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Welcome to the blog! This is a space for parents and caregivers looking for practical insight, encouragement, and expert support. Whether you're navigating big emotions, screen time struggles, picky eating, or parent guilt, these posts are here to help you feel less alone. As a play therapist and child therapist based in San Luis Obispo, I’m passionate about sharing tools and ideas that support children’s mental health and strengthen family connections. Explore topics like child therapy, parenting tips, behavioral challenges, and how play therapy can make a real difference in your child’s growth. If you're raising kids on the Central Coast or beyond, you're in the right place.
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“Go Away!”
Children need to know we're there for them, even when what they need from us is a little distance.
The Sudden Baby Voice
Sometimes acting younger isn't a step backward. It is a child checking that the comfort of being little is still there when they need it.
“You Don’t Love Me!”
Your child can be furious with your limit and still feel completely secure in your love.
The Constant Negotiator
When every “no” becomes a negotiation, the answer isn't always a better argument.
Why Kids Blame Others
Sometimes blaming someone else feels safer than admitting, “I made a mistake.”
The Favorite Sweatshirt
Sometimes the thing a child refuses to take off is helping them feel a little more secure in a changing world.
When Baby Comes Home
A new baby changes a toddler's entire world, and sometimes their behavior is how they tell us just how big that change feels.
Scary Play Is Still Play
Children sometimes use their scariest stories to make sense of a world that can feel very big and unpredictable.
When Kids Break Things
Before deciding a child is being destructive, it helps to understand what they were trying to do.
Afraid to Get It Wrong
Helping children move from “Am I doing this right?” toward trusting themselves to figure it out.
The Need to Win
When losing feels enormous, understanding what is underneath the reaction can help children learn that disappointment is something they can handle.
Stop Saying “Good Job”?
Helping children move from “Did I do it right?” toward “I figured it out.”
The Back-to-School Pendulum
When the school year starts, a few steps backward may be part of finding a new rhythm.
Play Therapy at Home—Following Your Child's Lead
When children lead the play, they discover their strengths and when parents follow, relationships grow stronger.
Play Therapy at Home—Returning Responsibility
Children develop confidence not when adults solve their problems, but when they discover they are capable of solving them themselves.
Play Therapy at Home—Setting Limits with Empathy
When feelings are acknowledged and limits are clear, children can stay connected even in moments of dysregulation.
Play Therapy at Home—Offering Choices
Offering choices helps children feel a sense of control, which naturally increases cooperation and reduces resistance.
Play Therapy at Home—Encouragement
Encouragement helps children build lasting confidence by focusing on effort, process, and inner capability rather than external approval or praise.
Play Therapy at Home—Tracking Behavior
Children grow when they feel seen. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is simply pay attention.
Play Therapy at Home—Reflecting Feelings
Before children can manage their feelings, they need adults who help them make sense of them.