My approach is collaborative: parents are the experts on their children; I have expertise in early childhood development and parenting. Together we do the detective work of decoding children’s behavior to understand the root cause—what is driving the child’s actions—by putting together the pieces of the puzzle: how a child’s stage of development, temperament and experiences in her family and the world shape her behavior.

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“SafeHaven Guidance LLC, with her rare knack for understanding the perspectives and feelings of young children, was able to provide specific recommendations and customized support to our daughter’s teachers that we could reinforce at home. We noticed improvements in the classroom as soon as the next day and our daughter has more confidence in her school environment.”

— Dad of Spirited 4-year-old

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From Our Blog

To avoid being reactive when yourchild is not cooperating, try...

"Hmm...l've asked you to hand over thetablet because screen time is done.lsee you are having a hard timefollowing that direction.l am going totake a mommy/daddy moment to thinkabout how l can help us solve thisproblem."

Why Children Growl

Growling is just a child's way of saying that he is in stressmode. He is dysregulated and doesn't have the ability inthat moment to effectively communicate what he isthinking or feeling, lt is often a protective measure tokeep people at bay because any interaction in thatmoment feels overwhelming

Children might growl when someone is:shaming them ("Why are you hurting your brother?"trying to stop an unwanted behavior ("Stop hittingHitting is not okay!")

Children growl even when someone is just trying tolovingly help them get calm and/or problem-solve. Theirdownstairs brain has taken over and they can't processany information in that moment. lt just feels like pile-on

Bedtime hack for better sleep

Institute a five-minute "last-chance fix-it" periodafter books each night. Give your child 5 minutesto go through all the things (both logical andinsane) he needs before lights-out: water, pottyrearranging toys on shelves, counting to 50,getting his blankets on exactly how he likes themetc. Use a visual timer so your child can seeexactly how much time he has for this process. Beclear that once the timer goes off, you will saygoodnight and will see him in the morning. lf heneeds to take care of anything else at that point,he can do it on his own.(Have him practice, i.e,putting his blankets on just how he likes toreinforce the idea that he can do these things forhimself, if necessary, once you leave the room.)