Child and Family Psychologists

Ms. Jazmyn Jones has worked with children of all ages in multiple settings including private practice, an autism treatment center, schools, social settings, and at-risk school programs. She works with the range of presenting problems children experience, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), depression, anxiety, social issues, and behavioral disorders, to name a few. Ms. Jones uses a wide variety of techniques that include play therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing, and goal setting. Ms. Jones works with families and children on developing routines and working on developing positive life skills. She believes in working with the family unit as a whole, in addition to the individual child, to meet treatment goals in home, school, and other environments.

Meaghan seeks to understand the family dynamics that are contributing to social, emotional, or behavioral issues for both children and families. She works to solve these problems through a systems framework and empowers the client to sustain positive changes by helping them understand themselves and express their thoughts and emotions. Specific challenges she has experience with are autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anger-management, self-esteem, anxiety, depression, and social skills difficulties.

Sagan King has worked with children and their families in a variety of settings, including private practice, schools, correctional settings, hospitals, and community mental health settings. She has provided individual therapy with children and families with a variety of challenges, including interpersonal and relational difficulties, parenting, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and trauma. Dr. King has extensive experience working with children and families experiencing major life transitions, behavioral/conduct issues, parenting concerns, AD/HD, and developmental disorders. She has conducted group therapy for children and adolescents for social skills training, emotion regulation, anger management, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for emotion regulation, and coping skills. She has a special interest in working with children and their families regarding behavioral issues brought on by life transitions. Dr. King believes engaging children in fun, creative, and educational activities is beneficial to their development. She works with children to communicate with families and facilitates addressing difficult topics. Dr. King believes in the importance of a collaborative approach that includes family and parents. She strives to support growth, self-understanding, compassion, and adaptive skill-building in an open and nonjudgmental space.

Dr. Erica Pritzker has a passion for working with children and began her career focused on helping children and families, working as a school psychologist before also becoming a clinical psychologist. Her extensive experience working with children spans private practice, the school environment, and hospital programs. Her background includes working with children with a variety of presentations, including behavior difficulties, social skills problems, depression, anxiety, trauma, and the spectrum of childhood issues. In addition, she has worked with special needs (i.e., autism spectrum and emotional-behavioral disturbance), AD/HD and learning disabilities, and at-risk children. Dr. Pritzker understands children have a different way of expressing themselves and utilizes play therapy and other creative approaches to help children feel comfortable and to allow for their own style of communicating. Children need structure and she encourages having a routine at the beginning of her sessions so children know what to expect at each visit. Her broad smile and friendly demeanor make her a favorite among children, and help children connect with her and engage in the therapy process. She is able to make children feel comfortable with her from the start. Dr. Pritzker also communicates closely with parents throughout her work with the child so that gains made in therapy can be sustained in the home and school settings as well. In addition to therapy, Dr. Pritzker enjoys using psychological and educational assessment to help children and their families better understand the child’s strengths and how to best serve their learning style.

Dr. Sophia Walder-Hoge has worked with children and their families in a variety of settings, including private practice, schools, hospitals/medical facilities, and community mental health settings. She has provided individual therapy with children and families with a variety of challenges, including interpersonal and relational difficulties, parenting, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and trauma. Dr. Walder-Hoge has extensive experience working with children and families experiencing major life transitions, behavioral/conduct issues, parenting concerns, AD/HD and developmental disorders, including autism spectrum. She has conducted group therapy for children and adolescents for social skills training, emotion regulation, and coping skills. She has a special interest in working with children and families with managing recent or ongoing medical concerns. Dr. Walder-Hoge believes that it is crucial to engage with children in a fun, creative, and easy-going manner. She brings a sense of curiosity and acceptance that helps children and families feel comfortable and facilitates addressing difficult topics. Dr. Walder-Hoge believes in the importance of a collaborative approach that includes family and parents. She strives to support growth, self-understanding, and adaptive skill-building in an open and nonjudgmental space. She is particularly attentive to communication, interpersonal concerns, and family functioning.

Dr. Colleen Hamilton is a clinical and child psychologist, with her training focused on work with children, adolescents, and families. She specializes in children, and has a wide variety of experience working with children and their families. Dr. Hamilton’s fun and creative spirit as a child therapist makes her uniquely skilled at engaging children in the process! She is well versed in a variety of approaches that engage children to include play therapy, sand tray therapy, art therapy, music therapy, and body movement therapy.

Eileen Santaella seeks to understand the cognitive, emotional, academic, social and family dynamics that are contributing to social, emotional, or behavioral issues for children. She has worked with children with many presenting mental health problems of childhood, to include having had the opportunity to work with children who have had traumatic experiences. In addition to her experience with individual and family therapy, Eileen has worked with children in group modalities providing psychoeducation regarding emotional regulation, adaptive coping, and interpersonal functioning.

Rae Ann Hamilton enjoys working with tweens and teens (ages 10 and older). Issues she has training and experience in with young people include: anxiety, depression, Attention- Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, learning difficulties, social problems, anger management, self- esteem, giftedness, and life transitions such as from high school to college. Mrs. Hamilton incorporates several therapeutic approaches in her work including Client-Centered, Humanistic, Cognitive-Behavioral, Insight-Oriented (Psychodynamic), Behavior Management, and Psychoeducation, depending on the individual’s presenting issues. Mrs. Hamilton considers it a privilege to assist courageous young people in their journey to improve their lives.

Dr. Lindsey Ohler has worked with children and their families across multiple settings including private practice, inpatient treatment facility, an autism treatment center, and the juvenile court system. She enjoys working across the spectrum of childhood disorders including social skills deficits, behavioral problems, anxiety of all forms, depression, and self-injurious behaviors. She values understanding th

Ms. Venetta seeks to assist children presenting with all diagnoses, and parents presenting with any parenting and life concerns, working on the full range of behavioral, emotional, family, and wellness-related issues they may seek to change in their lives. Ms. Venetta provides parent coaching to one or both parents (or any primary caregiver) in an effort to foster goal achievement related to parenting. In this non-judgmental setting, Ms. Venetta may use psychoeducation and evidence-based strategy to navigate familial issues related to children. 

From the very beginning of her career, Dr. Lepage has been focusing on children and families; whereas most psychologists have an undergraduate that is, like their doctorate, in psychology, Dr. Lepage has an undergraduate in Child Development & Family Relationships.

Ms. Deja Buckner has worked collaboratively with children and their families in private practice and residential/inpatient treatment settings to assist in recovery from a variety of concerns. She enjoys working with behavioral problems, anxiety and depression, self-injurious behaviors, eating disorders, learning disabilities, AD/HD, and more. Ms. Buckner utilizes a variety of therapeutic techniques including play therapy, behavioral interventions, and art therapy to support children in meeting their therapeutic goals. She believes that children have unique emotional experiences, therefore require a safe space for self-expression, creative outlets, and support to learn healthy coping skills as well as behavior modification techniques. She endorses the idea that treatment is a collaborative process for children that should always include support from the family members, especially parents, in order to achieve the greatest outcomes. Therefore, Ms. Buckner places a high value on connecting with parents throughout the therapeutic process and offers parenting coaching to compliment the work being done in session with the child.

Heidi works with children and families to improve learning and social-emotional outcomes. Through a systematic, problem-solving approach, she seeks to understand the source of unique difficulties and address the system as well as improve coping skills to improve understanding of behaviors, distress tolerance for the child and family, acceptance of diagnoses/challenges, and emotional regulation, to facilitate more positive outcomes for children and families. Heidi helps clients learn adaptive coping skills which can be used throughout their lives in various circumstances and settings. Clients will find new ways of understanding their own behaviors and those of others.

Melissa has worked with families and children throughout her career. She adapts a non-judgmental, relationship-based approach with the goal of connecting to the family members, so they can be honest with her and themselves about what they are feeling. Melissa uses play therapy and expressive arts as a mode for treatment with younger children, and incorporates parent and family work as well for an effective systems-focused approach. With children and teens of all ages, Melissa provides therapy for a broad array of childhood issues such as depression, general anxiety, social anxiety, school anxiety and refusal, sibling rivalry, parent-child relationship rifts, oppositional behavior, conduct issues, academic struggles, attention deficit, healthy lifestyle choices, and supportive therapy for life changes such as moving or divorce or grief. She also works with multigenerational families living together at all ages, and assists in adapting styles of communication and parenting to the stage and need of the people currently struggling.

Cheryl Cohen’s experience working with children, parents and families spans 25 years. She is well versed in attachment theory parenting as well as general parenting from a positive learning opportunity and natural consequences aspect.

Dr. Alexandra Maestre works with children and families to improve behaviors, emotional functioning, learning and social-emotional outcomes. Through a systematic, problem-solving approach, she seeks to understand the source of unique difficulties and address the system as well as improve coping skills to improve understanding of behaviors, distress tolerance for the child and family, acceptance of diagnoses/challenges, and emotional regulation to facilitate more positive outcomes for children and families. Dr. Maestre helps children learn adaptive coping skills which can be used throughout their lives in various circumstances and settings. Children will find new ways of understanding their own behaviors and those of others, and parents will learn how to support growth so changes can be sustained.

Dr. Messer has extensive training and experience working with school-aged children in a multitude of settings, from Head Start classes to academic medical center inpatient units and specialty outpatient clinics.

All Therapists Listed Above Are Providing Teletherapy Services For Clients, All Telemedication Services Are Online, And Many Psychological Evaluations Can Be Done Using Telehealth As Well.