Children & Adolescents

My main specialty age group, and my lifelong joy is working with children and adolescents. I have spent many years learning as much as possible from books, trainings, parents, teachers, children and adolescents themselves; the learning never stops!

With a unique ability to empathize and join with children, we strive to understand their worldview and how they experience the relationships in their lives, so we can then use both clinical knowledge and experience to help them to communicate their feelings and needs to others. If this is not possible due to age, learning or communication differences, we try our best to interpret sometimes confusing behaviors to their caregivers, so that they may grow in their understanding and compassion toward their child.

I truly believe that all children have greatness in them!

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Our Values

At Sarah Linder, LCSW, PC, we value the experiences and worldview of children and teens and respect them as individual people who deserve to be heard, understood and supported.

My Mission

Life can be hard, even for children and especially for teens. When life gets hard sometimes we turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms to get through it. My hope is a world where children learn to face life's challenges with strength, confidence and integrity, grounded in the values you have instilled in them and the values they will someday choose for themselves. From this sturdy foundation, children can learn and grow in love and positive beliefs. With this, the challenges of adulthood can be met with self-assurance, compassion, and wisdom.

My Process

We start where your child or teen needs to start. Some need to develop the language of emotions and thoughts. Some already have that but do not know what to do with those emotions or the emotions and thoughts are running the show! We always start with a thorough evaluation to develop a treatment plan together and build a strong relationship. Without a strong therapeutic relationship, therapy will usually fail. This can look like playing games, drawing or painting, talking about their friends, pets or their day-to-day experiences, or whatever interests them.

It is my job to develop a "roadmap" or plan of action to help your child get back to living their lives without an overabundance of fear, anger, or sadness, and I take that job very seriously. Sometimes we need to pause and take a "side road" to get to our final destination, but these decisions will always be made alongside the child and parents.

Let's work together

Kids and teens typically like coming to therapy with me and I like it too! One thing most kids and teens hear me say each session is "I am happy to see you!" and IT'S TRUE! You can rest assured that I will treasure your individual child, see them for their strengths and accept them for their weaknesses without judgement.

I usually tell kids "you're the boss!" to help them take charge of their own treatment and learn to advocate for themselves.

In my experience, the earlier you start your child in therapy, the better! That's why I offer a reduced session fee for the first two appointments (following intake session) for children in 6th grade or under. I want to encourage parents to build a relationship with a mental health provider while they are young so that they have someone to turn to when needed. Not all childhood or teen problems need ongoing (long term) therapy. Sometimes they just need a little support and they can be on their merry way. So don't wait, get your child connected today!

Let me help your child get back to the important business of playing, having fun with friends, learning and growing!

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Treatment Modalities

Together we will develop a treatment plan that works for your child

Interested in knowing more? Here are the treatment modalities I use frequently for children and adolescents:

-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

–EMDR

-Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with Motivational Interviewing

-CBT and ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) for OCD

–ADHD Evaluations and Recommendations

-Non-directive Play Therapy

-Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) skills

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