Child Play Therapy & Counseling in Boulder, CO
Play-based support for sensitive, growing minds.
Our approach
At Rooted Rhythm Therapy, play is at the center of how we connect with younger children. Kids don't always have the words to explain why they're anxious, angry, sad, or overwhelmed. Play gives them another language. Through toys, creativity, storytelling, movement, and relationship, children can communicate what they're experiencing in ways that feel natural rather than forced.
Our child play therapists in Boulder create a warm, accepting space where your child doesn't have to perform or come up with the "right" answer. We follow their cues, build trust, and help them explore emotions at a pace that makes sense developmentally.
For children around age 8 and older, Boulder child play therapy may also incorporate more structured strategies, including cognitive behavioral techniques, depending on the child's needs.
And we don't leave parents on the sidelines. Your relationship with your child is one of the most important parts of their emotional world. That's why parent coaching is woven into our child therapy model. You'll have opportunities to better understand what's underneath your child's behavior, notice your own emotional patterns, and practice new ways of responding when things get hard.
Families who work with Rooted Rhythm also receive access to the Tuned In Institute, which offers additional parenting education, practical resources, and Remi, an AI learning concierge designed to help families engage with Tuned In resources between sessions.
Meet our child therapists serving Boulder families
Get to know the child therapists in Colorado who may be supporting you and your family
Maggie Rosen, MA, LPC
For Maggie, relationships aren't simply part of therapy; they're one of the ways healing happens.
She has specialized training in Synergetic Play Therapy and Attachment-Based Family Therapy and brings play, creativity, and developmentally appropriate strategies into her work with younger clients. Her experience directing an adolescent intensive outpatient program also gives her a strong foundation for helping families navigate more intense emotional challenges.
Parents who want a child play therapist in Colorado who values both the child's individual experience and the larger family relationship may particularly appreciate Maggie's collaborative approach.
Credentials: Licensed Clinical Social Worker #CSW.09932671
Specialty Areas: Anxiety, trauma, identity development, family transitions, emotional regulation
Availability: Virtual across Colorado
Ellie Kayyem, MSW, LSW
Ellie brings a particularly helpful combination of play therapy, trauma work, and understanding of different learning styles.
Along with her Master of Social Work, she holds an undergraduate psychology degree with a minor in Autism Spectrum Disorders. She has worked in special education classrooms, clinical environments, and community mental health, and she is trained in both EMDR and Synergetic Play Therapy.
That background may make Ellie an especially thoughtful match for families whose child doesn't always respond to traditional ways of communicating or engaging in therapy.
Credentials: Licensed Social Worker #LSW.0009926572
Specialty Areas: Children and adolescents, trauma, neurodivergence, regulation, caregiver-child connection
Availability: Virtual across Colorado
Erica Lazarus, MSW, LSW
Erica is also available virtually, giving Boulder families access to her warm, whole-person approach without traveling for sessions.
Her work can be particularly helpful for children whose emotional experiences show up both mentally and physically. By incorporating relational care, mindfulness, and somatic awareness, she helps young clients become more curious about what they're feeling rather than ashamed or overwhelmed by it.
Credentials: Licensed Social Worker #LSW.0009924768
Specialty Areas: High sensitivity, emotional intensity, trauma-informed support, self-confidence
Availability: In-person in Boulder and virtual across Colorado
Hope Saunders, MS, MFTC
Hope is especially passionate about supporting neurodivergent children, including kiddos navigating ADHD, ODD, and autism.
She combines Child-Centered Play Therapy with attachment-focused and family-oriented approaches, helping children feel heard while also looking at the relationships surrounding them. Her style is warm and supportive, but she can also be direct when that helps a family move toward meaningful change.
For parents looking for a Boulder child therapist who can hold both their child's individual needs and family dynamics in mind, Hope offers a particularly relational perspective.
Credentials: Marriage and Family Therapist Candidate #MFTC.0014823
Specialty Areas: Neurodivergence, ADHD, ODD, autism, family relationships, emotional regulation
Availability: Virtual across Colorado
Kylie Bakersky, MS, LPCC
Kylie cares deeply about making sure children feel respected rather than talked down to in therapy.
Trained in Child-Centered Play Therapy, she uses play and creativity to help children express emotions, work through challenging experiences, and develop confidence in themselves. Her integrative, person-centered style also allows her to adjust therapy around the individual child instead of expecting every kiddo to respond to the same strategy.
Kylie's warmth, curiosity, and humor may be particularly helpful for children who need time to relax and feel genuinely comfortable with their therapist before opening up.
Credentials: Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate #LPCC.0025096
Specialty Areas: Children and adolescents, anxiety, self-esteem, identity, life transitions, relationships
Availability: Virtual across Colorado
Courtney Hammel, MA, LPCC
Courtney uses more than conversation to help children communicate. Her play therapy work incorporates creative arts and storytelling, offering kids different ways to make sense of complicated feelings. She also helps families pay attention to what's happening within the nervous system, while treating sensitivity as a strength rather than a flaw.
Courtney's experience in elementary and middle school settings can also help her understand the emotional and social worlds children are moving through outside the therapy room.
Credentials: Licensed Professional Counselor Candidate
Specialty Areas: Big emotions, trauma-informed care, sensitivity, children and families
Availability: Virtual in Boulder and across Colorado
Laurel Nook, MA, LPC
Laurel brings many years of experience working with children, teens, adults, and families, along with her work as a clinical supervisor.
Her therapy with children reaches far beyond traditional talk therapy. She incorporates Child-Centered Play Therapy, art, sandplay, nature, and other creative forms of expression so children can communicate in ways that feel intuitive to them.
Laurel also works closely with parents and brings practical tools into the process. Families navigating anxiety, trauma, emotional dysregulation, major changes, or a sense of disconnection may appreciate her combination of experience, creativity, and grounded family support.
Credentials: Licensed Professional Counselor #LPC.0021762
Specialty Areas: Anxiety, trauma, emotional regulation, life transitions, parent-child connection
Availability: Virtual in Boulder and across Colorado
Elana Cohen, MSW, LCSW
With more than a decade of experience working with children, teens, adults, and families, Elana brings a broad clinical background to child therapy. She has worked in schools, outpatient programs, wilderness therapy, substance use treatment, and in-home family settings, which gives her a wide lens for understanding how a child's emotions and behaviors may be influenced by family relationships, school, stress, trauma, and other parts of daily life.
Elana combines play therapy with trauma-informed care, CBT, positive psychology, and experiential approaches. She may be an especially strong fit for children navigating ADHD, anxiety, trauma, depression, family challenges, or high sensitivity.
Parents looking for a seasoned clinician who can adapt therapy to the individual child rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach may appreciate Elana's holistic, strengths-based style.
Credentials: Licensed Clinical Social Worker #CSW.09927360
Specialty Areas: Highly sensitive children, ADHD, anxiety, trauma, depression, family dynamics
Availability: Virtual in Boulder and across Colorado
What we can help with
Highly sensitive children
Some children simply experience the world with the volume turned up. They may notice subtle changes in someone's tone, become overwhelmed by crowded or noisy spaces, need extra time to adjust to transitions, or have emotional reactions that seem much bigger than the situation that sparked them.
Sensitivity can also come with wonderful qualities: empathy, creativity, intuition, curiosity, and a rich inner world. Our Boulder-area child therapists help sensitive kiddos better understand how their minds and bodies respond to the world around them. Rather than teaching children to suppress their sensitivity, we help them develop ways to regulate, recover from overwhelm, and appreciate the strengths that come with feeling deeply.
Gifted and twice-exceptional children
Giftedness can be exciting, but it doesn't always make childhood easier. A gifted child may think far beyond their years in one area while still having completely age-appropriate emotional needs in another. Some children experience perfectionism, intense frustration, difficulty connecting with peers, boredom at school, or a strong awareness of issues they aren't developmentally ready to manage on their own.
Gifted children may also be twice-exceptional, or "2E," meaning giftedness exists alongside ADHD, autism, learning differences, or another neurodivergence. Child play counseling in Boulder gives these kiddos space to explore what makes them different without treating those differences as something that needs fixing.
Big feelings like anger, sadness, and overwhelm
Sometimes it feels like your household is constantly trying to prevent the next meltdown. Maybe your child screams when plans change. They shut down when they're disappointed. A small mistake becomes a catastrophe. Or their sadness comes out as irritability, defiance, or tears that seem impossible to stop.
Big feelings aren't bad feelings. Through play and developmentally appropriate emotional regulation strategies, therapy helps children notice what's happening inside them before emotions completely take over. Parent support can also help you stay more grounded when your child's nervous system is having a hard time finding calm.
Anxiety and trauma
Children can experience anxiety long before they know how to describe it. You might notice frequent reassurance-seeking, stomachaches, difficulty separating from you, perfectionism, sleep problems, avoiding new experiences, fears about school, or constant "what if?" questions. Other children may be struggling after a frightening experience, loss, divorce, family transition, or other stressful event.
Rooted Rhythm play therapists use trauma-informed approaches and play to help children process experiences while building a greater sense of safety, trust, and emotional resilience. Our Boulder child therapy services commonly support concerns including anxiety, trauma, behavioral challenges, adjustment difficulties, ADHD, self-esteem, grief, divorce, and sensory sensitivities.
Neurodivergent children
A child who experiences ADHD, autism, sensory differences, or another form of neurodivergence may need support that respects how their brain works rather than continually asking them to fit into someone else's expectations.
Our therapists can help children understand their emotions, communicate their needs, work through frustration, and develop strategies that feel realistic for them.
Parent coaching can be just as important. When caregivers better understand what's driving a behavior, it becomes easier to respond with curiosity rather than getting trapped in the same cycle of correction, frustration, and escalation.
Life changes, relationships, and self-esteem
Kids go through a lot more than adults sometimes realize. Moving, changing schools, losing someone important, divorce, friendship difficulties, a new sibling, academic pressure, or feeling different from peers can all shake a child's sense of security.
Child therapy in Boulder, CO, gives your child a consistent relationship where there's room to make sense of those experiences. Over time, they can begin building confidence in both who they are and their ability to cope when life changes.
Understanding the Rooted Rhythm process
1. Parent Orientation
After your complimentary consultation call, we begin with a 90-minute parent orientation. This gives you time to talk openly with your child's therapist without worrying about what your kiddo might overhear. You can share what you've been noticing, your child's history, what's happening at home or school, and what you're hoping will change. It's also your chance to ask questions and get comfortable with the person who will be working closely with your family.
2. Child therapy sessions
Then the play begins! The core child therapy process takes place over approximately three months, with 50-minute weekly sessions. Our model uses evidence-based play therapy approaches to give children developmentally appropriate ways to express emotions and experiences that may be difficult to put into words. The final ten minutes of each child session are reserved for parent coaching so you're not left wondering what to do with everything you're learning.
3. Parenting support
Your child isn't the only one growing during this process. Parents have the opportunity to deepen their own understanding through Rooted Rhythm's TUNED IN parenting program, parent coaching sessions, and additional family education.
4. Parent closing session
After the initial series of child therapy sessions, you'll come back together with your therapist to reflect on what's changed. This is a chance to celebrate progress, revisit the goals you started with, talk honestly about areas that still feel hard, and create a plan for moving forward.
5. Ongoing support when you need it
Some families feel ready to take what they've learned and continue independently. Others benefit from additional therapy, parent coaching, or periodic "tune-up" sessions. Your Boulder child therapist can help you decide what makes the most sense for your child and family rather than assuming everyone needs the same timeline.
For Parents of Teenagers
Therapy looks different for teens than it does for younger children. As teenagers move toward greater independence, they often need more privacy, more ownership over the process, and more room to figure out who they are outside of their family relationships.
At Rooted Rhythm, we adjust our approach to reflect that stage of development.
Why work with our Boulder child therapists?
Finding the right person for your child matters. A therapist can have all the right training on paper, but your child also needs someone they feel safe enough to trust. Here are a few things that shape the way we work:
We specialize in children who experience the world deeply
Sensitivity isn't an afterthought here. Rooted Rhythm specifically works with highly sensitive, emotionally intense, gifted, and neurodivergent kiddos. We understand that the same child who is incredibly compassionate, perceptive, or imaginative may also become overwhelmed more easily. We make room for both sides of that experience.
We use a child's natural language
Young children weren't designed to sit across from an adult for 50 minutes and explain their inner world. That's why play therapy forms the foundation of Rooted Rhythm's work with children. Through play, kids can explore difficult experiences, communicate emotions, practice new responses, and experience what it feels like to be understood without needing a perfect vocabulary for their feelings.
Parents are part of the process
You're not expected to drop your child off once a week and hope everything changes. We want you to understand what's happening, too. Parent coaching helps translate the work happening in therapy into your family's everyday life. That might mean learning how to respond differently to a meltdown, recognizing your child's early signs of overwhelm, or noticing how your own nervous system enters the interaction.
We believe connection comes before correction
Difficult behavior often tells us something. Instead of immediately asking, "How do we make this stop?" we're interested in what your child's behavior is communicating. When children feel understood and emotionally safe, they often have more capacity to develop new skills. That relationship-centered perspective runs throughout Rooted Rhythm's play therapy and parent coaching model.
FAQs about child play therapy in Boulder
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Play therapy can be especially helpful for children because play is naturally how they communicate, learn, and process experiences. Rooted Rhythm primarily uses play therapy with children ages 2-12. For older children, especially around age 8 and up, therapists may blend play with more directive strategies such as cognitive behavioral techniques depending on the child's developmental level and needs.
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No. You don't need to know exactly what's "wrong" before reaching out. Parents often contact us because something simply feels harder than it used to. Maybe your child's emotions seem more intense, school has become stressful, they're struggling with friends, or your usual parenting strategies aren't helping anymore.
A consultation can help you talk through what's happening and determine whether therapy might be useful.
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Play isn't simply entertainment within child therapy in Boulder, Colorado. It's a developmentally appropriate way for kids to communicate and explore emotions. Instead of requiring a child to explain complex internal experiences verbally, a trained play therapist can use the therapeutic relationship and play process to help children express feelings, process experiences, strengthen emotional awareness, and develop new ways of coping. Rooted Rhythm uses evidence-based play therapy methods as a central part of its work with young children.
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Yes. Rooted Rhythm views parents as an important part of the therapeutic process. Parent coaching is built into child therapy so you can better understand what your child is experiencing and learn practical ways to support regulation and connection at home. You'll still give your child the space they need to develop their own relationship with their therapist, but you won't be expected to figure everything out on your own.
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Yes. Boulder families can work virtually with several Rooted Rhythm therapists. Online sessions may look a little different from traditional in-office play therapy, and the therapist can help your family prepare the space and materials needed for your child's sessions. Whether virtual therapy feels like the best fit can depend on your child's age, personality, needs, and ability to engage through a screen.
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You don't have to figure that out by reading therapist bios alone. Start with a complimentary 15-minute consultation. You can tell us a little about your child, what's been happening, and what you're looking for. From there, we'll help determine which therapist's availability, specialties, and style may align with your family's needs.
Your sensitive kiddo doesn't need to become a different kid.
They may need more support understanding the way they experience the world.
At Rooted Rhythm, we help children make room for big emotions, build trust in themselves, and develop ways to regulate without asking them to lose the sensitivity, imagination, or intensity that makes them who they are. And we'll support you along the way, too.
If you're looking for child play therapy and counseling in Boulder, CO, schedule a free 15-minute consultation to tell us what's going on and learn whether one of our child play therapists may be a good fit for your family.