Before becoming a therapist, I spent more than 10 years in a career that felt not-quite-right to me. In my free time, I gravitated toward volunteer roles where I worked with children. I felt like I naturally understood and connected with them, and I noticed a sort of magic in those moments — as if the child suddenly realized they were not invisible. Somebody saw them as they were, and they were okay.

And while it took me a while to build the courage to make a career change, I knew deep down that this was my dream: to help children build a sense of “okayness” as early in life as possible, before the world buried their unique spirits under layers of shame and “shoulds.”

Childhood can be scary: The pressure to follow rules, get good grades, be well liked. The lack of control over, well, anything. The big feelings that seem to arise out of nowhere. And yet, children are often expected to exhibit self-control and respond rationally — even though their brains haven’t fully developed yet, and they need help managing their big feelings.

In my work with children, I use play therapy techniques while focusing on the client’s underlying needs for connection and safety, rather than external symptoms and behaviors. I believe that when children have the space to fully be themselves, they possess a powerful capacity for inner healing and development, particularly in the presence of an attuned adult who can provide structure and support during challenging moments.

As humans, we learn and grow through lived experience — by taking small steps toward what scares or confuses us, by making decisions and dealing with the consequences, by squirming with big feelings and receiving support. For children, this is the work of therapy, as they experience gradual exposure to difficult emotions and learn how to move through them while staying connected to self. I’m so grateful and humbled to walk alongside children on this journey to self-trust.

During my free time, I’m probably learning about play therapy approaches, because I find this work so interesting that professional development sounds like a good time to me. But since I’m trying to model work-life balance here, I’ll also say that I enjoy outdoor rambles, traveling, meeting with a weekly mindfulness group, listening to records while trying to cook, and catching up with family and friends.