Child with curly hair and a yellow bow, smiling with colorful paint on face and clothes, outdoors.

Bring authenticity, playfulness and joy into your family.

Dylan Spradlin, MA, MSW, LCSW
CHILD & FAMILY THERAPIST IN Montana

Here, you won’t find cheap parenting hacks, rules, or someone to “fix” your child or family.

I don’t see children or families as broken. I see behavior as communication — a story waiting to be understood. Real change doesn’t come from fixing surface behaviors, but from creating safety in relationships,

where the deeper roots of those struggles can finally shift.


Most therapy focuses on unwanted behavior, trying to change it to make everyone’s life easier. Of course, easing those struggles matters. But here, the work goes deeper. I help shift what’s underneath — the feelings, experiences, and patterns driving the behavior.

I create safety through connection, understanding, and authenticity — because it’s within safe, attuned relationships where real change happens. When children (and parents) feel truly seen and supported, their nervous systems can settle. From there, new patterns emerge, and healing becomes possible.

Sometimes the root lies in a past event that hasn’t yet been processed, one that keeps spilling into the present. Other times it’s small tweaks in how your family is moving together day to day. Either way, we’ll explore it gently, at a pace that feels manageable, and uncover what brings relief and balance.

This is not about perfect parenting. It’s about being supported, so you don’t have to hold it all alone. It’s about leaning into authenticity, letting go of the pressure to “get it right,” and discovering how to show up for your child — and yourself — with more ease and compassion.

Whether you’re a hardworking professional parent, a stay-at-home caregiver, a family feeling out of balance, or the parent of a child who’s lived through unimaginable trauma, you don’t have to navigate this alone.

This is a place for you.

I’ll meet you, your child, and your family exactly where you are today, and together we’ll shed light on the patterns and beliefs holding you back from the life — and connection — you deserve.

Living room with a gray sofa, beige armchair, and wooden chair arranged around a white patterned rug. There are large windows in the background with bookshelves, a lamp, and decorative items.
A white bookshelf filled with toys, books, and storage baskets, with stuffed animals and dolls on top, and a carpeted floor in a children's playroom.
A white bookshelf filled with toys, a wooden animal hospital cart with an open lid, and a large window in a room with beige walls and gray carpet.
A woman with gray hair smiling, sitting on a beige armchair, wearing a white shirt, colorful patterned pink pants, and mismatched socks, one with polka dots and another with stripes.

What it’s like to work with me

My work blends decades of study with personal healing and deep passion for helping families. You’ll feel welcomed, seen, and understood. Together, we’ll uncover what’s holding your family back, support your child’s growth, and do it with grace, challenge, and plenty of play.

My goal is to bring not only my training and expertise, but also my lifetime of study, passion, and personal healing into every session with your child and family.

When you work with me — whether online or in person — my intention is that you’ll feel genuinely welcomed, seen, and understood. Together, we’ll gently explore what might be getting in the way of what you long for: the life you want for yourself, the balance you want for your family, and the fullness of who your child truly is.

This work is rarely a straight line. It can include moments of challenge, discovery, and growth — but also laughter, lightness, and play. My hope is that you’ll leave not only with tools for change, but with a deeper sense of safety, connection, and possibility.

MY GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Authenticity.

When I am not behaving as I truly am, I betray myself. I have learned and spent many years devoted to bringing my whole self into the room, and helping you to learn to do the same. This is how I remain regulated, and congruent and able to do work at this depth.

Safety.

I want you to feel safe - physically and emotionally. I do this by being authentic, by protecting your privacy, by creating a physical space that feels good to be in. I also make sure all my toys are cleaned between each client which is important for the health of my young clients.

Respect.

I have come to understand that we are conscious and aware even before we are born, and have opinions, and feelings, and develop beliefs about ourselves as early as our earliest experiences. With that understanding, I treat all people - no matter their age - with respect and dignity, and afford them agency in our work together.

Play.

Play is one of the great healers and often is unrecognized as such. In play, we can be activated and regulated at the same time, offering a singular place to safely transform nervous system patterns that drive behavior. Through playfulness, it is possible to develop connections that weren’t able to be forged any other way.

TRAINING & EDUCATION

I’m committed to ongoing education & training to best support your family.

More About Me

A garden sign reading 'The Twisted Plot' with a hummingbird silhouette, surrounded by various green plants and colorful yellow and orange flowers.
Person relaxing on a sandy riverside with their feet in sandals, overlooking a flowing river with rocks and lush green trees in the background.

Outside of my work with children and families, I’m someone who’s always been drawn to stories — the ones we tell ourselves, the ones we live, and the ones we share.

I find restoration in wild water — whether it’s standing at the edge of the ocean, walking along a river, or floating on a quiet lake. Morgan, my beloved Newfoundland who’s been gone for years now, still lives close in my heart. Angus, another Newfie who was with me for just a short time, left his mark too. These days, I share life with two spirited rescue dogs — and with my husband, an artist and maker who keeps me grounded, laughing, and inspired.

At home, I spend time in my pollinator garden, which I lovingly call The Twisted Plot — a name that reflects both my love of whimsy and theater, and the winding, sometimes surprising, beauty of nurturing something into bloom. I’m also deeply engaged in social justice work, staying active in efforts to build a more just and compassionate community outside of my practice.

And whenever I can, I make time to visit my daughter, who’s now grown and living on a small island farm — a reminder of how the places we come from always stay with us.

Over the years, I’ve written about motherhood, loss, and healing as part of my own journey. My personal writing has been featured in Mothering Magazine and the anthology Our Stories of Miscarriage: Healing with Words.

Selected Publications

  • “Fall of the Fairies”, Mothering Magazine, Mar/Apr 2008 (print edition, under the name Dylan Emrys)

  • “February 16” (poem) and “Spirit of the Child” (essay), in Our Stories of Miscarriage: Healing with Words, anthology edited by Rachel Faldet and Karen Fitton, 1997 (under the name Dylan Emrys)

Two dogs lying on a bed, one with a brindle coat and the other with a black and tan coat with white markings.
A woman smiling next to a large black and white dog outdoors on grass.