Assessment & Therapy for Children
Assessment & Therapeutic Services for Newborns & Infants
Mental health is the foundation of early childhood development and is formed in our earliest days, even before birth.
Yes, research demonstrate that a baby’s earliest relationships and experiences lay the foundation of their well-being, influencing their brain development, social-emotional and cognitive skills. Per Zero to Three, “Infant Early Child Mental Health is the developing capacity of the infant/young child to form close and secure relationships; experience, manage, and express a full range of emotions; and explore the environment and learn—all in the context of family, community, and culture.”
For many parents and caregivers, caring for infants can come with typical challenges. However, when these challenges become more persistent or unchangeable, it might be helpful for the parents to seek support early. Since infants and babies have a hard time communicating their challenges, it is important for the adults around them to pay attention to some of the warning signs of mental health challenges such as problems with sleeping or feeding, over-responding or understanding to things around them, and challenges with attaching to their caregivers.
There are many tools we can use to begin paying attention to our newborns, such as The Newborn Behaviors Observations (NBO) system. It is a relationship-based tool that offers individualized information to parents about their baby's communication strategies and overall development, with a view to strengthening the parent-infant relationship. I can support you in learning more about your newborn and wonder together ways to encourage their mental health and development. This is an hour session spent looking for your child’s unique strengths, abilities, and temperament. We can also have follow-up sessions to further discuss any concerns you might have and to discuss other experts who might be helpful.
Babies who have experienced traumatic experiences can also benefit from early interventions. Through an evidence based model called Child Parent Psychotherapy, we can begin to strengthen protective factors and relationship with their caregivers - to ultimately help families heal and grow after stressful experiences.
Therapeutic Services for 0-5 Years Old
For children between 0-5 years old, meaning making of self and the world is challenging without the responses of their caregivers.
That is why I strongly encourage working with the child and the parent together in sessions (Dyadic/ Family Therapy). Per First 5 Center for Children’s Policy, “Dyadic therapy, where parent and infant/young child are treated together, addresses all levels of these interacting factors: the parent’s health and needs, the baby's health and needs, their relationship, and their family system— all within an understanding of their culture.”
With so much multidimensional development occurring during this unique stage of life (not to mention all the regressions, bursts and pauses in growth and added stresses for the parents and other family members), both children and parents may benefit greatly from receiving support to strengthen their relationship and alleviate any concerns.
I use play, art, Mindfulness and Evidence-based Practices such as Child Parent Psychotherapy to address many challenges that come up with a young child. Through strengthening the child-parent relationship and providing coaching and tools for parents, we can address many areas of need such as big feelings like anxiety, sadness, and anger, tantrums, sleep difficulties, aggression, attention challenges, relational conflicts, and trauma symptoms.
Therapeutic Services for 6-12 Year Olds
Being a parent is hard, but it might be hard being a kid too!
All children feel sad, anxious, irritable, or aggressive at times, and they occasionally find it challenging to sit still, pay attention, or interact with others. In most cases, these are typical developmental phases. However, some children may need additional support to build different skills to overcome such developmental challenges and overwhelming stressors in their lives. What have you been noticing lately? It might be helpful to provide early support to help us understand their struggles and give them skills to overcome life’s challenges.
Changes in eating or sleeping patterns
Frequent tantrums or are intensely irritable much of the time
Destructive/Disruptive behaviors
Extreme feelings
Developmental regression
Physical complaints with no known medical cause
Not interested in playing with other children or have difficulty making friends
Repeat actions or check things many times out of fear that something bad may happen
Constant talk about death and loss, or other fears and worries
Stressful situations
Based on each child’s needs, I collaborate with the child and the parents to create a personalized care plan towards healing and growth. I will walk alongside you and your child to help navigate through big feelings, challenging behaviors, and explore different solutions and coping methods.