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 nurture my clients' self-awareness, emotional resilience, and positive sense of self. My collaborative, strengths-based approach helps kids and teens understand, like, and support themselves in new ways.

Family Therapy & Parent Support

When I see a child or teen for individual therapy sessions, I also meet periodically with parents in parent-only insights to hear parents' insights, perspectives, and questions about their child. I help parents understand their child’s strengths, struggles, and needs in new ways, reduce parenting stress, connect with other resources, advocate with school or other people on behalf of their child, and improve their relationship with their child.

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.

Parents appreciate my direct and empathic approach, which balances practical strategies and emotional support. Parents say that our work together helps them feel more confident in their parenting decisions, more coordinated with their parenting partners, and more compassionate with themselves and their children.

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.

As a neurodivergent gifted/autistic/PDA therapist myself, I believe that giftedness, autism, ADHD, learning disabilities, PDA, sensory processing differences, and other forms of neurodivergence are a natural and valuable 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
Neurodivergent-affirming therapy and parenting approaches
Supporting queer, non-binary, gender expansive, and LGBTQ+ youth and families
Helping parents feel calmer and more confident

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 or third-party payers. Clients are billed at time of service. You can see my fees here. I do not have any sliding scale spots available at this time.

Family therapy

My approach