Grace’s love for children can be traced back to her time in daycare and preschool settings, where she spent significant time working with infants, toddlers, and school-aged children. In her role as Intake Coordinator, you may hear from Grace in the welcoming stages of Growing Minds Therapy. She provides quality service while maintaining a compassionate and understanding environment. Grace has a passion for normalizing mental health and making sure children and their families feel confident in starting their journey at Growing Minds.

Orly is a highly experienced therapist, providing clinical and therapeutic services to children and families. In addition to the individual setting, Orly leads social skills groups and provides preschool mental health consultations, as well as coaching and training for teachers and parents, including kindergarten readiness assessments and intervention. She has over a decade of experience working with children and families with a wide range of mental, social and physical abilities. Her approach combines the holistic, mindful and strengths-based approaches to assessment and intervention. Orly specializes in the early childhood age-group and has specialized training in CBT, play and expressive therapies, anger management, anxiety, depression, OCD, grief and loss, ADHD and ODD. Orly is also a certified in Theraplay and is a certified clinical supervisor. Orly holds a Masters degree in social work from the University of Maryland as well as a Masters in Developmental Psychology and Communication from George Mason University. She has extensive experience in developing and providing training for teachers and parents.

Orly can also offer therapy in Hebrew.

Jill has over a decade of experience in working with preschool and school-aged children in a variety of capacities including special education and therapeutic classrooms, therapeutic foster care, preschool consultations, social skills groups and outpatient counseling. She finds that the most effective way to connect, communicate, and create change with any child is through movement and playfulness. Jill has a particular passion for working with families with young children in various dynamics including siblings, parent-child, and parent support. Jill’s role at Growing Minds includes child and family therapist, social skills and K-ready play skills group facilitator, preschool consultant and teacher trainer.

Jill holds a Master’s degree in Social Work (MSW) from Rutgers University, has completed post-graduate coursework in Early Childhood Mental Health, and has specialized training in play therapy methods to incorporate interventions for behavioral issues, grief and loss, anxiety, depression, ADHD, OCD and Autism Spectrum Disorder using integrative approaches of child-centered play, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Sandtray, Filial Play and Parent-Child Relationship Enhancement.

Kristen (she/her) is a Licensed Master Social Worker who has experience working with
preschoolers, school-aged children, and families as they navigate challenges including adjusting
to change; family conflict; healing from loss, abuse, and neglect; and improving familial bonds.

Kristen’s approach is holistic and incorporates trauma-informed practices, mindfulness
techniques, and play therapy interventions to encourage clients to express, process, and name
feelings. She strives to help caregivers identify their child’s strengths and skills, set appropriate
expectations and boundaries, and interpret their child’s behaviors as communication. Kristen is
highly commitment to her core professional values of social justice, equity, and access to mental
health services and seeks ways to incorporate these values in all aspects of her professional
and personal life.

Kristen holds a master’s degree in social work (MSW) from Howard University.

Rob is a Licensed Master Social Worker who has experience working with school-aged
children, adolescents, and families. He helps his clients understand their feelings and
communicate them in their own individual ways through play, art, and cognitive behavioral
therapy (CBT). He creates a comfortable and safe environment for children and their families to
convey their feelings without judgment.
Rob has a master’s degree in social work (MSW) from University of Maryland, Baltimore and a
bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Towson University. Rob also has years of experience
working on a suicide and domestic violence chatline, which provided him with knowledge on
crisis interventions and de-escalation techniques. During his time in grad school, he worked in
an elementary/ middle school and a private correctional high school. At the elementary/ middle
school, he worked as a school therapist for children with ADHD, anxiety, depression and
behavioral disorders and helped them with positive relationship building, coping mechanisms,
and appropriate self expression. At the private high school, he performed therapy and case
management for teenage boys who struggled with violent tendencies, crimes and misconduct
and helped them advocate for opportunities, control their impulses, and gain self-confidence.
Rob is skilled in working with a variety of children from different backgrounds, genders and
personalities, but specifically has a lot of experience with adolescent males. He believes
strongly in the importance of young males communicating their emotions in a world that
oftentimes tells them they shouldn’t. Rob has a passion for how children’s individuality and
creativity can help them navigate through the many challenges of life.

Sarah has worked with children and their families in a variety of settings, including early childhood centers, specialized programs for children and caregivers with traumatic histories, schools, a pediatric medical setting and outpatient mental health clinics. She values creating a therapeutic space where children and families feel heard, that is trauma-sensitive, calm, creative, playful, accepting, and affirming. She particularly enjoys helping families strengthen their attachment, connection and understanding, and helping families and children make meaning of behavior. When working with Sarah, families can expect to be involved and engaged throughout the process.

Sarah has a Master’s degree in Social Work (MSW) from Silberman School of Social Work in New York. She has received training in Child Parent Psychotherapy, Chicago Parent Program, Mindfulness, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, the Oaklander play therapy model, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and the Group Attachment Based Intervention with children and parents under 3. She loves to use expressive modalities in her clinical work, incorporating art, directive and non-directive play approaches, puppets, sand-tray, and more. Sarah facilitates individual therapy from early childhood to adolescence, family therapy, dyadic parent-child therapy, individual caregiver support and collateral sessions, teacher consultation and school involvement, social skill groups and parent groups. She has a special place in her heart for working with neurodivergent children and families, LGBTQ+ children and families, and uses an intersectional approach to identity. She supports interpersonal and social needs, communication and connection, behavioral challenges, anxiety, adaptation to life changes, school adjustment, impulsivity, sibling and family conflict, and more.

Audra is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor experienced in working with children, adolescents, and families. In her previous roles within school-based community mental health, Audra collaborated closely with youth and families, fostering connection, attachment, attunement, and moments of joy! Through this work, she learned that therapy should not only be informative but also playful, involving important people in a child’s life.

Audra specializes in addressing anxiety, trauma, grief and loss, mood dysregulation, and navigating life as a neurodivergent individual within the system contexts. She is LGBTQIA+, neurdivergent-affirming, and inclusive of all family cultures. Tailoring sessions to meet the unique needs of both the child and the family unit, you can expect play, humor, music, sensorimotor/movement, mindfulness, and trauma-informed practices when you work with Audra. She leads therapy with the tenets of authenticity, compassion, and non-judgment because she believes growth occurs within a collaborative community when families feel heard and understood.

Audra has continued education in the areas of Child Centered Play Therapy (CCPT), Theraplay, and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). These trainings have further informed Audra’s clinical skills as she incorporates these non-directive, attachment-based, and trauma-informed bases of care into her practice.

Pam is an Early Childhood Consultant and uses her expertise to provide consultations for preschools, conduct teacher and parent trainings, and facilitate social-emotional based enrichment programs for school communities.

Pam has been working with children and families in schools, homes, studios, and community settings for over 10 years.  She has practiced yoga and mindfulness with children of all ages, inside and outside the classroom, and taught classes and workshops for parents, staff, and school administration on a variety of topics, including cultivating presence, compassion, regulating the nervous system, and self-care. She is passionate about supporting and bringing together all the players in a child’s school and home experience and believes that this is what creates an environment conducive to growth, learning, and connection.

Pam holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Anthropology from The University of Michigan and a Master’s Degree in Sociology from New York University. Additionally, she is an Experienced 500 hour Certified Vinyasa Teacher (E-RYT) as well as a Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher (RCYT), and is a graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.  She has also received training in Mindful Schools, Perinatal Yoga, Yoga for Fertility, Yoga for Cancer, and more. She is currently pursuing her IAYT Yoga Therapy Certification.

Rachel Siegel is excited to join the team at Growing Minds! Rachel is an Early Childhood Educator and has been in the field of Early Childhood Education since 2009. She began her teaching career at Temple Emanuel Early Childhood Center, where she developed her foundation, passion, and love for early childhood education, teaching children two- to five-years-olds and serving as Assistant Director. Next, Rachel worked as a pre-kindergarten teacher at Norwood School, where she was a key member of the founding team that both created and integrated the new Pre-Kindergarten program into the Norwood community. Most recently, Rachel was the Early Childhood Director at B’nai Israel Schilit Nursery School. She is excited to take these experiences both inside and outside the early childhood classroom, coupled with her passion for building relationships and community, and fuse them together in her new role at Growing Minds!

Mindy is an Early Childhood Consultant that uses her knowledge and expertise to conduct consultations in preschools and facilitate social-emotional groups for young children in various preschool communities. Originally from Cleveland, OH, Mindy holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Ohio University as well as a Master’s Degree in School Counseling from Kent State University.

With over 10 years working as an Early Childhood Educator, Mindy has a strong passion for connecting with young children. She spent the past decade working in preschool classrooms, supporting children, and providing them a safe and nurturing learning environment. Mindy is extremely committed to collaborating with children and their families to promote social-emotional support and cultivating healthy relationships conducive for learning and growth.

Beth has over 20 years of experience working with preschool and school-aged children in schools, camps, homes and community settings. She has a passion for collaborating with teachers and parents to better understand the children in their care. She believes that supportive relationships provide a foundation of safety and structure to children, allowing them to use their innate abilities to thrive. Her powerful belief in the competence of all children nourishes her dedication to maximizing every child’s capabilities.

Children have many ways of expressing themselves. Teaching adults to facilitate communication through additional modalities, such as art, movement or music, offers different avenues for adults and children to symbolically represent their thoughts and feelings and work through problems.

As a life-long learner, she regularly attends workshops, conferences, study groups and reads on her own. She is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. She has been fortunate to attend two study groups to Reggio Emilia, Italy, observing the schools there and learning directly from their educators. She also spent a summer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is inspired every day by conversations with co-workers, parents, teachers and especially, children.

Buzz is a 7 year old Shi-poo. She is hypoallergenic and is sweet and patient. She loves working at Growing Minds and greatly enjoys being held and pampered by children. Buzz enjoys welcoming everyone into the office with a sniffing nose and a wagging tail. If you or your child are nervous around dogs, please let your therapist know so arrangements can be made for Buzz to do her paperwork instead of greeting you at the door. Buzz can be available for petting and doing tricks for treats with adults and children. She might be available to join your session, too!