Parents and Children

Laurie Simons, MA, is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who specializes in parenting, and children with challenging behaviors and special needs.   She has received advanced training in Collaborative Problem Solving, a research-based alternative to behavior management approaches that don't seem to be effective with certain types of behavioral concerns.

Laurie is the co-founder of Family Interplay Education, and has over 30 years experience helping parents, teachers and therapists to cope effectively with children's challenging behavior.   She has provided teacher and parent training regarding behavior problems and learning disabilities in both Canada and the United States.   She works with teachers, parents and families who are raising challenging children, including children with special needs such as Sensory Integration Disorder, Asperger Syndrome and Attachment Disorder. She has written and developed training materials, videos, books and manuals for schools, hospitals and other agencies.  Laurie was foster parent to a special needs child before raising two sons with her husband of over 25 years, Terry Sterrenberg.  She is the Founder of the Parent Television Network a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing television programs about issues in parenting to viewers around the world.

Laurie provides parent counseling to:

•  Enhance and improve parent-child and sibling relationships

•  Increase confidence in parenting effectiveness

•  Understand and address challenging behaviors that are not responding to traditional behavior management approaches

•  Assist children who have difficulty with transitions, or who are anxious, inflexible, aggressive or explosive.

•  Implement adjustments in the home environment to ease difficulties that occur during morning or bedtime routines, meal times, chores, homework, or sibling interactions

•  Learn and practice specific parenting skills to increase children’s ability to respect boundaries, make polite requests, follow directions, cope with disappointment, take into account others’ points of view, and solve problems where everyone is a winner.

 Parents are encouraged to participate in counseling sessions with their children, because parents are considered to be the key element of successful

interventions.   Home visits and school observations or meetings may also be scheduled.

Click here for contact information to schedule an appointment.