Let me help you achieve your therapeutic goals.

Dear Parent,

Thank-you for taking the time to learn more about the services and me I provide.  

My goal as an RDI Autism consultant, Down’s Syndrome consultant and family counselor will be to help you gain new skills and knowledge – skills and knowledge that I believe will help you as you strive to effectively guide and support your child’s development.

I am an ardent supporter of the Relationship Development Intervention model – often referred to as RDI – and will use the RDI platform extensively in my work with you. 

• RDI was developed by Dr. Steven Gutstein, an internationally renowned pioneer in the field of developmental disabilities. As the developer of RDIconnect®, Dr. Gutstein brings over twenty years of experience in treatment planning, program development, clinical expertise and education to his innovative approaches for treating at-risk children, adolescents and adults. 
• RDI is a developmentally based intervention program that will teach you how to help your child engage more successfully and more confidently in real-world activities – in both personal independent activities and in collaborative partner activities with others. 

As your RDI consultant, I will help you structure targeted joint parent-child learning engagements that are developmentally appropriate, authentic and meaningful. 

These activities will not only help you build a stronger emotional connection with your child, they will also empower you to support the development of important mental processes – including but not limited to personal and interpersonal agency, perspective-taking ability, autobiographical, episodic memory and development of the ‘self’.  

• These mental processes are crucial lynchpins in a child’s developmental trajectory. 
• Strong feelings of personal agency will reduce a child’s experience of anxiety.
• Improved perspective-taking skills will support a child’s ability to engage more successfully with peers.
• The development of autobiographical, episodic memory fuels a child’s ability to learn and grow from personal experiences.
• An awareness of self helps a child understand others, helps them manage themselves and ultimate helps them form and develop healthy relationships.

As we work together to reduce the obstacles associated with developmental disabilities, I will also reference and apply content and strategies based on the work of Daniel Siegal, a renowned clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine.  

Dr. Sigel is the author of numerous articles, and multiple internationally acclaimed books on parenting and child development including The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact To Shape Who We Are, The Whole Brain Child, and No Drama Discipline. 

I have seen the gains that families can make when they engage in RDI in a dedicated and thoughtful manner, and I have been honored to witness and share in their journeys of growth. Some of the families I work with have generously offered to share their progress with others and give others an opportunity to see what RDI intervention might look like. 

I invite you to view a series of short videos that show RDI ‘in action’. 

I hope you find the above videos helpful as you seek to find a therapy model and consultant that fits with your goals.  If you would like to learn more about me or talk in greater detail about the services I offer, please contact me to schedule a no-charge consultation.

I wish you all the best on your journey,

Sincerely,