What it’s Like to Come to Therapy with Me | Play Therapy & Family Therapy in Bountiful, UT

Walking into therapy can feel a little like stepping into a room where you’re not sure what language will be spoken. If you’re searching for play therapy, child therapy, or family therapy and wondering what sessions are really like, this page is for you. You might wonder what you’re supposed to say, whether you’ll be judged, or if you’ll have to dig up everything all at once. If you’re bringing your child, you might be carrying even more questions. Will they cooperate? Will this actually help? Will someone finally get them?

Here’s what I want you to know before you ever sit down with me: therapy with me is meant to feel human, steady, and doable. I specialize in play therapy for children, parent support, and therapy for neurodivergent kids, including ADHD. I also work with adolescents and adults, offering developmentally attuned therapy across the lifespan.

First Things First: Safety Comes Before Solutions in Therapy

I don’t start with fixing. I start with safety.

Whether I’m working with a child, a teen, or a parent, my first goal is to help your nervous system settle enough to breathe. Big feelings make a lot of sense, especially in families navigating stress, transitions, neurodivergence, or overwhelm. When emotions run hot, reasoning rarely works. So we slow things down.

You won’t be rushed into insights or pushed into vulnerability. We move at the pace your nervous system allows. Think of therapy as creating a sturdy emotional floor before rearranging the furniture.

For Kids: Play Therapy That Supports Emotional Regulation

If your child is coming to see me, you should know this: play is not a break from therapy. Play is the therapy.

Children communicate through movement, imagination, stories, and symbols long before they have words for their inner world. In our sessions, kids might build, draw, role-play, create stories, or use games to express what’s happening inside. I pay close attention to patterns, themes, and moments of connection.

This is especially important for kids with ADHD or big, fast-moving emotions. Therapy with me is designed to be flexible, engaging, and regulation-friendly. We work with their brains, not against them.

For Parents: Support, Co-Regulation, and Practical Tools for Parents

Many parents come in feeling exhausted and quietly afraid they’re doing something wrong. I want to say this clearly: needing support does not mean you’ve failed.

In our work together, I focus on strengthening connection, understanding behavior through a nervous system lens, and giving you tools that actually fit real life. Not perfect-life tools. Tuesday-afternoon-when-everyone-is-hungry tools.

We talk about co-regulation, boundaries that feel firm and kind, and how to repair when things fall apart. Because they will. And that’s okay.

For Adults: Individual Therapy That Meets You Where You Are

If you’re coming to therapy for yourself, you don’t need to perform or have a clear agenda. You can come in tired, unsure, talkative, quiet, or somewhere in between.

Some sessions are reflective. Some are practical. Some feel gentle and grounding, others stir things up. All of them are held with respect for your story and curiosity about who you are beneath coping strategies that once made sense.

I look at patterns, relationships, and emotional responses with compassion rather than blame. Growth happens when you feel understood, not analyzed.

What Therapy With Me Is Not (No Quick Fixes, No Judgment)

It’s not cold or clinical.
It’s not about quick fixes or rigid scripts.
It’s not about pathologizing normal human reactions.

And it’s definitely not about expecting kids or parents to behave like robots with excellent emotional regulation.

What Therapy With Me Is: Relational, Play-Based, and Practical

Therapy with me is collaborative. We work together.
It’s relational. The connection matters.
It’s grounded in neuroscience, attachment, and play.
It’s realistic about the messiness of family life.

Most of all, it’s a space where you or your child can feel seen, supported, and gradually more capable of handling the world.

If you’re considering therapy for yourself or your child and wondering whether it will be a good fit, know this: you don’t have to arrive calm, confident, or certain. You just have to arrive.

I’ll take it from there.

Looking for play therapy or family therapy in Bountiful, UT?

If you’re ready to explore therapy for your child, your family, or yourself, I’d love to help. You can learn more about my approach or reach out to schedule a consultation.