All Posts

My eight-year-old daughter asked me to play Uno. I said, "Not right now," and started downstairs to tackle the mountain of laundry. The laundry had been haunting me all week. I'd been imagining how satisfying it would feel to start Monday with every piece of clothing clean, folded, and put away. As someone with a fairly Type B approach to household routines, this was an ambitious vision. But a person can dream! A twinge of guilt followed me down the first few steps. I almost

How to support your child through the September transition without expecting yourself, or your family, to do it perfectly Download the FREE Back-to-School Guide: Every September, you may feel the pressure building. There are routines to establish, lunches to pack, bedtimes to shift and activities to schedule. Alongside all the practical preparation, there can be an unspoken expectation that the transition should go smoothly. Underneath it all, another message can begin to tak

At Island Park Therapy, we believe that healing should never require someone to hide who they are. Many neurodivergent children, teens, and adults spend years trying to fit expectations that do not align with how their brains work. They may learn to suppress their needs, camouflage their differences, or push themselves to meet standards that leave them feeling exhausted, misunderstood, or disconnected from themselves. We believe therapy should be different. Our role is not to

Parenting brings out the deepest love we have ever felt. It also brings out fear. The love we feel for our children is instinctive and protective. It guides us to nurture, comfort, and show up again and again. Under that same love, fear often settles in. Fear of missing something important. Fear of not doing enough. Fear of doing too much. Love and fear sit side by side in parenting. Love helps us connect. Fear tries to keep us safe. When fear becomes louder than love, it can

Play as a Pathway Back to Connection Play is not just entertainment for children. It is how they make sense of their world, show us what they are feeling, and build emotional safety. When families share moments of play, it becomes less about the activity and more about the connection underneath it. Children do not always have the words to describe what is happening inside, but they do have play. Through building, pretending, moving, and creating, they express worries, hopes,