Individual Therapy

It’s not easy being a kid these days. Managing the demands of school and navigating the trials of friendships is A LOT. It’s no wonder that for many kids and teens, the stress has become like a big bully out to make them suffer. This bully is constantly tricking them into feeling worse than they need to, telling them they can’t handle difficult situations, and making them miss out on fun. As parents, it’s hard to watch and often difficult to know what to do.

As a licensed psychologist specializing in anxiety and related difficulties, my job is to help kids and teens develop the tools they need to recognize when that bully is pushing them around and how to fight back. That means learning not to listen so hard when it says, “You’re not smart enough,” or “Overnight camps are scary.” It also means showing that bully who is boss by doing the opposite of what it says when it’s getting in the way—raising your hand in class even when the bully says you might be wrong or learning to ride a bike even when it says you’ll probably fall.

Using evidence-based approaches, some creativity, and a dash of fun, my goal is to partner with kids and their parents to help them figure out what their best life would look like, when a bully is getting in the way, and find the courage to overcome.

In addition to working with kids, my job is also to help the adults in their lives figure out how to help kids deal with this bully—this means including parents, teachers, school staff, and others in treatment when necessary.

I treat a variety of concerns in children and adolescents and always take an individualized approach to therapy rooted in evidence-based practices including Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Habit Reversal Training, and Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT).

Common concerns I treat include:

  • Separation Anxiety

  • Social and Performance Anxiety

  • OCD

  • Specific Phobias

  • Perfectionism

  • School Refusal

  • Selective Mutism

  • Generalized Anxiety

  • Friendship Concerns

  • Tics

  • Hairpulling, skin picking, and other problematic habits