Children and Adolescents

Art by Jennifer Balkan

“Playing is itself a therapy.”  Winnicott, DW, Playing and Reality (1971a, 50).

Winnicott’s quote breathes through my body viscerally. All of my work with kids and adults is also profoundly playful.

How do we explain death to a four-year-old? How will a nine-year-old make sense of their parents’ divorce? How do we talk to an 11-year-old about adoption? How do we communicate with a 13-year-old who is struggling academically, angry, and withdrawn? How do we help a 17-year-old express their emotions more effectively and cope with urges to engage in high-risk behaviors?  I have specialized training in treating children and adolescents, and I can combine my natural playful creativity and sense of humor with a stance that is both accepting and challenging. I also understand adaptive development across the lifespan and when and where to intervene. My approach involves working with parents and families to generalize the skills we learn and practice in therapy to other settings. 

I practice play therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and relational therapy with children and teenagers. I have read the books of the psychiatrist Daniel Siegel, of UCLA. Profusely, and was privileged to attend one of his seminars on developmental play across the lifespan. Among other constructs, he hypothesized that we all possess the potential for “mindsight”—a term he coined to describe our awareness of our own minds, our capacity for compassion for others, and the integration of both.

I  have specialized training and experience with the following issues: