Common Ground Services
for
Children and Parents
The English pediatrician and psychoanalyst D.W. Winnicott wrote how the mother and newborn at her breast hold a first common ground. There, where the newborn needs help and the mother has uncertainties, the two say to each other, in essence, we can do this together.
Beyond the nursery and the finest of starts — with ages 2 to 4, for sure, and again with adolescents — we all know that common grounds may become battlefields: how parent and child can at times seem to relate only through hurtful declarations of separateness and struggles for power and control.
For some families, circumstances including medical conditions and mental health problems can make normal child-parent challenges more intense, and long-standing mismatches can exist between parent and child.
Here, qualified mental health support can help alleviate family suffering. Children and their parents can feel understood and stronger. Painful struggle can be replaced with new experiences of competence, joy, and pride.
Beyond the nursery and the finest of starts — with ages 2 to 4, for sure, and again with adolescents — we all know that common grounds may become battlefields: how parent and child can at times seem to relate only through hurtful declarations of separateness and struggles for power and control.
For some families, circumstances including medical conditions and mental health problems can make normal child-parent challenges more intense, and long-standing mismatches can exist between parent and child.
Here, qualified mental health support can help alleviate family suffering. Children and their parents can feel understood and stronger. Painful struggle can be replaced with new experiences of competence, joy, and pride.
Donald Simpson, MDiv, MA, LPC provides this specialized help to parents and children. A professional counselor since 2013, he has advanced-level training in child development and psychotherapy. He has provided mental health counseling and early-childhood consulting to families and educators in Southeast Missouri, East Central Missouri, and St. Louis. His private practice is located in Maryland Heights, Missouri.
Donald meets first with children’s parent(s), and, for further supporting the child through their adults, he can also collaborate with family physicians, pediatricians, school administrators, and teachers.
Donald accepts insurances, including Medicaid, and offers, as needed, reduced private-pay consultation fees.
To schedule a consultation,
call (314) 339-8494
Common Ground Services
… for loving and learning at home, school, and beyond, through:
- Crisis counseling and psychotherapy for children experiencing loss and disruptions to healthy living
- Parenting therapy and groups supporting responsible parenthood
- Father's groups focused on the importance of fathers
- Consultee-centered consultation to childcare centers, schools, and child-serving organizations; close work of professional partners for understanding the child
Donald Simpson, LPC, LLC
Missouri Licensed Professional Counselor # 2013035397
To schedule a consultation,
call (314) 339-8494
