time when you are struggling the most.