Child (Play) Therapy

I specialize in individualized child therapy that utilizes play, talk, art and other therapeutic techniques designed just for kids. My experience includes but is not limited to working with children with abuse histories, social problems or delays, ADHD, anger issues, oppositional behavior and other such emotional/behavioral problems. My nurturing and positive approach helps children be more willing to participate in therapy. Parents are involved to help them learn how to continue to heal/help their child at home.

Play Therapy

Play therapy is typically used with children between ages 3 to 8. Play therapy is a therapeutic technique most often used when working with children. While a child may not be developmentally able to articulate their feelings, I can help them express what’s going on through engaging them in play. The sessions take place in my office, which is specially furnished with toys, games, and equipment the child can use as tools for directing their own world of play. Through play therapy a child can create a world they can master, practice social skills, overcome frightening feelings and/or experiences, and symbolically triumph over traumas or upsets that have threatened their well-being. I meet regularly with the child’s parents to share their observations, learn more about what is happening in the child’s life from the parents’ perspective, and to offer suggestions for how the parents can support their child’s therapy.

Art Therapy

In art therapy, the client uses art to create images that explore their feelings, dreams, memories or ideas. Creativity can provide a means of expression for that which has no words, or is not yet fully understood. Using the client’s art as an interpretive reference point, I help the client further explore their feelings, experiences, and perceptions.

Sandtray Therapy

I have a sand tray in my office which is an important part of the play therapy process. Sandtray therapy, otherwise known as "sandplay", is used by therapists around the world in their work with children, adolescents, adults of all ages, families and couples. Sandtray is an expressive and dynamic process which uses figures and miniatures to make a "world" in the sand. It is a unique and wonderful way to express feelings or represent aspects of one’s personal experiences/core beliefs.

Making a sandtray world is usually a powerful process. The creator of the "world" is in control, without any direction from the therapist. The client is to let his or her subconscious be the guide and the end result is usually a very meaningful representation of what is happening "just beneath the surface". The very act of creating a sandtray with an experienced therapist who witnesses the sandplay is, in itself, the therapy. There are no rules to the technique. At the end of the process, I ask the child to give his or her world a "name" and explain what "goes on" in the world. At the end, I give the child a picture of his or her tray to keep.

Sometimes children choose to show their parents the world they have created. If your child does this, please do not touch the creation in the sand tray or make verbal interpretations of what you see. It’s best to ask your child about the world and what they meant by specific items used. I give all people who create a world in the sand the option of putting it away themselves or leaving it there for me to put away later. Some people do not want to take their "worlds" apart, a wish I respect.

Adolescents and adults sometimes feel silly using the sandtray in therapy, assuming it is for children only. However, some adults often find it to be a powerful therapeutic technique that puts them totally in control of their own healing process. The "worlds" typically have tremendous significance for the person making the tray and the process can help one resolve underlying psychic conflicts. With talk therapy, the use of sandplay is an excellent use of projection that allows one to express things non-verbally.