Including those on my own private practice waitlist. You need support today, not in three months.
I created this newsletter for families who are on therapy waitlists for child behavioral challenges or difficult family dynamics, including those on my own private practice waitlist, but need support today. I hope this can help get you started.
If you're here, there's a good chance you're stuck. Another note home from camp or your child's coach. The third meltdown of the day. A shelf of parenting books that all say something different, or a strategy you want to try but don't know how to tailor to your family. Maybe you're on a waitlist right now, watching the weeks pass with no session in sight, while the meltdowns don't wait for an opening.
Here's what I want you to know first: you're trying your best in difficult circumstances with a child who didn't come with a manual. You're likely just missing a few key strategies, and the order they're supposed to go in, that can significantly improve your parent-child dynamic.
I've seen parent after parent transform their family in a few months, as long as they actually practice the strategies at home. The parent's relief and the child's success is the most rewarding part of my job.
I'm Dr. Emily Gault, a licensed clinical child psychologist and founder of a concierge private practice, the Center for Child Behavior. For a decade, I've sat with exhausted, capable parents who tried everything: sticker charts, timeouts, "use your words," discussions, and still felt stuck. Not because they had bad intentions or tried outlandish approaches. Because the strategies were either the wrong ones, or the right ones in the wrong order, not tailored to their specific family.
For a decade, I've worked with families of kids with ADHD, defiance, and related behavioral challenges directly in clinical work, and in my research positions. My background in clinical research gives me an additional layer of context for how to implement certain strategies for children with challenging behaviors. I've published nearly 40 peer-reviewed studies, including clinical trials on the strategies I discuss here, and I currently work with parents via telehealth in the state of Florida.
I built a 6-step framework called The Parent Steps that I use in my own practice, one that moves families from daily power struggles to something that actually holds. It's based on decades of behavioral science, not social media trends.
Most families don't have access to a psychologist who specializes in this. Cost, location, a waitlist with no end date, including my own, or just not knowing where to start frequently gets in the way. This is my attempt to close that gap, one skill at a time, in the same order I'd walk a family through it in appointments.
Every post follows the real clinical sequence I use with families, starting with the relationship-building foundations most advice skips, and building toward discipline last, not first (yes, on purpose).
Every week:
If parenting advice has ever felt like a firehose of "just try this," this is built to feel like the opposite: deliberate, sequential, made to actually stick.
If you're on a waitlist, hoping for support for your child's behavioral concerns, I'd love to support you. Start with Parent Step 1. Thanks for trusting me with your family.
— Dr. Emily
These articles teach the framework. The program applies it to your specific family, with 1-on-1 sessions with Dr. Emily.