Frequently Asked Questions

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The duration of therapy varies greatly depending on the unique needs of the individual or child. It can range anywhere from 26 sessions or beyond. Children may return to therapy during significant transitions such as starting a new school or developmental milestones. A tailored client plan will be created for you and your family, providing a clearer understanding of the timeline for care.

The duration of therapy varies greatly depending on the unique needs of the individual or child. It can range anywhere from 26 sessions or beyond. Children may return to therapy during significant transitions such as starting a new school or developmental milestones. A tailored client plan will be created for you and your family, providing a clearer understanding of the timeline for care.

Absolutely! While trauma history can certainly impact a child's well-being, children and teens with sensitive nervous systems, large emotions, and challenging behaviors can benefit greatly from services with me even if they do not have a trauma history. 

These individuals often struggle with feeling safe, regulated, and understood in their bodies and relationships. They may receive messages from the world that suggest they have moral or character failings, which can further exacerbate their difficulties.

The interventions and psychoeducation offered in services can provide invaluable support to help these children and teens better understand themselves, regulate their nervous systems, and navigate challenging relational interactions. By learning coping skills, emotional regulation techniques, and strategies for building healthy relationships, they can develop a stronger sense of self-awareness, resilience, and well-being. Services can offer a safe and supportive space for growth and healing, regardless of the origins of symptoms. 

Developmental trauma, also known as complex trauma, refers to repeated or prolonged exposure to adverse experiences during critical periods of a child's development. These experiences typically occur within the context of caregiving relationships and can include adverse experiences from complex nervous systems, physical/emotional/sexual abuse, emotional neglect, physical neglect or other forms of maltreatment. Developmental trauma disrupts a child's ability to form secure attachments, regulate emotions, and develop a coherent sense of self.

Unlike single-incident traumas, developmental trauma involves ongoing stressors that impact multiple areas of a child's life, including physical, emotional, cognitive, and social development. This type of trauma can lead to a range of difficulties, such as attachment issues, emotional dysregulation, behavioral problems, and impaired social functioning.

Because developmental trauma occurs during crucial stages of brain development, it can have long-lasting effects into adulthood if left unaddressed. However, with appropriate support and intervention, individuals can heal from developmental trauma and develop healthier coping mechanisms and relationships. 

Dissociation is a normative psychological defense mechanism that we all have. This is the freeze mechanism of fight, flight or freeze. It involves a disruption in the normal integration of consciousness, memory, identity, or perception of the environment. It can manifest in various ways, scaling from mild detachment or zoning out, day dreaming, going to "la la land" to experiences of dissociative amnesia, identity confusion, or feeling disconnected from one's body (depersonalization) or surroundings (derealization).

Dissociation often occurs as a response to stress, trauma, shame, helplessness, serving as a way for the mind to cope with experiences that are too difficult to process consciously. While dissociation can provide temporary relief from distressing emotions or memories, it can also interfere with daily functioning and lead to problems in relationships, work, and other areas of life.

Some common examples of dissociative experiences include feeling like you're watching yourself from outside your body, losing track of time, or feeling emotionally numb or detached. 

Parents you may notice extreme switches in mood or behavior. Your child may deny behaviors even when you just witnessed them. Your child may have memory concerns. Your child may act older or younger at times, your child maybe unresponsive, staring off or in their own world. Your child may have told you they hear voices or are seen talking to themselves.

Co-regulation refers to the process by which individuals regulate their emotional and physiological states through interactions with others, typically in the context of close relationships such as parent-child, therapist-client, or between partners. In co-regulation, one person's regulated state influences and supports the regulation of the other person's emotional and physiological arousal.

For example, in parent-child relationships, a caregiver's calm and comforting presence can help a distressed child regulate their emotions and return to a state of calmness. Similarly, in therapy, a therapist's attuned and empathetic responses can help a client regulate their emotions and feel understood and supported.

Co-regulation is essential for the development of emotional regulation skills, particularly in early childhood when children are learning to regulate their emotions and behaviors. Positive co-regulation experiences contribute to the formation of secure attachments, which serve as a foundation for healthy social and emotional development.

In my office  co-regulation is often a central focus. I aim to provide  you the parent the supportive and attuned presence to help your child regulate their emotions, manage distress, and build resilience.  Through co-regulation, your child  learn to recognize and respond to their own emotional states and develop strategies for self-regulation in the absence of external support.