Tender Roots Counseling, LLC

Mental health therapy for children, teens, young adults, and parents

Portland, ORegon

My offerings

My intention is to create and hold a space where children, teens, young adults, and parents can explore life experiences and themselves. There are so many things in the world that seek to dampen the light innate to each human being. My hope is to create a space that allows and encourages children and their family to find their roots, heal their wounds, and grow strongly grounded and connected through all phases of life.

Child Therapy

I offer parent supported sessions for children 2-6 (which means a parent must be present) and individual sessions for children 4 and older

Teens and Young adults

I offer individual therapy for teens and young adults. Teens 14 and older can consent to treatment without parental involvement

Parents

I offer parenting support for parents of children of all ages. Your child does not have to be my client for parent support

People who have found my work helpful include:

Children/youth experiencing life transitions, trauma, anxiety, or depression
Neurodivergent children/youth
Parents wanting a deeper understanding of their child’s development and emotional health

My Approach

I use relationship building as the foundation of my therapy practice. I believe feeling seen, held, and safe are vital components of being able to grow. My hope is to create an atmosphere where the people I meet with feel met and known which will allow us to walk together through vulnerability. With all my clients I take a Neurobiological approach, which is really just a fancy way to say I think a lot about nervous systems and how to regulate them. There are so many things in the world that our nervous systems perceive as threats, together we will explore what those may be, and how your (or your child’s) system tries to regulate itself. Often attempts at regulation that don’t work very well are named as “behaviors” and attempts that do work are called “coping skills.” Our nervous systems need co-regulation before they can learn to self-regulate. Together we will explore what feels soothing to your/your child’s particular system and build strategies from there. For young children, they learn and regulate through play, and thus I use a lot of Child Led Play Therapy strategies in my work. I also pull from Attachment Theory and child development to support young children and their parents. For older clients I use more talk therapy, informed by Internal Family Systems (IFS) or parts work and Narrative Therapy techniques. My style is client centered, collaborative, and non-directive. I strive to provide support that is affirming, compassionate, and trauma informed.