This Substack Is for Parents on Child Therapy Waitlists

This article is for educational purposes and isn't a substitute for individualized clinical care.

I created this Substack newsletter for families who are on therapy waitlists for child behavioral challenges or difficult family dynamics (including those on my private practice waitlist) but need support today. I hope this can help get you started.

If you are 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 they tell you a strategy you want to try but you're not understanding how to tailor it 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 that did not come with a manual. You're likely just missing a few key strategies, and the order they're supposed to go in, that significantly improves parent-child dynamics.

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.

Who I am

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 were trying outlandish parenting approaches. Because the strategies were either the wrong ones, or the right ones in the wrong order and not tailored to your specific family.

For a decade, I've worked with families of kids with ADHD, defiance, and related behavioral challenges directly in clinical work but also in my research positions. My background in clinical research allows me to give you an additional layer of context as to what we know about 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 will discuss, and I currently work with parents via telehealth in the state of Florida.

Why this exists

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 get 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 my appointments.

What you'll actually get

Every post follows the real clinical sequence I use with families, starting with the relationship-building foundations most advice skips, building toward discipline last, not first (yes, on purpose).

Every week:

Sunday Strategies – Detailed articles about each of the 6 Parent Steps, why it works, and explicit instructions on how to use it and tweak it depending on your child's response. Home practice steps are outlined and assigned.

Wednesday AM – A check-in on the home practice assigned on Sunday, with reminders and motivation.

Throughout the week – Other opinion pieces, notes, and success stories.

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.

What it costs

All content is free for now.