Parenting is a journey, which can bring immense joy, and can also be exhausting and isolating. I believe that a supported caregiver is the best intervention for a struggling child. I work with parents to find approaches that help strengthen connections and meet the needs of the family.
Building Confident Parenting Through Evidence-Based Skills
Support rooted in CBT, ACT, and mindfulness to help caregivers respond calmly and confidently to everyday challenges.
Areas of Concern and Support:
I provide a safe space for caregivers to address:
- Managing Behaviour and Reducing Power Struggles: Moving toward collaborative, connection-based approaches with your child.
- Caregiver Burnout or Overwhelm: Feeling exhausted or overwhelmed by the demands of parenting.
- Understanding Emotional Triggers: Exploring why certain child behaviours lead to strong emotional reactions.
- Strengthening Co-Parenting: Building aligning in parenting approaches, including in sparated or blended families.
- Parenting a Child with Neurodiverse Needs: Helping parents support children with ADHD, Learning diversity, or Autism.
- Parental Anxiety and Worry: Managing ongoing concerns about your child’s wellbeing and future.
- Family Transitions: Adjusting to separation, divorce, remarriage, or new siblings.
- Generational Trauma or Patterns: Recognizing and shifting patterns shaped by your own upbringing.
Therapeutic Approaches
My work with parents is rooted in systems theory and attachment science, incorporating:
- Attachment-Based Approaches: Focusing on strengthening attachment within the family unit.
- Trauma-Informed Parenting: Understanding how early childhood experiences (yours and your child’s) impact current behavior.
- Emotion-Focused Approaches: Empowering parents to become their child’s “emotion coach.”
- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT): Identifying existing family strengths and building small, manageable wins.
- Mindful Parenting: Cultivating the ability to stay calm and present when your child is dysregulated.
- Psychoeducation: Providing clear, science-based information on child development and brain functioning.
The Path - Depending on your family's unique needs, therapy work can take one of two paths:
- Parenting as the Primary Focus
Sometimes the most effective way to support a child is by working directly with caregivers. These sessions focus on understanding parenting patterns, managing stress, and developing practical, attachment-based strategies to support your child’s needs. - Integrated Family Support (Children & Teens)
When working with children or teens, regular parent consultations are an essential part of the process.- Children: Children engage independently in play therapy session with regularly scheduled parent session. You’ll learn strategies and co-regulation skills to support your child at home alongside their play therapy work.
- Teens: Teens meet individually in therapy sessions with parent check-ins as needed. Parent check-ins focus on understanding developmental changes, improving communication, and reducing conflict while respecting the teen’s privacy.