Healing happens through relationship and child-directed play. Children experience the world deeply, but they often lack the words to explain what they feel. When emotions become confusing or overwhelming, children communicate through behavior.
Helping children express and process what they aren't yet able to put into words
Play Therapy - Specialized Support for Children
Play Therapy is a developmentally appropriate form of counseling designed specifically for children.
Adults use words to make sense of their world. Children use play.
In the safety of a therapeutic relationship, play becomes the vehicle for exploring feelings, working through fears, and making sense of experiences they cannot yet explain.
I provide a consistent therapeutic environment where your child is free to lead. Rather than directing or correcting, I follow their cues, and provide structure that helps them build confidence, regulation, and a stronger sense of self.
It is a clinically grounded research supported approach that supports deep emotional development through the language children know best: play.
Play Therapy gives children a safe, supportive space to work through their inner world using their native language: play.
What Is Play Therapy?
Children don’t always have the words to say, “I’m struggling.”
More often, they show us.
How Do I Know If Play Therapy Could Help My Child?
You may notice your child having a harder time with emotions, transitions, or relationships—or seeming more overwhelmed, withdrawn, reactive, or simply not quite like themselves. These changes are often your child’s way of communicating a need they can’t yet name.
Anxiety, worries, or stress they can’t put into words
Big life changes (move, divorce, new sibling, school transitions)
Difficulty regulating emotions, reactions, or behavior
Withdrawal, sensitivity, or feeling “stuck”
Trauma or overwhelming experiences
Aggression, power struggles, or sibling conflict
ADHD, ODD, or dysregulated behavior
Autism spectrum differences
School, academic, sleep, or eating challenges
Using behavior to communicate unmet needs
Play therapy may be helpful if your child is experiencing:
Struggling does not mean they are failing.
It simply means your child is communicating a need they cannot yet name.
Play Therapy gives them a safe, supportive place to express that need in the way that matches how children naturally process life.
Practical Details
So you know what to expect.
I work primarily with Early Childhood and Elementary-aged children. If you’re unsure whether your child is a good fit for this specific approach, we can talk that through together.
The process is most effective when sessions happen weekly. This rhythm helps children build the trust, continuity, and emotional momentum needed for the work to take root.
Sessions are currently offered in person on the Windward side of Oʻahu (serving Kailua, Kaneohe, and surrounding communities).
I view the environment as an active part of the therapy. I create and hold a consistent therapeutic container for your child, whether we are working in a clinical setting or a thoughtfully chosen alternative space.
You are an essential partner in this work. We will have dedicated time reserved to connect on themes, progress, and how you can support the work at home.
To preserve the therapeutic relationship, we keep these conversations separate from drop-off and pick-up. This gives us the privacy to speak freely, without your child having to hear us talk “about” them in the moment.
We begin with a free consultation to talk about your concerns, your child, and what kind of support feels most appropriate. There is no pressure to decide everything right away.
This is a collaborative process. We move at a pace that honors your child, your family, and your capacity.
Change happens gradually and organically — not through correction, but through feeling understood.
Rather than asking children to explain themselves, play therapy allows them to:
How It Works
Explore feelings at a safe emotional distance
Work through fears and experiences symbolically
Practice problem-solving and decision-making in real time
Express emotions that feel too complex for words
Rather than asking children to explain themselves, play therapy allows them to:
Changes happen not because a child is being forced to change—but because they are being understood.
As children feel safe, seen, and empowered, meaningful shifts often include:
What Changes Over Time
Stronger emotional regulation
Increased confidence and self-trust
Expanded emotional vocabulary
Greater flexibility and resilience
Deeper connection with caregivers
As children feel safe, seen, and empowered, meaningful shifts often include:
Play therapy is most powerful when it’s supported by the relationships a child lives in every day. Together, we build a shared understanding of your child’s behavior and emotional world so you can:
Your Role as a caregiver
Feel more grounded and less reactive
Understand what your child is communicating beneath behavior
Hold boundaries with warmth and confidence
Strengthen trust and connection
Together, we build a shared understanding of your child’s behavior and emotional world so you can:
It means you’re paying attention. It means you’re advocating for your child and your family.
If you’re curious, unsure, or simply want to talk things through, that is enough to begin. The consultation is a gentle starting place. We’ll discuss what you’re noticing, what feels hard, and what support aligns best with your ʻohana. There is no pressure to commit and no expectation to have it all figured out. Just a conversation and a place to begin.
