Many children and teens struggle with social, emotional, and behavioral challenges as they move through these foundational stages of development. Families can also get caught in difficult patterns of relating, with parents finding themselves at a loss when it comes to managing their children’s feelings, needs, and behaviors – as well as their own. Knowing the right thing to say or the best course of action to take is not always clear, or you may want more support as you navigate the inevitable challenges that arise.

I’m dedicated to helping children, tweens, teens, and families move through these times of great change, turbulence, and potential. I bring a wealth of experience and knowledge having provided in-home behavioral services and parent education, worked with TK-12th graders in local schools, helped college students at the university level, volunteered in the family and teen programs at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and worked with children and families in community mental health clinics. Now, I’m dedicated to helping children, teens, and families in my private practice while also working as the psychologist at Caulbridge School in San Rafael. At Caulbridge I teach mindfulness and social-emotional development, provide individual therapy services, and consult with parents and teachers. Below are some common issues I work with:

With children, I use a play-based approach paired with evidence-based techniques to improve social and emotional skills, self-esteem, self-regulation, and problem-solving skills. Therapy helps children sort out their feelings, find solutions to their problems, and feel less overwhelmed and confused by difficulties. Over time, children learn to understand themselves and others better, cultivate a more positive self-concept, and find a greater sense of agency and resiliency.

With tweens and teens, I strive to create an authentic connection that enables them to feel understood, seen, and respected while helping them navigate the stress and storm of these pivotal years with greater success. Adolescence can be a difficult and confusing time as they progress through puberty, face greater academic and social pressure, grapple with questions around identity and their place in the world, and desire greater responsibility and independence while still needing the support of their parents.  

Many teens feel misunderstood, angry, sad, or trapped yet often don’t have the skills to find constructive ways of communicating with parents and friends and end up coping with these challenges in maladaptive and harmful ways. Therapy provides a space for teens to better understand themselves and others, cultivate a more positive self-concept, and develop a range of important capacities like self-reflection, emotional intelligence, self-regulation, empathy, and adaptive problem-solving skills.