Child Psychologists and Child Therapists in Asbury Park, NJ.

I am a family therapist. I work with young children, but when I do, I work with the whole family. My experience is both that when young children are having problems it is often related to family issues, and that with young children it is important for their parents to be the people who are learning to help them with their issues on an ongoing basis. As a family therapist I would say that there are some sorts of issues where individual therapy makes sense for a 14 year old, but I don't think that individual therapy makes sense for a 5 year old or a 7 year old.

I am knowledgeable about young children, as I have a doctorate in child psychology. I am happy to advise or help parents with young children, who are taking a little longer to potty train, having a lot of tantrums, bedwetting, falling behind in school, may have a learning disability. I work closely with the parents, and in many cases would not treat the child directly. I usually focus on and get to know the parent, how I can best support them as a parent, as a spouse, and as a person in the world.

When working with adolescent patients, psychologists at the Lukin Center strive to uphold the adolescent’s privacy while supporting the parent(s) and prioritizing the adolescent’s safety. We focus on four main issues that affect adolescents, including Anxiety, Depression, ADHD, and Behavior Disruptive Disorders, such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder.

Being a new parent is often spoken of as if the main ingredient is joy, but this glosses over the complexities that women and men feel as they adjust to their roles as parents. More often than people would like to admit, the experience is trying and frustrating for mothers and fathers alike. Whether this is your first child, or your second or third time around, I can help you to get through the rough spots to the place we all want to be—confident, relaxed, in tune with your young ones, and in a stronger, more supportive alliance with your partner in childrearing.  

Young children are not little adults but yet they are whole people. Children process things differently but also exhibit good resilience in many situations. In working with young children, it is especially important to work with them where they are at and in ways that allow them to relate tot he journey that is being made. When this is successful, the child not only is able to find wholeness and peace in the present but have a firm foundation for finding this in the future. A dimension of working with a child is working with the adults that are significant in that child's life. Christopher looks forward to this journety together with you.

When children have problems, those problems are directly related to their relationship with their parents. Hence, my approach to working with children is to work with the whole family. If a child is acting up at school, he generally has parents who are, often unintentionally, not giving him what he needs at home. All parents want to believe that they are good parents, and it is hard for them to accept that they may be doing things that are causing their children to have problems. My job is to gently and patiently create a constructive atmosphere and honest communication between parents and children, which help the children resolve their problems and learn to thrive.

We have four clinicians who specialize in children and adolescents. Anger, anxiety, school refusal, trauma, OCD, performance anxiety, social anxiety, separation anxiety, defiance, eating disorders, and even depression and self-injury are all areas of focus in our work with children. Our clinicians are well trained and understand how critical effective intervention as early as possible is, since children are forming behavioral patterns, relationships, and personality traits. We also understand how important the role of the parents and the entire family can be in supporting a child to change. Likewise, we recognize how much the entire family can benefit from experiencing the child's growth.

Our music therapists specialize in reaching young children, including those with autism, ADHD, trauma, William's Syndrome, Down's syndrome, and much more. Our therapists are highly trained and can tailor functional goals to any child. Our individualized music exercises can address attention, self expression, coping strategies, social skills, functional speech, and more!

As a licensed family therapist, a former elementary school teacher and having raised a family, I have devotion and experience in addressing the needs of children. When parents contact me to provide therapy or anger management for their young children, I respond by bringing the parent or family into treatment as well. While I provide therapy for teens as individuals, I provide parenting skill therapy, explore educational concerns and offer family counseling as treatment to address the child's issues.

Unwittingly, young children often become the center of conflict by appropriating the burdens of each family member and acting out the family issues. This leads to significantly disruptive behavior at school and home. The solution is to approach families, home life and school life as connected systems. Together, we can uncover and unpack the interwoven pressures and forces that shape our children in unhealthy ways to find positive alternatives to create peaceful and productive growth for everyone.

I have worked with children from birth to 17 years in various modalities including individual, group, parent-child, and multi-family group therapy. Many parents have concerns related to behavioral difficulties at home and/or at school. While my goal is to help improve these behaviors and provide the child with tools and coping skills so that they can make better behavioral choices, I also believe it is important to involve the parent as much as possible in the therapy, so that the parent can maintain their authority and respect. In addition, I believe that it is important to focus on the parent-child relationship, to ensure that there are positive and playful interactions.

Parents are oftentimes spilling over with questions, frustration and even hopelessness when they bring their young son or daughter into treatment. Their own stress tolerance and understanding of what’s going on have long since been exceeded. As for child, he or she is almost always skeptical or even fearful about sharing his or her inner world with an outsider. Therapy aims to strengthen and augment the parents’ efforts in raising their child or adolescent, not replace it. Working together with the parent, our therapists establish themselves as a champion for their child and as a guide to aright their child’s development; they help to get it back on track.

Children are sweet, sensitive, naive and trusting. Many children enter a world where there is more chaos than they deserve. Chaos challenges the ability o function optimally. In working with adults, parents and caregivers, I guide and educate adults in children lives how to Make best available choices while functioning under stress. By doing such, the adult is modeling for the child(ren) effective, strategic and positive ways of coping. As well, I work With children helping them identify, define and express their sometimes complex emotions. By effectively processing feelings children are then able to go on to play , properly develop age appropriately and build a healthy strong self.