821 La Jennifer Way
Palo Alto, CA 94306
650-224-2849
Therapy for Children, Teens, and Families
Children and teens don't always have the words to explain what they're feeling. Anxiety, ADHD, neurodivergence, difficulties at school, challenging behavior, or changes within the family may be signs that something beneath the surface needs attention.
I believe that behavior has meaning. Rather than focusing only on stopping a difficult behavior, I want to understand what a child or teen may be communicating through it. By looking beneath the behavior, we can begin to understand the feelings, experiences, and needs that may be driving it.
I work with children and teens to build on their strengths, develop practical skills, improve relationships, and help them feel more confident and capable. When appropriate, I also help parents better understand and support their child while respecting the young person's therapeutic privacy.
Child & Teen ADHD Therapy
ADHD can affect much more than a child's ability to pay attention. Children and teens may struggle with organization, impulsivity, emotional regulation, transitions, schoolwork, friendships, or managing everyday expectations. Over time, repeated difficulties can also affect confidence and how a young person sees themselves.
Therapy begins with understanding the individual child rather than defining them by their difficulties. Together, we identify strengths as well as challenges and develop strategies that fit the way your child thinks, learns, and experiences the world.
When appropriate, I involve parents in ways that support their child's progress while respecting the privacy and confidentiality that are essential to a trusting therapeutic relationship.
Anxiety Therapy for Children & Teens
Anxiety in children and teens can appear in many different ways. A young person may worry excessively, avoid activities, have trouble sleeping, become easily overwhelmed, experience physical complaints, or become irritable or upset when something feels uncertain.
Therapy provides a safe place to understand what is beneath the anxiety. Depending on a child's age and needs, I may use conversation, play, art, mindfulness, and other creative approaches to help them recognize feelings, develop coping skills, and find ways to manage worry and uncertainty.
Parents can also play an important role. When helpful, I involve parents in ways that support their child while preserving the privacy and trust necessary for effective therapy.
Autism & Neurodivergence
Neurodivergent children and teens may experience the world in ways that aren't always understood by the people around them. Differences in communication, sensory experiences, emotional regulation, attention, flexibility, or social interaction can sometimes create challenges at home, at school, or with peers.
My goal is not to change who a child is. I want to understand how they experience the world, recognize their strengths, and help them develop skills and strategies that support their individual needs.
Therapy may focus on emotional awareness, communication, relationships, coping with overwhelm, self-advocacy, confidence, or navigating environments that may not naturally fit the way a young person thinks and functions.
Emotional & Behavioral Challenges
When a child is having frequent outbursts, withdrawing, struggling at school, becoming unusually irritable, or behaving in ways that are difficult to understand, it's natural for parents to focus on how to stop the behavior.
I look at behavior somewhat differently. Behavior can give us important information about what a child is experiencing but may not yet be able to express.
Together, we work to understand what may be underneath the behavior and help your child develop healthier ways to recognize feelings, communicate needs, manage strong emotions, and cope with difficult situations.
Parenting Support: Helping You Understand Your Child and Strengthen Your Relationship
Parenting can be deeply rewarding, but it can also be confusing, frustrating, and overwhelming—especially when your child is struggling and the approaches that once worked no longer seem to help. Parents often come to me with questions such as: Why is my child behaving this way? How should I respond? Am I helping, or am I making things worse?
I help parents look beyond the behavior to better understand what their child may be communicating through it. A child's anxiety, anger, defiance, withdrawal, or emotional outbursts often make more sense when we understand the feelings and needs beneath them. Together, we look at your child's individual temperament, strengths, developmental needs, and challenges, as well as the patterns and relationships within the family.
My role is not to tell you how to parent or offer a one-size-fits-all formula. Instead, I work collaboratively with you to find compassionate, practical strategies that fit your child and your family. Parenting support can help you feel more confident in responding to difficult behavior, reduce conflict, improve communication, set appropriate limits, and create a stronger connection with your child. Sometimes I work with parents as part of a child's therapy. At other times, parents meet with me on their own for consultation and support. The goal is to help you better understand your child—and to help both you and your child feel more capable, connected, and understood.
A Creative and Individualized Approach
Every child is different, and therapy should reflect that. I tailor treatment to a young person's age, personality, strengths, needs, and ways of communicating.
As a Registered Art Therapist, I can incorporate art-making, play, and other creative and experiential approaches when helpful. These methods can give children and teens ways to communicate feelings and experiences that may be difficult to express through words alone.
Most importantly, I want children and teens to experience therapy as a place where they feel understood—not judged for the very behaviors or feelings that brought them there.