About us

---

Early Childhood Counseling Services LLC provides consultation, assessment, and child and family therapy services to young children from birth to 8 years of age and their caregivers. Our mission is to enhance the social and emotional development of young children since this is imperative for overall success in life. Significant mental health issues can and do occur in young children and our services offer the necessary early intervention to aid in emotional and social health. A strength-based approach is used to help young children overcome emotional and behavioral struggles while supporting their caregivers in managing intense emotions and challenging behaviors. Our services are provided in a home-like setting that is welcoming and provides a comfortable and safe feeling for children and families. 

Our staff consists of Licensed Professional Clinical Counselors and  Licensed Independent Social Workers who specialize in working with young children from birth to 8 years of age. We treat several mental and emotional disorders and provide effective outpatient, individualized behavioral health care.  We are family focused and work closely with caregivers to make the most impact. Our staff are highly experienced and are experts in treating young children. In addition, our staff is trained in evidence-based therapies such as Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and  Structured Sensory Interventions for Traumatized Children, Adolescents and Parents (SITCAP).  We specialize in working with children who have experienced trauma such as abuse, neglect, violence in the home or community, homelessness, and other tragic events.

 Our services strengthen young children's social and emotional development by addressing essential factors that influence this development. We work to enhance the child-caregiver relationship, assist caregivers in providing nurturing, supportive, safe, and secure environments, and help caregivers learn to manage intense emotions and challenging behaviors.  We also focus on helping young children increase their resilience and protective factors while identifying risk factors that compromise a child’s success. Early intervention is key to helping children grow, develop and thrive to their fullest potential.  

Young children struggling emotionally and socially will often display intense emotions and challenging behaviors that impact their ability to be successful at home, in early care programs, in school, and the community. We work with children to help improve their emotional and behavioral functioning and assist caregivers, childcare providers, and teachers in learning how to manage intense emotions such as anger, anxiety, fearfulness, irritability, and frustration, as well as challenging behaviors such as aggression, temper tantrums, angry outbursts, sleep disturbances, defiance, clinginess, difficulty separating from their caregiver. This allows children to be successful in life and to manage better in their homes, early care programs, classrooms, and the community. 

Young children respond to and process emotional experiences and traumatic events much differently than older children and adults. This can make it difficult to identify the impact the trauma has had on the child. Often their symptoms are misunderstood as other emotional and behavioral disorders. Many young children who have experienced traumatic events have symptoms of anxiety, fear, helplessness, shame, self-blame, hopelessness, nightmares, eating and sleeping problems, difficulty concentrating, irritability, withdrawal, and mood swings. We are highly trained and experienced in assessing, diagnosing, and treating trauma. Our treatment helps children overcome traumatic events they experienced so they can grow, develop and succeed. We also educate caregivers about trauma and how to effectively support children to help them heal and improve their overall well-being.

A secure attachment and strong child-caregiver relationship are vital for children to overcome trauma and to be socially and emotionally healthy. Our treatment approach nurtures the child-caregiver relationship to enhance the bond and attachment. This aids in resilience and provides the child with protective factors that are necessary to help them flourish. Research shows that the presence of at least one caring person in a child's life provides support for healthy development and learning and that this leads to a child's overall success in life.