Biography:
I am a Child development and Behavior Specialist with a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology and Child Development. I have worked in a variety of settings with parents and children ranging in age from birth through adolescence for over 30 years. I am currently in private practice and see children with a range of behavior challenges.
My professional background includes 18 years at The Children’s School in La Jolla, California, where I established and directed the parent-toddler program and later served as Executive Director of the school (preschool and elementary).
I spent 22 years working at Rady Children’s Hospital in Out-Patient Psychiatry and Developmental Services. As a clinician, I worked one-on-one with children with behavior issues, taught groups for children and psycho-educational classes for parents. I developed programs for children with ADHD and their parents and provided behavior trainings for staff in the Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy departments and Chadwick Center to support clinicians with behavioral strategies in therapy. Additionally, I trained teachers and school counselors on positive communication, classroom behavior management strategies and conflict resolution. From 2001 until 2011, I was the Children’s Care Connection (C3) Program Coordinator where I managed a multi-disciplinary team comprised of occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech language pathologists, and behavior specialists who assessed and provided clinical services for preschool children with mild to moderate developmental delay, and their parents.
I taught in the Psychology and Child Development departments at Mira Costa College and as adjunct faculty, served as a an early childhood education mentor for students who were studying to be preschool teachers.
I am a certified parent educator and have training in a variety of evidence-based parenting programs, including Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP), Redirecting Children’s Behavior (RCB), Positive Parenting Program (Triple P), How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk, Parent Effective Training (PET), and The Incredible Years.
Services:
I provide counseling services for families with children with a range of difficult behaviors such as excessive anger, sleeping and eating issues, potty training difficulties, aggression, sibling rivalry, emotional dis-regulation, anxiety, social skills issues, defiance, and difficult adjustments related to parental separation and divorce. I work with children who have received diagnoses – ADHD, OCD, ODD – and/or have behavioral challenges that disrupt their relationships with their parents, peers, teachers and siblings. I work closely with parents, teaching them positive parenting techniques and strategies while their child learns and utilizes tools to control or overcome his/her own challenging behaviors.
I work in conjunction with other professionals such as occupational therapists and speech/ language pathologists and conduct school observations in order to provide teacher support when children are having difficulty in the school setting – academically, socially, or behaviorally. Additionally, I attend IEP and 504 plan meetings.
I conduct home visits, work with children in my home office in North Park, and have office hours on Thursdays in my office in Del Mar/Carmel Valley.
Philosophy:
I don’t have a one size fits all treatment program, but instead, I offer a positive, holistic, integrated, approach in my relationship with children and parents. Since each child and family is unique, I design treatment plans that utilize a variety of evidence-based techniques, cognitive-behavioral strategies and multi-disciplinary developmental resources to help with sensory processing issues and social-communication challenges that effect behavior.