Help for your child starts with you.
For young kids, the most effective therapy usually works through the people they live with. Kara works mainly with you, and brings your child in when it helps.
For children from toddlers to age 13 · Denver Tech Center
When it’s more than a phase.
Every kid struggles sometimes. It’s worth a call when it’s lasted a while, it’s getting bigger, or it’s starting to run the family’s day.
Meltdowns and tantrums
Explosions that come out of nowhere and take a long time to settle.
Defiance and power struggles
Every request turns into a negotiation, or a fight.
Worry and anxiety
Stomachaches before school, avoiding new things, needing constant reassurance.
Sleep and bedtime
Bedtime battles, night waking, a child who won’t sleep alone.
Attention and impulsivity
Can’t sit still, can’t finish, can’t wait. With or without an ADHD diagnosis.
Anger and rages
Screaming, slammed doors, hitting. Outbursts that run the evening.
Also: constant irritability (DMDD), aggression toward parents or siblings, kids who can’t calm down, and big changes like divorce, a move or a new sibling. Everything we help with →
An hour a week can’t outweigh the other hundred.
A child spends one hour a week with a therapist and most of the rest with you. Behavior is shaped by what happens before and after it, day after day, and you’re the one there for that.
That’s why, for children 12 and under, parent-focused behavioral treatment has the strongest research support for defiance and meltdowns. For anxiety, a parent-only treatment did as well as therapy with the child in a randomized trial.
And it doesn’t need to be both. In a review of 63 studies of parent training, adding separate therapy for the child didn’t improve results. What helped was how parents were coached: one-on-one did better than group classes (Lundahl et al., 2006).
It isn’t a judgment that you caused the problem. It means you’re the most powerful tool your child has.
Our approach and the research →Not separate therapy. Time together, with a purpose.
Your child doesn’t need sessions of their own for this to work. They do join some of yours, for two reasons.
- So Kara knows your child. Meeting them, playing, watching how they handle a hard moment. It’s hard to build a plan for a child you’ve never met.
- So you can practice together. Trying the plan with your child in the room, with Kara coaching, is one of the things most linked to better results (Kaminski & Claussen, 2017).
How much time that takes depends on age. Toddlers and preschoolers: almost all parent work, plus meeting your child and some practice. As kids get older, they take a bigger part, until it’s close to an even split by 13. Through the teen years the balance keeps shifting, and by adulthood the work is with the young adult.
How much your child is involved
It shifts as kids grow. This is the typical mix; Kara adjusts it for your child and tells you why.
- Under 5 Almost all parent work Kara meets your child and you may practice together. Sleep, tantrums, toileting and separation change through the routines and responses you use at home.
- 5 to 9 Mostly parents Your child joins some sessions to practice skills alongside you.
- 10 to 13 Close to an even split by 13 Your child gets more direct time as they can use it. Parents stay central.
How it works
- 1 Assess A 90-minute first session with the parents: what’s happening, when, and what’s been tried.
- 2 Plan A written plan both parents agree to, built on a few specific changes you start this week.
- 3 Practice About 10 weekly sessions. Your child joins when Kara thinks it will help, mostly to practice with you.
- 4 Review At session 10, decide together: wrap up, check in monthly, or keep going.
Kara Clapp, MFT-C, LPCC
Kara’s training is in marriage and family therapy. She uses behavioral methods with a strong research base, and she adapts them to your child and your family.
More about Kara →
Fees
Private pay, session by session. We provide a superbill you can submit to your insurance for out-of-network reimbursement.
Parent sessions in person or online anywhere in Colorado. Sessions with your child are in the Denver Tech Center. Payment and cancellation policy.
Common questions
Why would my child’s therapy be mostly with me?
Because you’re with your child every day and a therapist sees them for an hour a week. For young kids, the research favors treatment that changes how the adults respond. See the research, or read parent coaching vs. child therapy.
Will Kara meet my child?
Yes, in almost every case. How much time she spends with your child depends on their age and what’s going on, and she’ll tell you her reasoning.
My child is 2. Is that too young?
No. Sleep, tantrums, toileting and separation are common reasons parents of toddlers call. At that age the work is almost entirely with parents.
How long does it take?
About 10 weekly sessions after the first one, then a review. Some families are done then; some keep going. Research programs average about 10 sessions, and adding more didn’t predict better results (Lundahl et al., 2006).
Does my child need their own therapy, too?
Usually not, especially when they’re young. In a review of 63 studies, adding separate therapy for the child didn’t improve results. Your child still joins some sessions, so Kara can get to know them and so you can practice together.
Where are you located?
In the Denver Tech Center at 5300 DTC Parkway, Greenwood Village, close to Centennial, Englewood, Littleton and south Denver. Parent sessions can also be online anywhere in Colorado.
Is this family therapy?
Yes. It’s family therapy focused on your child, with most sessions held with parents. That’s why we can provide a superbill.
Do you take insurance?
Sessions are private pay. We provide a superbill you can submit to your insurance for out-of-network reimbursement.
Ready to start, or just have a question?
Ask a question, set up a free 15-minute call, or schedule a first session. We reply within one business day, Monday to Friday.
Pick a time for a free 15-minute phone call with Kara. She’ll call you at the number you give.