Therapy

Individual Therapy

In individual therapy sessions, I help kids and teens understand their own experiences, strengths, and challenges in a compassionate way. I develop a strong relationship with each client and develop a unique way of working with each kid or teen so that the therapy experience feels collaborative, supportive, authentic, and often fun!

Kids and teens usually enjoy working with me and feel like I “get” them -- their experiences, struggles, and strengths. I encourage my clients to explore their identity and develop age-appropriate decision-making skills. I nurture my clients' self-awareness, emotional resilience, and positive sense of self. My collaborative, strengths-based approach builds kids’ confidence and often re-activates their intrinsic desire to grow and learn.

Family Therapy & Parent Support

I meet with my clients' parents in parent-only sessions to support parents with their questions and concerns. I help parents and caregivers understand their child’s struggles in a new way, reduce parenting stress, and improve their parent-child relationships.

Parents appreciate my direct and empathic approach, which balances practical strategies and emotional support. Parents report that they feel more confident in their parenting decisions, more coordinated with their parenting partners, and more compassionate with themselves and their children.

I also offer parent-focused sessions as a primary source of support for parents with younger children or with kids or teens who can't access therapy for some reason - for example, they may be too distressed, too anxious, or too burnt out to attend therapy themselves. Many parents in these situations find that parent-focused sessions can be a huge support and enable them to reduce stress at home and support their child's healing by working with me to understand effective parenting approaches and ways to reduce unnecessary stress.

My Approach

I use a collaborative, relationship-based approach -- I focus on building a warm, connected, and unique relationship with each child, teen, and caregiver. Within our relationship, I help each person explore new ways of being and of seeing themselves, their relationships, and the world. I have an informal, warm style and a good sense of humor.

I value neurodiversity and I believe that giftedness, autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, and sensory processing differences are a natural part of human diversity. I don't teach or encourage neurodivergent kids to be more like others; instead, I help neurodivergent kids and their families understand, validate, and celebrate their natural preferences and style. This helps my clients learn to trust themselves, advocate as needed, and set up their lives in a way that works for them. I also help families, schools, and communities affirm clients’ identities and provide tailored support.

I welcome all aspects of my clients’ and families’ identities into our therapy work together. I strive to understand each person’s unique combination of characteristics and help clients and families explore how others’ stereotypes or discrimination have affected them, or how typical societal standards or "shoulds" are not a good fit for them.

When school is a source of stress, I use my background in education and school psychology to help my clients and their families advocate for changes that will reduce stress and enhance motivation. I also support families who are homeschooling or unschooling their gifted and twice-exceptional kids.

Special Interests

Giftedness and twice exceptionality
Gifted autistic and PDA kids and teens
Neurodiversity-affirming therapy and parenting approaches
Reducing anxiety for children, teens, and parents
Working with children and teens who are reluctant to begin therapy
Supporting queer, non-binary, gender expansive, and LGBTQ+ youth and families
Helping parents feel calmer and more confident
Collaborating with teachers and school personnel

Please note:

I am only licensed to work with clients who live in Minnesota. I offer parent coaching for parents in other locations through my coaching company, The Gifted Learning Lab.

All my therapy services are provided virtually. I do not offer in-person services. If your child is too young to benefit from virtual services, I can provide support through parent-focused family therapy sessions. Many parents have found this approach useful.

I do not work directly with any insurance companies. You can see my fees here.

Family therapy

My approach