If your kid is the one with the problem why would you, the parent, come to therapy? Because you are the most important person in your kid’s life. I know, I know if you’re constantly fighting with your teenager or resisting the urge to scream at your little kid you don’t feel like the most important person. You barely feel like a person. You feel like the chauffeur or the zookeeper or the personal chef or the loan officer. But even when things between you and your kid are hard, even when they are starting to push for independence, you matter. You have the greatest influence on you kid. And if you don’t, we need to help you get it back.

Often parents pass me their anxious, depressed, angry teens and kids saying, “She needs someone to talk to.” or “He needs to open up to someone.” It’s true, they do. And I can usually get young people to do just that with me, but wouldn’t you rather be the person your kid is talking to?

Maybe you’re thinking, “Well, yes. but there’s no way that will happen.” Perhaps your relationship is too broken or too volatile, or wasn’t even that great to begin with. That’s where I come in. I can help you relate to your kid is a different way by changing the way you both communicate. You can become the safe, steady source of comfort in hard moments. You can become the one whose opinion they seek when they need someone to talk to. You can enjoy each other’s company.

And I promise you, if we can restore what’s between you, repair or tweak that first, foundational relationship in your child’s life, we will also go far in helping their emotions and behaviors. This is why I love working with parents- they are the ones willing to do whatever it take to help their kids.