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SERVICES

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Free Consultation

Questions about Getting Started....

Getting started in therapy can be an intimidating process.  You want to make sure your child is in good hands.  You want to find a therapist who knows what they are doing, who understands where you are coming from, and who can connect with your child.  Call 801-441-0840 for a free, no obligation, 15-minute consultation. 

 

You can learn about how therapy or psychological assessment can help your child, and I can help you decide whether they are right for you and your family. 

THERAPY

Presenting Problems and Disorders

I have years of experience helping individuals with a wide range of presenting problems.  I've worked in outpatient, in-patient, day-treatment and wilderness settings.  I specialize in working with youth as young as 4 years old and up into early adulthood. Families are included in treatment, especially with younger children. 

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Presenting problems that I work with include:

  • low mood

  • disruptive and oppositional behavior

  • Intense and rapidly changing emotions

  • avoidant behavior

  • self-injury

  • suicidal thinking

  • family conflict

  • school avoidance

  • peer conflict

  • Problematic e-media usage

  • Attachment

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Mental Health Disorders that I work with include:

  • Major Depression Disorder, Persistent Depressive disorder and other mood disorders

  • Anxiety Disorders

  • Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder

  • Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

  • Borderline-personality disorder

  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

  • Somatic Disorders

  • Autism

  • Tic, Trichotillomania and Tourette's Disorders

Therapeutic Approach

I adhere to Evidence-Based Psychological Practice guidelines, as recommended by the American Psychological Association.

Relationship, first.

All effective therapy is build on a foundation of the therapeutic alliance.  My first goal as a therapist is to listen, support, and understand my client and his or her family.  Once a supportive and trusting relationship is established, it is not uncommon for an individual to figure out all on their own what they need in order to feel better. My goal for all of my clients and families is that they feel heard, supported, and cared for.

 

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Including the Family

Effectively working with children and adolescents means including the family.  The family is a critical context in which each child lives.  Depending on the age of the child and the presenting issues, parents may have a greater or lesser role in the change process, but they are always invited to participate and communicate with the therapist.  In addition to learning specific approaches to helping your child,  improving in how the family communicates and interacts is often a goal of therapy.

 

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Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is the most efficacious approach to most child- and adolescent-clinical problems.  In CBT, clients are taught how to monitor and change ineffective and harm patterns of thoughts (Cognitions) and actions (Behaviors) into more effective and healthy forms.  CBT addresses the challenge that we do not have direct control over our emotions, so just "trying" to feel better doesn't work (E.g. right now, try to feel happy enough to laugh out loud... you can't.). Fortunately, we do have some direct control over our thoughts (E.g.  think to yourself the phrase "I am happy") and our actions (E.g. make a smiling facial expression).  CBT is based on the knowledge that emotions can be indirectly influenced by what we think and what we do.  Thinking and acting in more skillful ways can lead to feeling better.

 

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Balancing Rocks
Holding Ropes
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

DBT is a specific form of CBT that is efficacious for address adolescent self-injury and suicidal thinking.  DBT offers a specific set of skills for adolescents and their caregivers to help teens get a handle on out-of-control emotions that lead to self-injury and thoughts of suicide.

 

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Sandstone

ASSESSMENT

What is a psychological assessment?

A psychological assessment is a process in which structured, standardized measures are used in conjunction with clinical interviews and other forms of information to determine how an individual is functioning compared with their peers.  In general, the goal is to identify specific areas of individual strength and weakness, along with clinical diagnoses that can be instrumental in developing an appropriate treatment plan and/or get access to specific services (e.g. ABA services for Autism). 

Why would I want an assessment?

Parents seek a psychological assessment for a variety of reasons.  Sometimes, they suspect that their child has a disability and they need a diagnosis in order to qualify for services (e.g. Autism or an intellectual disability).  Other times, children have struggled to benefit from therapy and parents and/or other professionals feel like "something else is going on" but do not know what.  On other occasions, your child's therapist or primary care doctor may recommend testing.

What is the assessment process?

A psychological assessment typically involves a clinical interview, possible interviews with collateral sources (e.g. teachers, therapists, etc), and standardized assessments.  The interview and testing process can take between 3 to 15 hours over one or more days.  After information is collected, the psychologist integrates and interprets the findings and makes specific, evidence-based recommendations based on those findings. The findings and recommendations are reviewed in a feedback session. 

Types of assessments conducted at Frontier Psychology:

  • Comprehensive Psychological Assessments

  • ADHD and other Diagnostic Assessments

  • Autism Evaluations

  • Psycho-educational Evaluations

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