Struggling to connect with your child? You’re not alone.
Attachment-Based, Trauma-Informed Therapy for Families in Philadelphia
It wasn’t supposed to feel like this…
You didn’t expect parenting to be easy. But you didn’t expect the silence, either.
The one-word answers. The slammed doors. The way your child turns their body away when you reach for them, or stiffens at the sound of your voice. You’ve tried being calm. Tried everything the books and blogs suggested. But no matter what you do, your child doesn’t seem to let you in.
You can feel the distance. And it breaks your heart. Because you love them—and it hurts to feel this far away.
Your Child Might Be...
Emotionally reactive or shutting down without warning
Rejecting closeness, affection, or reassurance
Seeming guarded, even with you
Easily dysregulated, especially after transitions or stress
More connected to teachers or peers than to you
Your Teen or Preteen Might Be…
Cold or distant at home, but warm elsewhere
Refusing to talk—but still clearly hurting
Saying things like “you don’t get it” or “just leave me alone”
Quick to anger, especially in moments of vulnerability
Retreating into their room, their screen, or themselves
This isn’t about not trying hard enough. You’ve done more than most would. You’ve shown up, read the books, done the work. But your child still doesn’t feel close—and now you’re wondering if it’s always going to be this hard.
It doesn’t have to be.
You don’t need a new script. You need a new kind of connection—one that reaches below the surface, to where your child’s defenses were first built.
You are a good parent.
There is help.
The fact you’re here proves it. You’re willing to go to the ends of the earth for your child, but today you feel hopeless.
We know the roots of your child’s isolation, lack of confidence, or struggles at school and home can be resolved.
What is Theraplay™?
We don’t sit your child on a couch and ask them to talk about their feelings.
We guide you—and them—into moments of connection that are simple, structured, and deeply intentional.
Moments that look like play, but are doing the deep work of building safety.
A rhythm game that rebuilds shared presence.
A quiet snack-feeding activity that rekindles trust.
A silly back-and-forth that reminds both of you how to laugh together.
This is what Theraplay offers: real-time, felt experiences of closeness.
Not lectures. Not scripts. Not more pressure to “be calm.”
It’s about restoring the parts of the relationship that got hurt.
It’s about helping your child feel your love—not just hear it.
And it’s about helping you feel confident being close again, even when it’s hard.
What happens in sessions
We begin by watching what already lives between you.
Not to judge. Not to diagnose. Just to understand—gently, quietly, and with care.
You and your child will be invited into a playful, low-pressure interaction early on. It might feel like a game. It might feel surprisingly vulnerable. It’s not about getting it right—it’s about letting us witness how the two of you move toward and away from each other, what feels easy, and where things start to fray.
From there, we shape the work around your specific dynamic—because no two families are the same, and no two children need the same kind of reaching.
Some sessions will include both of you, guided by the therapist in small, attuned moments of connection.
Some will be for you alone, to process what’s coming up and get support in the background of your parenting—where all the grief and guilt and doubt tend to live.
There’s no pressure to perform.
No expectation that it’ll feel natural right away.
We’ll be there, helping you find your way back to each other—one safe moment at a time.
When No One Showed You How to Love This Way
Most of the parents we work with are trying to give their child something they never got.
Warmth. Safety. Softness.
Not just love—but love that lands.
They’ve made the brave choice to parent differently.
To stay present when they want to shut down.
To offer kindness when they were raised on criticism.
To reach for their child—even when every part of them wants to run or fix or freeze.
But here’s the thing no one talks about:
Knowing what you want to do doesn’t mean you know how to do it.
Theraplay gives you that how.
Not in scripts. Not in theory. But in real, lived moments of connection—guided, supported, and shaped by someone who knows what to look for.
It shows you what it feels like to stay close when your child pulls away.
It helps your body learn how to offer comfort you never received.
It gives you something so many parents never had: an actual, felt sense of what it looks like to love a child in the moments when it’s hardest.
You don’t have to figure it out in the dark.
You don’t have to fake calm while panicking inside.
You get to practice—with someone who’s in it with you—until closeness becomes less terrifying, and more natural. For both of you.
What happens in sessions?
We begin by paying attention to what’s already happening between you and your child.
Not to fix it. Not to label it. Just to see it clearly—gently, quietly, with care.
Early on, you and your child will be invited into a simple, playful interaction. It won’t feel like therapy. It might feel easy, or awkward, or unexpectedly tender. That’s okay. We’re not looking for perfect. We’re watching for the small moments—how you reach for each other, how you pull back, where things flow and where they falter.
From there, we shape the work around your relationship—not around a diagnosis or a set of strategies, but around what you need to feel more connected, more steady, more understood.
Sometimes you’ll be in session together.
Sometimes you’ll have space of your own—to say the things you’ve been carrying quietly for years, and to feel supported in the parts of parenting that don’t get talked about out loud.
There’s no pressure to perform.
No expectation to get it right.
Just space to practice a different kind of closeness—with help.
We’ll walk alongside you as you learn how to find your child again…
and how to let them find you.