Hi, I’m Carissa :) I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and have been working with children and teens in an alternative school setting since 2017. I am married to my awesome husband and we have a daughter, a son, and two fur babies. We love to spend time outdoors and try to go camping as often as we can but if it’s a rainy day you can find us snuggled up with popcorn and a good Disney movie. I started my career working with adults who struggle with severe mental illness and homelessness, but later found my passion is working with kiddos who need extra support and guidance in order to find their full potential. Specifically, I have experience working with youth and adolescents who have Autism, ADHD, ODD, anxiety, and depression. My goal is to help others learn how to help themselves. Whether it’s learning how to follow classroom expectations, juggling friendships and the stress that sometimes comes with that, or struggling with feelings of depression, I am here to offer the support and creative therapeutic interventions that are needed to build confidence, cope with anxiety, and heal from past trauma. My ideal client is an elementary aged kiddo who is struggling with ADHD, Autism, and/or ODD. Their issues consist of irritability, difficulties following directions, and occasional to frequent anger outbursts. Their goals may consist of making it through a full school day, using kind words, or having fewer outbursts at home. To effectively establish these goals, I will first meet with the parents to address their highest priority needs, then ask the child what their biggest need is or what positive change they want to see in themselves. I will encourage and assist the family in making a visual schedule for their daily routine to help build consistency within the home. Throughout this process I use CBT and talk therapy to help the child better understand how their thoughts are leading to actions that are creating problematic behaviors. To build empathy I will disclose the experiences I have had working with youth and adolescents with similar issues and the positive outcomes I have seen. I will reiterate how I understand the difficulty of these behaviors and the disruption that it can cause within their family, but also that all behavior is a form of communication and that we will work together for the family to better understand each other.