The Board of Behavioral Science states the following:

The practice of educational psychology is the performance of any professional functions pertaining to academic learning processes or the education system or both including diagnosis of psychological disorders related to academic learning processes.

Academic support, counseling, and psychoeducational evaluations may be available at through your district of residence for free. All parents have a right to request psychoeducational evaluation from their child’s public school district at no cost. However, schools primarily utilize psychoeducational assessments to identify eligibility for special education. They do not diagnose using DSM-V-TR, and they may or may not make recommendations outside of special education. Our psychoeducational evaluations are used to build a thorough understanding of you or your child’s cognitive or processing abilities, academic achievement skills, and social-emotional/behavioral functioning. We are strength based, and diagnose psychological disorders related to learning or education. We provide clear and actionable recommendations for next steps. If you have any questions regarding differences between school services, and our services, or how to request support for your child through the school please contact us. We can walk you through your options to help you decide what is best for you. We are transparent, and will redirect you to the school or make other referrals if we think that is your next best step!

Yes! I whole-heartedly believe that all people and all brains deserve to be happy and accepted for who they are. I prefer to reference differences like autism, ADHD, and other neurodevelopmental differences as just that – a difference rather than a disability. This doesn’t mean that these differences don’t have challenges, because they do; particularly in a school system and society that is catered toward neurotypical individuals. I use the DSM-V-TR diagnostic criteria and California education code for diagnosing learning disorders, autism, and ADHD; but I use a strength-based approach and provide recommendations to build upon the student’s strengths, as well as address any concerns or differences that are interfering with their education or mental health.

You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your medical and mental health care will cost. 

Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the expected charges for medical services, including psychotherapy services. 

You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency healthcare services, including psychotherapy services. 

You can ask your health care provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule a service. 

If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill. Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate. For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises or call (800) 985-3059.

We meet with students in our office located at 1260 Lake Blvd Suite 228 in West Davis. The office is on the 2nd floor and is most directly acced by taking the stairs near the Sushi Fusion restaurant. Once on the 2nd floor you will see the sign for executive offices. The office is located just off the lobby. As you enter, walk straight ahead to the first door on the right. Parents generally wait for students in the lobby or in the surrounding shopping center. There is ample free parking for your convenience.

Yes! Although many clients use the stairs to reach our second floor offices, there is an elevator. Please let us know if you will need to utilize it so we can make sure the right doors are unlocked!

If you are an existing client, head here to access your Simple Practice client portal. Through your client portal, you can view upcoming appointments, complete paperwork, access invoices, and upload documents.

https://breakthrough-education-support.clientsecure.me

Schools, despite the best efforts of teachers, are about educating a group of kids. Personalized academic support is about the individual and their learning. This support is driven by the needs of the student and can adjust easily as those needs change over time. Personalized academic support is efficient and effective because time is not wasted on things students already know and extra time can be spent on areas where additional time, resources, or a different approach is needed.

Honestly this can vary widely depending on the goals of the student, how far below grade-level the student is, the extent and nature of their learning challenges, the intensity of tutoring, and student buy-in to the tutoring process. We recommend a series of at least four sessions (after initial assessments) to start as that gives the student and academic specialist time to build a relationship and check for progress toward the academic goals for the student.

At this time, we do not accept insurance. We can provide a “superbill” with the necessary information to submit it for possible reimbursement through your insurance. Some families are able to get reimbursed for services, and others are not. I do not guarantee that your insurance provider will reimburse you and strongly recommend that you contact them prior to beginning services if that is something you are interested in.

People go to therapy for lots of reasons! To learn more about themselves, improve relationships, manage stress, understand emotions, process life events, reduce symptoms, have space for someone to listen without judgement – the list goes on. Any of these reasons, or simply your own desire for trying therapy, are an indication that you will benefit.

For parents, your child may benefit from therapy if they ask for it, or if you are noticing emotions or behaviors that seem out of character or are beginning to interfere with school, work, relationships, or other areas of daily life.

Children use play to communicate thei​r emotions and how they feel.  Play Therapy gives children the opportunity to deal with their fears and resolve psychosocial difficulties in a calm and safe, nurturing environment.

Common uses for Play Therapy:

• to treat trauma & grief
• to provide coping skills and help with anger control or anxiety
• to help with regulatory disorders or ADHD
• to help children dealing with divorce or separation
• to cope with critical illness
• to learn social skills
• to help adoptive families
• to treat children who are victims of  sexual abuse
• to help children struggling with school behavioral issues

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis or having thoughts of hurting yourself or someone else, please call 911 or go to your nearest hospital emergency room. Additional resources:

— National Suicide Prevention Hotline: (800) 273-8255

— Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741

— Trevor Project Crisis Hotline for LGBTQ Youth: (866) 488-7386