Therapy with girls and adolescents is quite different from therapy with adults. This is primarily because the ways in which girls and adolescent girls communicate is unlike that of adult communication.    

Play is a child's primary way of communicating. In treatment with me, play therapy can include playing, drawing, building and fantasy play.   These are crucial in assisting the child to share their feelings and resolve conflicts.  In therapy with girls, it is paramount to decipher and understand their behaviors and actions, moods and attitudes as well as their verbal ideas.

Adolescents' communication can often be a combination of play, behavior and verbal expressions.

One of the most critical elements of child and adolescent therapy is the relationship between the child or adolescent and the therapist. The child/adolescent must feel like they are being respected, seen and heard.  I work actively to create an empathic, safe and warm environment that is conducive to building a relationships.

I typically see girls and adolescent girls when they are feeling disconnected and powerless. Because at these ages, children and adolescents primarily experience their world through their families, I collaborate with families to enable the families to understand how they can more successfully understand and communicate with their daughters.

I often begin working with young women (18-30) when they are struggling to adjust to college or graduate school or when they are challenged post-graduation. Past memories may impede everyday functioning. Many experience excessive worry, anxiety or depression. We collaborate as I guide them to understand why parts of themselves are active.

I have worked with children, adolescents, young women and women in a variety of settings since 1992. I received a post graduate certificate in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy from Boston University in 1996.