Child & Adolescent Therapy

Being a child and adolescent is not easy. Expectations are increasing at school and they are beginning to learn more about the world. I am here to provide support to you and your child during these difficult times. Therapy can help to build confidence, teach skills to regulate and understand emotions, and provide a safe space for self reflection. 

As children are in the process of growing and learning, their emotions are often communicated through externalized behaviors. Children display anger, anxiety, sadness, stress, and other feelings through tantrums, screaming, and other behaviors. Here at Alexa Wernick Psychotherapy, I provide child therapy to support your child in gaining access to their emotions and learn how to regulate them. Additionally, I offer parent coaching to provide parents/caregivers with tools to best support their child. Therapy can support your child in building confidence, learning problem solving skills, social skills, coping skills, and much more. I specialize in working with children experiencing ADHD through teaching impulse control techniques, emotional regulation skills, executive functioning tools, and partnering with outside providers and school staff.

All child therapy requires the participation of families in order to see the most progress. Alexa Wernick Psychotherapy emphasizes actively communicating with families regarding skills being taught in sessions and ways to support your child at home. I will often check in with families at the end of sessions or schedule a separate session to meet with families to discuss more ways to reinforce skills at home.

Adolescents are given more independence at school, learning to navigate social situations with peers and beginning the process of puberty which can all become overwhelming. We often see a decrease in self esteem, an increase in seeking peer approval, and a rise in irritability.  Adolescent therapy provides 1:1 support with problem solving, confidence building, self reflection, emotional regulation and more. Although family involvement is important in the treatment process for adolescents, it is not as often. Adolescents developmentally are able to apply more of the skills taught in session without adult support and place a different value on their privacy.

• Session length: 45 minutes

  • A 60 minute parent intake session will be scheduled at the beginning of treatment.

  • We specialize in working with children experiencing ADHD through teaching impulse control techniques, emotional regulation skills, executive functioning tools, and partnering with outside providers and school staff.

• Duration of treatment: varies depending on the needs of the client; tailored to meet each child or adolescent’s age, level of development, and individual needs

• Skills taught in session:

  • Anxiety: Feeling identification, Emotional regulation/coping skills, Body/mind awareness, Self reflection, Confidence building, Decrease negative self talk, Build awareness of thoughts. Problem solving skills

  • ADHD: Impulse control, Body awareness, Emotional regulation, Tools for focusing, Organization, Build self awareness, Perspective taking

  • Social Skills: Navigating peer relationships, Communication tools, Emotional regulation, Increase confidence, Problem solving skills, Perspective taking

Parent Management Training

Are you noticing behavioral or emotional changes in your child? Are you  unsure how to support your child or navigate their behaviors? Are you feeling frustrated because none of the books you are reading are helping? That is okay.

Alexa Wernick Psychotherapy can help you learn how to best support the mental health of your children. Parent management training focuses on providing the necessary skills to manage and understand a child’s behavioral and emotional responses. Sessions can support families in reinforcing the development of their child’s self regulation at home.

• Session length: 60 minutes, tailored to meet each families needs

• Duration of treatment: varies depending on the needs of the client

• Skills taught in session: positive reinforcement, labeled praise, active ignoring, effective communication, setting routines and expectations, logical consequence, psychoeducation on behaviors, relationship building, supportive statements

SPACE: Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions

SPACE is an evidence-based parent treatment program for children and adolescents with anxiety, OCD, and related problems. The treatment program was developed by Dr. Eli Lebowitz at the Yale Child Study Center and has been tested and found to be efficacious in randomized controlled clinical trials. When SPACE treatment is successful children feel less anxious and function better following treatment.  Some of the main anxiety disorders treated with SPACE are separation anxiety, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, fears and phobias, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

• Who participates in treatment: SPACE aims to treat children and adolescents with anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Although children do not have to attend SPACE sessions - they are the patients! Parents (and other caregivers) participate in SPACE treatment sessions. In most cases the child or adolescent does not need to attend the treatment sessions.

• What occurs during treatment: Parents who participate in SPACE will learn skills and tools to help their child overcome anxiety, OCD or related problems. The treatment focuses on changes that parents can make to their own behavior, they do not need to make their child change. The two main changes that parents learn to make in SPACE treatment are to respond more supportively to their anxious child and to reduce the accommodations they have been making to the child symptoms. 

• Duration of treatment: In most cases, treatment is between 12-14 sessions, 45-60 minutes each

To learn more about SPACE and how it works visit http://www.spacetreatment.net/

Alexa offers parent workshops focused on behavior management at home. To learn more, click here.