You spent twenty years as a school psychologist before moving into private practice. What motivated the shift?
Coming out of grad school, you're equipped with solid training in counseling and assessment. But working in schools is nothing like graduate school — you're surviving in a challenging environment. Over 20 years, I watched social anxiety climb as smartphones and social media became more prevalent. Testing needs surged before COVID and exploded after it, driven by rising rates of autism spectrum disorder, complex trauma, ADHD, anxiety, and learning disabilities. Kids lost years of healthy development during the pandemic and continue to fall behind.
What ultimately pushed me to leave was the opportunity to give genuine, honest recommendations without fear of retribution from administrators who may have priorities beyond the best interest of the individual child. Now I can speak freely about what a client actually needs. That's very liberating.
Are you seeing anxiety and depression shift in terms of age of onset or severity?
Significantly. Anxiety in adolescents is up 60 percent since 2016. Depression rose 45 percent over the same period. Forty percent of high school students report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, and one in five has seriously contemplated suicide. Financial stress at home is fueling fear about the future. The false images of beauty and success that flood an adolescent's world are causing increasing isolation, negative self-talk, and a deep sense of low self-worth. Young people are really at risk right now.
Who typically seeks out psychological testing, and what can families expect to learn?
Most assessments are requested by parents who suspect their child may be struggling with undiagnosed learning disabilities, ADHD, trauma, autism, or emotional dysregulation. Many adults seek testing for the same reasons. Sometimes schools are offering supports that feel inadequate, and parents want an independent educational evaluation to get a clearer picture.
What people walk away with is significant: a full understanding of their cognitive and learning profile, diagnostic clarity, documentation that supports IEPs or 504 plans, and concrete recommendations for therapy or academic intervention. We always approach assessment from a strength-based perspective — identifying not just challenges, but the skills worth building on.
What signs should prompt a parent to reach out rather than wait?
Parents have the best intuition about their kids, and I encourage them to trust it. Red flags include increased isolation, loss of interest in things they used to love, reluctance to go to school, self-harm, excessive worry, difficulty sleeping, obsessive screen use, or a shift toward darker online communities. Kids naturally change — but the quality of your relationship with your child and the openness of communication are your first lines of defense. The most important thing for parents to understand is that they're not alone, and neither are their kids.
What services at Broadview tend to surprise people most?
Executive functioning instruction and educational advocacy. Many people don't realize that building better organizational systems can genuinely change daily life. And on the advocacy side, most parents don't know how many rights they actually have — or how often schools underestimate what a child truly needs. Sitting across from a panel of professionals who say "we're doing everything we can" can be deeply intimidating. Often, that's far from the whole story.
"Kids naturally change — but the quality of your relationship with your child and the openness of communication are your first lines of defense. The most important thing for parents to understand is that they're not alone, and neither are their kids."