Robin Smith

I specialize in working with kids 10+, teens, and young adults who don't fit easily into boxes. I work with children adults might describe as "carrying a lot"—emotionally intense kids, gifted or twice-exceptional learners, neurodivergent youth, and high-achievers who are used to powering through but may feel overwhelmed or stuck. Many of my clients are navigating anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, OCD, ADHD, traumatic events, restrictive eating patterns, social exclusion and/or major life changes.

My style is active, collaborative, and direct. I love the process of organizing chaos and getting things moving again. We - that's me, parents/caregivers, and child — co-design treatment together. While I bring clinical expertise and evidence-based practices, you're the expert on your child. We work together to identify goals and build a plan that fits your child's needs and your family's life.

Whether we're doing exposure work, practicing distress tolerance tools, or role-playing scenarios to practice interpersonal effectiveness skills, sessions are active and focused on building up skills to solve real-life problems. Depending on the client, "solving a problem" might look like slowing down, validating the current emotion, and observing body sensations. Other times, "solving a problem" might mean scribbling out a plan on the whiteboard together.

A key part of my approach is working to shape the social and academic environment around the child, not just treating the child's symptoms in isolation. I collaborate with the adults in their world, including caregivers, teachers, coaches, relatives, and school counselors. When the adults in the child's world also learn how to effectively reinforce the new skills the child learns in therapy, long term change for the child becomes more likely. Of course, the level of adult involvement depends on the child's age, willingness, and capacity to practice independently—for example, teens will often need less caregiver support than younger kids.

Therapy with me is time-limited; just like you wouldn't want your child to stay in middle school forever, I don't want your child to stay in therapy forever. My goal is to help your child build competence, gain confidence in their skills, and "graduate" from therapy when the time is right. And of course, you're always welcome to return if new challenges arise, or you just need a refresher.