Support for parents facing separation anxiety in children—bringing families back to connection and safety through online family therapy in California.
If you’ve ever wrestled your child out the door for school while they sobbed or faced another night of battles because they refuse to sleep alone, you know the exhaustion of separation anxiety. For many parents, it feels like nothing works. Reassurance doesn’t calm, logic doesn’t stick, and frustration builds until everyone is in tears.
This is where Welcome Home Family Therapy begins—not with blame or quick fixes, but with the belief that every parent and child longs to come back home. Back home to connection. Back home to regulation. Back home to safety, love, and acceptance—even after conflict, even after rupture, even at the edge of parental frustration.
Why Separation Anxiety Hits So Hard
Separation anxiety is more than clinginess. For children, it can feel like terror. Their nervous systems are flooded with alarm: What if I lose you? What if something bad happens while we’re apart? This can show up as:
- Clinging at drop-off
- Nightmares about losing you
- Stomachaches or headaches before school
- Refusing to sleep in their own bed
- Constant worries about your safety
For parents, this often leads to guilt (“I must be doing something wrong”), frustration (“I just need a break”), and sometimes despair (“What if this never changes?”). The truth is, separation anxiety isn’t a sign of weak parenting or a broken child. It’s a nervous system problem—and that means healing starts with safety and connection.
The Welcome Home Approach
At Welcome Home Family Therapy, I help parents step into their role as healers in the home. Through brain-based, trauma-informed support, families learn how to navigate anxiety and bring each other back from the edge of disconnection.
- Parent Coaching Grounded in Brain Science helps you understand what’s happening beneath your child’s anxiety and gives you tools to co-regulate instead of escalating.
- Online Family Therapy in California makes support accessible right from your living room—no need to add another stressful transition to your day.
- Online Parent Therapy When Parenting is Hard creates a space just for you, where your own stress, frustration, or exhaustion can be processed and soothed.
- Family Counseling for Parents of ADHD and Neurodiversity addresses how separation anxiety often overlaps with ADHD, autism, and twice-exceptional (2e) traits.
- Family Counseling for Gifted/2e supports children whose sensitivities and intensity often heighten their anxieties.
- Online Family Trauma Therapy helps families who have experienced ruptures, big or small, learn how to repair and restore safety together.
- Post-Adoption Services provide unique support for adoptive families, where attachment and separation anxieties can feel especially overwhelming.
- Coparenting Therapy Near Me supports divorced parents in California who are navigating transitions and want to protect their children’s sense of safety between homes.
Each of these specialties flows back into one truth: families can come home to each other, even in the hardest moments.
Bringing Home Back into Daily Life
Separation anxiety doesn’t have to rule your mornings or your nights. With the right support, families can move from dread and meltdowns to smoother transitions, peaceful bedtimes, and a deeper sense of safety. It’s not about eliminating fear—it’s about learning how to walk through it together.
When parents model calm regulation, children learn their world is safe. When parents name ruptures and repair them, children learn relationships can bend but not break. When parents accept their child’s needs without judgment, the family comes back home to love.
How do I 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: I help parents become the healers in the home.
FAQs
How do I know if my child’s separation anxiety is more than typical worry?
If anxiety continues past age three, interferes with school, sleep, or daily life, or comes with physical symptoms (stomachaches, headaches, panic), it may be separation anxiety disorder.
What is the difference between therapy for my child and parent-focused therapy?
In my approach, parents are central to the healing process. Children do better when parents have the tools to co-regulate and bring calm into the home. That’s why I often focus on parent therapy and parent coaching grounded in brain science.
Does online therapy really work for separation anxiety?
Yes. Many parents appreciate that online family therapy in California allows them to get help without adding stressful transitions. It also lets children feel safe in their own space while learning new skills.
Can separation anxiety be connected to ADHD, Autism, or giftedness?
Absolutely. In my work with parents of ADHD and neurodiverse children and in family counseling for gifted/2e kids, I often see how sensitive nervous systems amplify anxiety. Therapy helps families understand and support those differences.
What if my co-parent and I don’t agree on how to handle this?
That’s where co-parenting therapy can help. Together, we build shared strategies that prioritize your child’s safety and reduce conflict between you.
What can I do while I am waiting for therapy to start?
I invite you to listen to a podcast called The Baffling Behavior Show by Robyn Gobbel. Robyn is my mentor and you will get a taste of how we will be working together by listening to her guidance about bringing the brain science into the parent-child relationship. You can find her podcast here.
How 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