Your Questions, Answered

  • I work with children through teens individually, infants with their caregivers & families, expecting couples and individual adults experiencing grief & loss.

  • Getting started is simple. Just text me at 406-396-3297 or reach out through the form for a consultation to see if we are a fit for each other.

  • I bring decades of personal work that have shaped a deeply regulated nervous system, along with highly specialized training and education. I’ve also lived a life that has given me a wide window into the diversity of human experience. I understand children and childhood in a way many do not, and I bring lived experience of neurodivergence, layers of personal grief, and meaningful healing.

    Just as importantly, I bring whimsy, creativity, and playfulness into my work. Healing doesn’t happen only through insight—it happens through curiosity, imagination, laughter, and moments of genuine connection. I meet children and families where they are, with warmth, authenticity, and a lightness that makes hard things feel more approachable.

    I am deeply human, deeply present, and deeply real—and I believe that kind of authenticity is often what allows true healing to begin.

  • You can call or text me at 406-396-3297, email hello @ familyinsightstherapy.com or fill out the form here on the contact page.

    I usually reply within a day on regular business days, Tuesdays through Fridays.

  • My regular fee is $250 per individual session.

    I do have a limited number of reduced fee spots - please inquire if this is something you are curious about. You can find out more about how I navigate this on the “What To Expect” page under the “About” tab.

  • All of my sessions are virtual currently. I have found that the work continues to be meaningful, relational and attuned.

    Working with me is grounded, relational, and real. I show up with steadiness, deep attunement, and a regulated nervous system so there’s room for whatever arrives—big feelings, silence, laughter, messiness, and meaning-making. I take my work seriously, but I don’t take myself too seriously.

    With children, sessions are playful, imaginative, and responsive. I follow their lead while holding clear structure and safety, using play, curiosity, and connection as the primary language. With parents, my style is collaborative and compassionate—supportive without judgment, honest without shame. I name patterns gently, offer insight clearly, and help translate behavior into what’s happening underneath.

    You can expect warmth, presence, and authenticity. I bring whimsy when it helps, humor when it lightens the load, and depth when it’s needed. I won’t rush the process or offer quick fixes—but I will walk alongside you with steadiness, clarity, and care as things begin to shift.

  • Yes. I am neuroaffirming in both mindset and practice.

    I understand neurodivergence not as something to be fixed, but as a natural variation in human nervous systems, cognition, and ways of being in the world. My work centers on supporting regulation, agency, autonomy, and self-understanding—rather than compliance, masking, or behavior control.

    I also bring lived experience to this work. I am AuDHD myself, and I have raised a PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance / Pervasive Drive for Autonomy) child to adulthood. That experience profoundly shapes how I understand nervous systems under stress, demand sensitivity, and the importance of dignity, flexibility, and relationship-based support.

    My therapy space is explicitly neuroaffirming: differences are respected, communication is adapted, play and movement are welcomed, and children are not required to perform or conform in order to be supported. I collaborate closely with parents to help them understand their child’s unique nervous system, reduce shame, and build environments that actually work for their family.

    In short: neurodivergent kids don’t need to be made “more typical.” They need to feel safe, understood, and supported in becoming themselves.

  • Cultural competence, to me, is not a box to check or a certification to complete—it’s an ongoing practice of awareness, humility, and accountability.

    In addition to required training in privilege, power, and oppression, I was raised by parents with progressive views on racial justice and began engaging in social activism at a very young age. I attended an intentionally multicultural school and was surrounded by racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity throughout my formative years, which deeply shaped how I see the world and other people.

    Nearly three decades ago, I began the intentional work of unpacking and dismantling my own internalized white racism and white privilege. That work is ongoing, because this is lifelong learning—not a destination. I actively seek to listen, reflect, and course-correct as needed.

    In my practice, I prioritize lived experience. I believe what clients and caregivers tell me about their identities, cultures, and realities. I strive to hold a space—and a heart—that is genuinely welcoming, respectful, and affirming for children and adults from diverse cultural, racial, family, and social backgrounds.

    Cultural competence isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about being willing to listen, learn, and stay in relationship.

  • Yes—absolutely. I work with children, teens, and adults across the LGBTQ+ spectrum, including those who are questioning or exploring their identity. I am part of that “letter soup” myself, and I bring both professional training and lived experience to this work.

    My practice is a space where gender identity, sexual orientation, and self-expression are met with respect, curiosity, and care—not assumptions or agendas. Whether you or your child are clear about who you are, still figuring it out, or just need a place where all parts of you are welcome, you don’t need to have it sorted out before coming in. Exploration is allowed here.

    Everyone deserves support that affirms who they are and honors their nervous system, relationships, and lived reality.

  • I do not. Because my practice is fully virtual, I work with families and individuals who are in relatively stable circumstances, not involved in ongoing legal disputes, and where the safety of everyone in the family system is not in question. Virtual therapy is also not appropriate for situations that require a higher level of mental health care, such as active suicidality, self-harm, or other significant safety concerns.

    If, after beginning therapy, it becomes clear that a higher level of care or local support would better meet a family’s needs, I will assist in identifying a more appropriate provider.

    Family Insights Therapy does not provide custody evaluations, expert witness services, court testimony, or letters for legal proceedings.

  • Children don’t always have the words to tell us when something is wrong. Instead, they often show us through changes in behavior, emotions, or functioning.

    You might consider therapy if you notice:

    • Withdrawal or loss of interest in things they once enjoyed

    • Escalating behaviors, big emotions, or frequent meltdowns

    • Difficulty tolerating stress, frustration, or transitions

    • Changes around major life events, such as a move, separation, illness, or loss

    • Sudden changes in school performance or grades

    • Shifts in friendships or increased social conflict

    • Sleep disturbances, somatic complaints, or increased anxiety

    None of these automatically mean something is “wrong” with your child. They are signals that something deeper may be asking for support.

    Therapy isn’t only for crisis. It can be a place where your child feels understood, regulated, and supported while they make sense of what’s happening inside and around them. Early, attuned support can prevent patterns from becoming entrenched and help your child return to a sense of ease and resilience.

    If you’re wondering whether therapy might help, that curiosity alone is often worth honoring.

  • The child leads.

    Sessions are play-based, but they are not “just play.” Play is the language of the nervous system, and it’s how children communicate what they don’t yet have words for. Even through a screen, I attune closely to your child’s cues so they can feel felt and seen — which is where real change begins.

    Children may use toys, art supplies, sensory materials, or everyday objects from home. Some stay near the screen, others move around the room, build, draw, or play in ways that feel natural to them. I follow their lead while staying connected with them and supporting what is unfolding. In many ways, children are often more relaxed and open when they’re in their own familiar space.

    Rather than focusing on behavior alone, I work at the below-conscious nervous system level, where patterns of regulation, safety, and connection are formed. Over time, children move through a natural three-step process:

    Awareness – the child begins to notice when they are dysregulated or overwhelmed

    Choice – they learn there are options for managing those feelings

    Integration – they start “trying on” those options in play and real life

    This is how self-regulation becomes self-trust.
    This is what I mean by empowerment.

    Children aren’t told what to feel or how to behave. Instead, they discover their own capacity to connect with themselves, tolerate big feelings, and move through the world with more flexibility and confidence.

  • Yes. Adoption and foster care are some of the central areas of my work. My first master’s thesis focused on supporting adopted infants in healing from the trauma of relinquishment, and I bring both specialized training and lived experience into this work. I grew up as a biological child with an adopted sister, a dynamic that shaped our family in complex, meaningful, and sometimes challenging ways. That perspective continues to inform how I understand attachment, loss, identity, and belonging. I work with all parts of the adoption triad—first parents, adoptees, and adoptive parents—as well as children in foster care. My approach is trauma-informed, attachment-focused, and developmentally attuned, with deep respect for the layered grief and resilience that often coexist in adoption and foster care experiences.