Services
Non-Directive Play Therapy
Non-directive play therapy, also known as child-centered play therapy, is a gentle, developmentally appropriate approach to child therapy. It allows children to express emotions, work through challenges, and make sense of their experiences using the natural language of play.
In my practice, I offer play therapy to children and families across the Central Coast. Sessions are led by the child and built around a sense of safety, curiosity, and emotional freedom. Your child is invited to choose from toys, art materials, and other creative tools to explore what they’re feeling in a way that feels right to them.
As a play therapist, my role is to create a warm, nonjudgmental environment where your child can feel fully seen and accepted. By observing and joining in their play, I gain a deeper understanding of what they’re processing; whether it’s anxiety, grief, trauma, behavioral struggles, or tension in peer or family relationships. Through this process, I support their growth at their own pace, without pressure or expectation.
This approach is especially helpful for children experiencing emotional overwhelm, behavioral challenges, social difficulties, or big life transitions like divorce, grief, or changes in the family. Because child-centered play therapy is rooted in the child’s lead, it honors their voice, builds confidence, and helps strengthen their ability to connect with others.
If you’re looking for compassionate and developmentally grounded child therapy or family therapy in San Luis Obispo or anywhere on the Central Coast, I’d be honored to support your child’s healing and growth.
Parent Check-Ins
Parent check-ins are a core part of your child’s therapy services and are intentionally built into the treatment model. In my San Luis Obispo child therapy and play therapy practice, these sessions are scheduled after every five play therapy sessions and are included at no additional cost as part of your child’s care.
Parent check-ins may take place in person or via teletherapy, depending on what works best for your family. These sessions provide dedicated time for parents or caregivers to share updates, concerns, and observations related to their child’s emotional experiences, behaviors, challenges, and strengths. Your insight as a parent is an important part of understanding how your child is functioning across home, school, and other settings.
During parent check-ins, I share clinical impressions from your child’s play therapy sessions, including themes that are emerging in play and observations about emotional regulation and relationships. I also explain what stage of therapy your child is currently in, such as initiation, resistance, working, or termination, to help set clear and realistic expectations for progress.
These sessions also offer practical parent support. I may explain skills being used during play therapy and offer guidance you can use at home to support connection, regulation, and your child’s ongoing growth.
Research shows that child therapy is most effective when parents are actively involved. Parent check-ins help create continuity between the therapy space and daily life. My goal is to provide collaborative, developmentally informed parent support for families in San Luis Obispo and throughout the Central Coast.