Child Psychologists and Child Therapists in Villas, FL.

All work and no play? Growing up is challenging at any age, stage, or developmental level. Coping with life at home, school, with parent relationships, with peers, and everything in between, we may struggle to find the words to process what we are encountering. Play therapy is to children while talk therapy is to adults. That doesn’t mean play therapy doesn’t work for adults too! We see ages 2 through 92 for play therapy, however we find many have come to this section to learn about play therapy for their children.

Many times, child therapists overdo the family system in their quest to seek effective solutions for emotional, learning or behavioral concerns with young children. And many times doctors overpathologize issues that shouldn’t be medicated necessarily. This leaves parents wondering what is the best route for their child? Introducing brainwave optimization technology. A fast, effective, natural, and less expensive way to allow your child's brain to make the optimizing changes it desires to make---on its own! Without any external force, opinion, medication, diagnostic, etc. Contact kevin@kevinflemingphd.com or 877-606-6161.

My approach to counseling children is supportive, engaging, and developmentally appropriate. I create a safe, nurturing space where children can express emotions, build coping skills, and develop self-awareness in ways that feel natural and age-appropriate. Sessions focus on emotional regulation, communication, and problem-solving, while supporting confidence and resilience. When appropriate, I collaborate with caregivers to provide guidance and strategies that reinforce progress outside of sessions, helping children feel understood, supported, and better equipped to navigate challenges at home, school, and in relationships.

Effective successful therapy relies on communication and the relationship between therapist and patient. Play therapy allows for the relationship, and improves the communication with children. Children live in their own world. Effective therapy goes to their world and brings back the information to the adult world. Charting behaviors and rewarding positive behaviors are effective techniques for eliminating and decreasing negative behaviors.

Dr. Kelsey completed specialized training in pediatrics and is also certified as a school psychologist. She has worked for over 15 years with children and teens. Her team also includes several excellent therapists who also love working in this area. Teen therapy is often conducted by our board-certified DBT clinician who helps teens work on emotional regulation and learning to feel positive control over their emotions, which increases confidence and positive self-esteem! Child therapy is often a combination of skills training, and activities that feel playful and help us children to understand themselves better. We also complete full psychological assessments (ASD/ADHD, dyslexia, etc!)