FAQ
What kind of concerns can you help parents with?
Trained as a cognitive psychologist, I specialize in adolescent learning and thinking – particularly in the areas of motivation and risk taking. I have experience working with parents who are concerned about teens:
- Breaking rules – at home and outside the home
- Not reaching their potential in school
- Struggling with ADHD
- Feeling anxious or depressed
- Dabbling in risky behavior, including teens who are using alcohol and marijuana and teens who are sexually precocious
- Launching into college or failing to launch
- Moving back home after college
What is your approach in working with parents?
I’m not a therapist. And I don’t diagnose. Instead, I partner with parents to help them develop some new insights and skills and strategies that work. We each bring something to the partnership. I bring some expertise that parents don’t have. And parents bring their knowledge about their children and their history with those children.
The initial sessions are focused on gaining an understanding of the parents’ concerns, the situation, and the background. Challenges are viewed in the context of the teen’s individual profile and development, family dynamics, school pressures, and other outside forces. A full range of options is explored.
Working together, parents and I figure out what needs to be done. Then I give them the tools and support they need to be effective. This includes helping to link them with other community resources when appropriate.
How often will we meet?
By the end of the first or second session, you will have been supported in clarifying your parenting concerns, and we will have arrived at a mutually agreed upon plan of action, grounded in adolescent and parenting research, tailored specifically for you and your teen.
Sometimes just the couple initial meetings are all that is needed. Many times parents meet regularly with me over several weeks or months. Other times, parents schedule additional meetings on an as needed basis – often going several months or more between meetings.
My goal is to be here if you need me. Nothing more, and nothing less.
Do you ever meet with teens either individually or together with their parents?
My practice focuses on supporting the parents of teens. Occasionally, I meet individually with a teen to inform my work with the parents. This meeting gives me a chance to see the teen in action and form my own impressions. In addition, I occasionally meet with teens together with their parents, acting as a mediator to facilitate communication.
Do you accept insurance?
No, using insurance benefits requires that you meet the criteria for and be provided with a mental health diagnosis. I do not diagnose, and, therefore, I do not accept insurance. I am happy to provide you with receipts for our meetings as they may qualify as a health care savings or flex spending account expense.
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