Therapy for children ages 3+

Play therapist in Scottsdale

Meeting your child on their level with warmth, compassion, and age-appropriate support. Specializing in anxiety, trauma & abuse, behavior concerns, grief & loss, and more.

It can be heartbreaking to watch your child struggle.

You know the potential that’s inside of your child—you’ve seen it! You know how promising their future can be. But right now, something’s keeping them from it.

It might be due to a specific circumstance or set of experiences, such as the death of a loved one, divorce, a new sibling, bullying, or a traumatic event. Or it may have appeared seemingly out of nowhere, increasing in severity over time despite your best efforts to address it.

Your child might be:

  • Withdrawing or isolating themselves

  • Lashing out

  • Having nightmares

  • Engaging in risky behaviors

  • Showing a lack of interest in things they used to enjoy

  • Struggling to connect to caregivers

  • Worrying excessively

  • Regressing behaviorally (i.e. bedwetting)

Your child is not trying to act out. And you’re not a bad parent. 

Children simply process things differently than adults.

Watch the video below to learn more.

Play therapy can help.

Play is the language of children—it’s how they communicate, express themselves, and work through difficulties. Play therapy allows me to “speak” this language and engage in conversation with them.

Despite the name, play therapy isn’t simply just about toys or games. It is a structured, theoretically-based approach to therapy that uses creative expression, prompts, and scenarios to help children share what’s going on inside of them and in their world. Through these activities, they can safely explore and express what’s troubling them.

This method of therapy honors your child’s development, innate skills, and interests and connects with them on their level. Since your child processes things differently than adults, we must support them differently, too. Play therapy helps us do that.

I’m also here to support you, the caregiver, and equip your child with what they need to thrive outside of therapy. Click here to learn more.

Managing emotions

Your child may be lashing out in anger, experiencing intense fear, or worrying excessively. In play therapy, they’ll learn how to process these emotions.

Processing pain

Children can experience pain and trauma when we may not even realize it. Play therapy provides a safe place to express this and ultimately work through difficult experiences.

Coping skills

Whether it’s adjusting to big life events in the future or managing anxiety at school, I’ll help your child build a toolkit of skills to thrive at school, at home, and in life.

What I can help with

Play therapy can be used for:

  • Behavioral problems

  • Grief & loss

  • Divorce

  • Bullying

  • Trauma & abuse

  • Adoption

  • ADHD

  • Anxiety & depression

  • Autism

  • …and more

Let’s focus on finding your child’s strengths and equipping them to thrive.

Click the button below to request a free, confidential consultation with me. Tell me a little about what’s bringing you to therapy, I’ll share about my approach and how I can help, and you can decide if I’m the right play therapist for you.

Frequently asked questions

  • Just like play can look different from child to child, so can play therapy. Using your child’s age and interests to guide us, we’ll use things like puppets, figurines, toys, art supplies, writing, or music to help your child express themselves and make sense of the world around them.

  • I believe the only way your child can be successful is if their caregivers are set up for success, too. We’ll touch base at the beginning of each session to discuss the previous week’s events and anything you may need to be connecting with and supporting your child outside of session. Click here to learn more about how I support parents in therapy.

  • No. I am trained in multiple other modalities to serve children, including sand tray therapy, grief education, complex trauma treatment, EMDR, and more. While play therapy is often the primary modality for supporting children, I will incorporate other methods based upon your child’s unique needs and circumstances. We’ll discuss this (and check in regularly) as part of their treatment. Click here to learn more about my training.

  • Click this link to schedule a free consultation with me. You can share more about what’s bringing you and your child to counseling, ask any questions you have about play therapy, and decide if I’m the best fit for your child and your family.