Child Psychologists and Child Therapists in Willowbrook, CA.

Stress for young children can often be challenging to discern. Parents may notice that their child begins to experience a greater incidence of tantrums and/or angry outbursts, but often attribute such changes to growing up. Children may also demonstrate strict rules for their play and become upset when their schedule is changed without warning. Sometimes parents may not be able to identify obvious signs of stress in their children, but recognize that their child has encountered a number of stressors. In any of these cases, children can benefit from therapy wherein they can explore how to express their feelings and learn to process their emotions in a safe non-judgmental environment.

I have 15 years of experience counseling children in a variety of settings. I build trust with children and intuit their individual needs quickly. I value them strongly and they sense my genuine, unconditional acceptance. I offer play therapy ( ages 2-12) and counseling methods that incorporate the approaches of Gary Landreth and John Rosemond (Family Psychologist) along with my own methods. I have a wide variety of child interventions and tools I've acquired over the years and remain up to date on the latest breakthroughs and research in Child Therapy. I've written functional analyses and emotional/social goals for children's school IEPS per my additional Masters in Education/Counseling.

Adolescents age 12-18. For over 20 years, I have worked with adolescents/teens. Navigating adolescence can be extremely challenging. Some areas of treatment are ( but not limited to) exploration of developmental issues, self-esteem, managing academic stress, understanding relationships with family and friends, developing a healthy sense of self and communication skills in a social media age.

The inner world of a child is rich with emotion and depth. It can be difficult to watch your child struggle, whether it is socially, academically, or in the home. Child therapy can be beneficial in not only providing current support and problem-solving, but can also serve to be preventative for potential longer-term issues. Young children in particular have a language of their own -- play! I will work with your child using play and art therapy techniques to communicate and develop more effective coping tools to thrive in his or her environment and family.

Therapy can greatly benefit young children and provide them with socio-emotional skills that can they can use for a lifetime! It can also provide parents with that all-so-important support so that they can approach parenting with confidence and skill. I try to provide a safe and supportive environment for both child and parent. Depending on the concern and circumstance, I may recommend individual therapy with the child and collateral therapy with the parent or family therapy. I have training in play therapy and am well-versed in an array of therapy techniques for various concerns and challenges that children face. Please reach out to learn more and get your child support!

Parenting can be a wonderful experience and at the same time a difficult and even a daunting one. If you are overwhelmed at times, suffer from pangs of anxiety or guilt around being a good enough parent or need someone to just talk to about the daily/ weekly ups and downs of being a parent then counseling with Dr. Ellie can be of great support. Aside from being a counselor, I am also a mother of two and have personal experience with being a parent. I know how difficult it can be, but I also know what a difference it can make when you have the right kind of support.

Young children respond well to play, art and music, and these activities can help them in expressing their strong feelings, while also developing new, healthier ways of coping with their experience. Children and their parents often enjoy the benefits of therapy in addressing behavioral issues, life transition, anxiety, depression, trauma, grief and loss, Sexual abuse, aggressive or defiant behavior, difficulty with peer relationships and learning issues, like ADHD. The focus of my work with young children is to help them thrive again. If you’re wondering whether your young child may benefit from therapy, I invite you to contact me, as I would be more than happy to speak with you about your concerns and how we might best address them in support your child.

For about 7 years I only worked with children in my practice. The rest of my practice has been split working with adults and with kids. With kids, its all about their instinct and comfort. If they sense that the therapist isn't comfortable or experienced with kids, they won't engage in the therapy process. I use a variety of techniques working with children, depending on their age. For smaller children, art therapy and play therapy can be very successful for a variety of reasons. The main reason is that it takes the focus off of them and they feel more at ease to talk and be open. For older children who can handle "talk therapy", using simpler language can be effective.

Young children get scared and anxious, too. They express it differently from the adults. So you may see stomach aches, headaches, crying, worry, shying away from interactions, being afraid to go to school, or even school refusal. With the help of child friendly language, I use a program to help children 6-12 overcome their fear and anxiety. Excessive fear and anxiety is not just a childhood thing that they will outgrow. If their fear seems more than normal, please take action on their behalf. You may save them years of suffering.

Here at My True Temperament Christian Counseling, LLC, we help parents and children, 7-18 years of age, learn and understand the child's true temperament. True temperament means what are the inherent ways, ways specific to the child and not to his/her environment, in which the child prefers to interact with others. We measure the child's temperament in three ways. Inclusion/Social Orientation, Control/Power, and Affection/Emotions. The greatest benefit to both parents and child knowing the child's true temperament is the ability to work with the temperament of the child and not against it. For the convenience of the family, True Temperament Counseling is offered strictly online.

I have years of experience treating children in pre-school through middle school. I worked in schools and at home with oppositional children, kids with learning delays, who "act out," tantrum, do not handle transitions in activity well. I have worked with violent children, academic underachievers, children with separation anxiety, bedwetting, and children who eat non-nutritional objects. Applied Behavior Analysis is oftern used to create ground-rules that reinforce acceptable behavior and discourage negative behaviors. It's important that extended family (and teachers, and caretakers, if possible) be on the same page. A united front is essential to positively modify children's behaviors

A large part of my work is helping kids and their families. More often than not, kids have stress and conflict that they bear as burdens in their lives. Depending on the child's age, I use talking and playing in therapy. The work is to provide the building blocks of self esteem, the identification and expression of one's feelings and a better sense of oneself. Through this interaction, a positive self image is developed. Imagination and creativity and self expression are valuable parts of this process.

We enjoy working with children as young as 4 years of age. We begin with a psychological assessment, history and obtain any relevant medical information. Then we meet with the primary care givers, usually both parents, or grandparents who provide us with their concerns and observations. We recommend the child be assessed by a medical doctor to rule out any medical cause for the problem behavior.Then we educate the adults with parenting skills. If the parenting tools are not enough to correct the problem behaviors then we will do play therapy with the child to better assess the child's problem.