This is Tyler. She's the newest therapist on the Boca Child Counseling team. She is fantabulous. Tyler has a cornucopia of skills and experience. She's no one-size-fits-all kinda person. She speaks a couple of languages (Portuguese and French) and she's lived in a couple of different states and countries. She's a fantastic writer. She has worked in private practices and medical settings. She said she bakes croissants; in all transparency... I've seen no proof of this (yet), b

AI is A Thing in the therapy world now. Most therapists hate it. Most therapy platforms love it. Many families wonder how it shows up, in comparison to a living, breathing human that sits in a room. Therapy platforms tout the benefits of having AI listen to sessions, to summarize and generate the clinical notes that we livingbreathing therapists write by hand after every session. I haven't been interested in this, though many therapists use AI this way with confidence. Famili

I'm leaving the office in a few days to visit Alaska. I've always wanted to go. There's this fabulous gal, Roxanne Grobbel, who teaches therapists in Alaska and I often look at her photos with longing. I struggle with the belief that time away from work- selfish moments of rest and relaxation- are a luxury. There are many folks who cannot afford the time or the money or the inevitable piling up of the To-Do List that comes with getting away. I can easily honor their sensibil

I hear this all. the. time. in our office. Some parents blurt it out when we first meet and some parents wait to tell us, once they know we won't judge them for it. The kids who get yelled at show up differently in the playroom, so these parent confessions do not really come as a surprise. Most every parent is ashamed that they do this. Most parents believe they "should" know another way. Most parents believe their kid doesn't deserve it (this is not true- many kids do deserv

My office sits in a canopy of trees. I affectionately refer to my playroom as The Treehouse. Over the past many months, the families and I have joyfully noted the comings and goings of many creatures in these trees. For the past several days, a woodpecker has been aggressively attacking the window. I'm not sure if it is a He or a She. It throws it's whole body against the window, aggressively chatters at it's reflection, and frantically attempts to dig it's talons into the gl

I got a new sign. I agonized over what to write on it, until trusty Rivkah said, "It's just a sign, Autumn. They just have to find the door." Rivkah's common sense is always a boon. My sign has the new practice name: Boca Child Counseling. We have a new logo and a new website ( www.bocachildcounseling.com ). We also have a new phone number: (561) 941-1400. We're using a new phone system (I suspect we are doing that with hiccups) and we have a new electronic record-keeping sys

So, I'm a part of The Neurodiversity Circle now. This means that I have joined a group of humans who are trying to shift the way our society cares for kids and teens who are neurodivergent. These are kids and teens whose brains work in an atypical fashion... kids who have Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia, etc. I remember having a very powerful conversation with Founder Tara McDonnell as she was shaping up the concept of this neuro-affirming virtual space for

A rural road is lined with a comical and confusing array of traffic signs, ranging from standard warnings to humorous and nonsensical ones, set against a backdrop of autumn foliage and overcast skies. Parents typically spend a lot of time thinking about The Curve that could (or is) coming up in the road of their child's life. Parents think about: the upcoming change in schools the best friend who is moving away the demands of being on the travel team the divorce or the impend

The Office Treehouse It's late and the last family has left my office for the year. As I close up shop, I cannot help but be grateful for what this year has given to me. This year, I moved across town to a new office and I made the decision to expand. I discovered, and tried to nurture, relationships with new-to-me colleagues who are transforming care for kids in our neighborhood. I celebrated colleagues who are accomplishing astonishing goals. I got more training, to stay on

The span of weeks between school's Thanksgiving break and Winter/Christmas break could be the most unpredictable time of the school year. Kids are either celebrating or loathing the three week return. Teachers either have kids on a grueling project/test schedule and are cramming in all of the didn't-get-to-it material or they are showing "educational videos" and not assigning homework. Administrators are usually administering standardized testing while navigating the dozens o

I love Twice Exceptional, or 2E, kids. They are My People. If you are reading this on purpose, chances are high that you love a 2E kid, too. 2E kids are kids that have both an exceptional ability and an exceptional disability; they are both Gifted (high IQ) while also having a learning, developmental, or emotional disability. 2E kids are almost never boring; their lives are typically rollercoasters with peaks of educational/academic superstardom, followed by lows of crippling

My office has relocated to the second floor of 50 SW 2 Ave. I'm now in downtown Boca Raton, where I can walk to the local coffee shop or the Ramen place. The playroom is nestled in the tree canopy (with a woodpecker, blue jay and cardinal!), so it feels like a grown-up treehouse. My new landlord is a great guy who runs his surveying business on the first floor of the building and my next door neighbor is building a digital platform that will help more people get therapy. Th

Does my child need different parenting or does she need therapy? There is a difference between parenting a child and providing therapy to...

I often see kids in my office who need a lot of control. I see those kids' parents, too. Power and control is a topic that weaves it's...

Mental health care in schools is often weaponized against the vulnerable student who experiences distress in the school setting. In my...

Many kids have parents who live in two houses. These are Separated Parents. Divorced Parents. Single Parents. Children have Big Feelings...

I just finished six months of training to learn a new-to-me therapeutic approach called Internal Family Systems. I plan to continue...

I saw this hoodie on a teen boy at a middle-school basketball game. The teen looked really cool... he had on stylish jeans, he had a...

Kids in schools who are having mental health crises are often subject to being involuntarily committed to psychiatric hospitals without...