We specialize in individual and family-based treatment for children, adolescents, and adults. Our therapists can work individually or collaboratively with your family, to provide a variety of services suited to your and/or your child's specific needs.

Kristen M. Ohlenforst, PhD is a licensed psychologist who completed her doctoral training at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and her Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford School of Medicine's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic. She possesses extensive training in empirically-supported cognitive-behavioral intervention for anxiety, mood, and behavioral disorders.

Kristin S. Bemis, MEd, LPC, RPT is a licensed professional counselor and registered play therapist who completed her Masters in Counseling at the University of North Texas. She specializes in using Play Therapy as a developmentally sensitive approach to treating children and pre-teens with a variety of presenting concerns.

Jaime D. Crowley, PhD completed her doctoral training at UT Southwestern Medical Center and is now completing her Postdoctoral Fellowship under the supervision of Dr. Kristen M. Ohlenforst. Dr. Crowley specializes in providing empirically-supported cognitive behavioral intervention for anxiety, mood, and behavioral disorders.

Individual Psychotherapy for Children and Adolescents
Kristen M. Ohlenforst, PhD specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for children and adolescents with Anxiety Spectrum Disorders. In the context of weekly therapy, she will work individually with your child to explore his/her anxious thoughts and behaviors, and support him/her in practicing adaptive coping strategies for managing anxious feelings. Dr. Ohlenforst and your child will practice numerous empirically-supported anxiety management techniques during session, and she will encourage your child (often with your participation) to actively practice these techniques over the coming week. She typically meets briefly with a child's parent(s) at the start or end of each session, so that the parents might relay pressing concerns from the prior week, and/or so Dr. Ohlenforst can orient the parent(s) to the child's "therapy homework" for the coming week. Dr. Ohlenforst also provide this type of therapy and support for children and adolescents experiencing feelings of sadness, stress, and anger.

Play Therapy for Children and Pre-Teens
Kristin S. Bemis, MEd, LPC, RPT (formerly Kristin Fuhrmann) specializes in Play Therapy for children and pre-teens struggling with a range of issues, including but not limited to anxiety, depression, behavioral issues, trauma, and grief. In the context of weekly therapy, she will work individually with your child to provide a therapeutic outlet for emotional expression and exploration, thereby allowing your child to improve his/her insight and awareness, build and strengthen coping tools, and enhance self-esteem; throughout this process, parents frequently notice an overall improvement in mood and decrease in frequency and intensity of behavioral symptoms. Kristin typically devotes the majority of the weekly session to one-on-one time with your child, and will meet briefly with parents after session or at a separate time if needed. Most parent consultations occur without the child present, so as to protect the child's relationship with the therapist and the parents' relationships with their child. Such consultations are usually conducted in person or via phone at regular intervals, but can be scheduled as often as needed. Through her work with parents, Kristin provides education, strategies, and support for parents wishing to decrease parental stress, reduce frequency and intensity of behavioral difficulties at home, and improve parent-child relationship dynamics.

Individualized Parent Consultation
Although some children's emotional or behavioral difficulties are most appropriately addressed via Individual Psychotherapy, certain difficulties are more successfully remediated through Parent Consultation. In other words, rather than meeting individually with your child (or in addition to doing so), your child's therapist may recommend meeting weekly with one or both parents to examine what factors might be contributing to and/or perpetuating your child's behavioral difficulties. Subsequently, you and the therapist will discuss empirically-supported techniques aimed at modifying your child's behavior. Through Parent Consultation, you will work collaboratively to choose which techniques and strategies are appropriate for your family's needs and child's behavior. As parents practice implementing these new techniques, you and the therapist will meet weekly to review successes and pitfalls and to modify chosen interventions to better meet your child's needs. Through such work, you aim to decrease your child's noncompliance and/or oppositionality, reduce feelings of anxiety and/or depression, and strengthen his/her adaptive behaviors and self-esteem.

Parenting Groups
Several times per year (fall semester, spring semester, and summer), our therapists offer the below-described 8-week didactic parenting groups. For more information related to these groups (e.g., fees, scheduling, reserving space, etc.), please contact our office:

• ADHD Parent Group, facilitated by Dr. Ohlenforst (for parents of children ages 5-12): This group is designed specifically for parents of children with ADHD and/or behavioral difficulties. While increasing parental consistency and confidence, parents collectively learn empirically-supported behavioral management strategies aimed at reducing the problematic behaviors often seen among children diagnosed with ADHD. We will also pay close attention to discerning and consistently rewarding your child's healthy and adaptive behaviors!
  
  
• Child-Parent-Relationship (CPR) Training, facilitated by Kristin Bemis (for parents of children ages 10 and younger): This group is designed specifically for parents who wish to improve their relationship with their child. Research has shown that motivated parents who learn and apply play therapy skills at home can reduce behavior problems, enhance self-esteem, and improve the overall parent-child relationship.