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Over the summer I made the decision to take Dr. Brenna's online CPRT (Child Parent Relationship Therapy) online training. This is most certainly one of the best decisions I have... read more made. Before enrolling in the course I have read up a lot on parenting and child behavior, I had watched and followed some really great therapists on YouTube and learned quite a bit. What I gained from this training far exceeds what I have been able to do on my own. The content of the training and the mindset shift that you go through as you start to digest the material is remarkable. Along with the quality content and the skills training, the real magic for me came with the consistency, accountability and follow up that is built into the training. Being a parent of school-aged children it has been a blessing to have such a valuable resource at my fingertips via the online portal. I was able to log in at my own convenience to watch the training. I honestly don't think I would ever have completed the course any other way. After watching the weekly video training I met with Dr. Brenna for our scheduled check-in to review course content and talk about our progress or lack thereof, and review session videos once those come into play. The 100% undivided attention that Dr. Brenna offers during our sessions is such a testament to her passion for this program. She lives and breathes CPRT and has talked me through so many scenarios and shown me progress where I often felt defeat. This experience has been and still is a real journey. As Dr. Brenna has reminded me many times, learning CPRT skills is like learning a new language. It will feel very unnatural at first, but the more you exercise your new skills the more organically they will start to become a part of how you interact with your children. To me it is still a new language, I am still working on organically incorporating the new skills into my everyday interactions, but it is worth every bit of effort. I have looked back on many interactions with my children since starting CPRT, comparing how I would have reacted pre-CPRT with the outcome with using CPRT skills and have been able to see the fruits of my labor. I cannot thank Dr. Brenna enough for the hope she has given me through CPRT and the unwavering and sincere support she has offered along the way.

We loved having Mrs. Brenna work with our 5 year old daughter. From the moment we met with her at our consultation we felt that Brenna knew our daughter. Brenna... read more was describing her and the dynamics of our family and other siblings to a T having not even met her. We knew in that moment that what felt like a hopeless situation now had hope and we felt confident that Mrs. Brenna knew what our daughter needed and had a plan to get her there. We were so impressed with Brenna and how she communicates with children and parents. Brenna never makes kids or parents feel defeated or judged. She is generous in her time and efforts to provide parents with free resources through her blog and YouTube channel. Last year our family of 6 was unable to do normal family outings, or even go to a store or have family routines without a meltdown, power struggle or harsh words. Brenna helped us understand how to reflect our daughter’s feelings and how to validate her and give her choices that helped minimize our power struggles. In paying attention to all that Brenna does so intentionally, intricately, and yet gracefully, we as parents were able to reflect on ourselves, our habits, and role in our daughter’s behavior. She taught us to reflect on how our parents parented us and how that’s affecting us now, and learned strategies that have even been helpful with our other children and healing our entire family dynamic. After less than 6 months we are now able to enjoy our daughter, can go out and about and do things we used to enjoy. We are seeing the gifts come out in our daughter that she has always had that were buried in bad behaviors. She is happier, calmer, more in control, and most importantly, more self-regulated. I’d love to keep my daughter with Brenna forever but that’s not a reality. Thankfully we leave confidently knowing that we have the skills and knowledge to do the hard work that continues daily, and Brenna has helped us understand our role in helping our daughter feel her emotional best. We are so thankful to have found Brenna and love that she believes in the inherent goodness in children, despite seeing them often at their worst. Brenna believes in her methods using play therapy and knows that she can use play therapy to modify behaviors using a holistic approach. She allows kids to play like kids and bring about changes to their issues at their pace and through their own direction. Brenna never once tried to diagnose or label our daughter with something that could have shifted her identity or affected her with lasting implications in the future. Brenna showed us that she understood our daughter’s behavior was not who she is, and she helped me and my husband see it too. Brenna is gifted in her work with families and we know we can always visit her again if we need it.

Dr. Hicks was incredible in helping our son and us with play therapy. We were unsure if some of our 5 year old son's expressed feelings had a physical or... read more emotional source and having exhausted all the standard medical options with no clear diagnosis, we were fortunate to find The Kid Counselor Center. After our first meeting with Dr. Hicks, we knew we were in the right place and in good hands as she understood what we were dealing with and offered hope for a way out of our uncertainty and concern. Over time, our son's expressions of physical discomfort began to dissipate and now having completed the work in play therapy have nearly completely disappeared. We feel confident that Dr. Hicks was able to teach him tools that allow him to express his emotional feelings and that he will continue to progress with these life skills. As parents, we are no longer wracked with anxiety as he just doesn't seem to be suffering any more like he once was. Dr. Hicks is a skilled professional who has extensive knowledge in the area of children's emotions and psychology. She showed us that she has genuine and heartfelt care and love for our child and truly wanted to help. She demonstrated empathy and understanding and always made herself accessible any time we wanted to talk or sort through something. We highly recommend Dr. Hicks and The Kid Counselor to any parent who sees their child struggling. She was an answer to our prayers. 5 Stars!!!

Let me start by saying that we feel like we have our boy back!! After years of searching for answers by reading every child behavioral book, and getting evaluated by... read more another therapist only to get labels and no real solutions and help, we finally found the answer we were looking for with Dr. Brenna’s play therapy. Our son was exhibiting a lot of aggression, towards us and his siblings and extremely defiant behavior and outbursts. There was a lot of power struggles and was very strong willed. After meeting with Brenna for the initial consult she explained everything so well to us and helped us to understand how NOT broken our child was and helped us to see the why behind the behavior. When we started the sessions things got worse before they got better. We started to really see amazing shifts in his behavior and his ability to self regulate about weeks 10-12. At our 5 week follow up meetings, Dr. Hicks was so detailed with what she saw in play therapy and the why behind what she saw. She helped us by role playing how we would respond to him and gave us incredible tools to help going forward. She was truly amazing in every aspect in the process. Honestly, we miss her. Our son worked so hard in therapy and has tools for life now. He can self regulate and is such a joy to be around. You know your child has made great changes when other people say stuff to you that they’ve noticed how different he is. We are so incredibly grateful to Dr. Brenna and her work. We HIGHLY recommend her! We have our boy back! Best investment we ever made!

I was at wits end - legitimately about to pull my hair out - because I could not figure out how to help my little man out.. he is 4... read more and was struggling at daycare with his teachers and friends, my husband and I could handle him at home and he seemed to be calmer at home versus at daycare. He was aggressive, overbearing, and obnoxious.. he was getting written up about 4 to 5 times a week and just didn’t look or act like himself anymore, almost as if he felt like he couldn’t do anything right and once the school mentioned meds I knew I owed it to my baby to do something because he didn’t deserve this.. went to google and found Ms Brenna.. she is absolutely wonderful and I am forever greatful for her.. my little man would just play for an hour with her and genuinely looked forward to it and had no idea she was helping him.. it’s been about 12 weeks and he’s maybe gotten written up twice.. HUMONGOUS strides from where we were. Thanks to her I feel like my little man finally has the tools to cope with our society and be successful in life. Don’t give up - there’s hope - thank you Ms Brenna for everything you’ve done. You have forever impacted our lives ❤️.

This is going to be my favorite review by far! Brenna Hicks has a way with children. We brought our daughter to her as a shot in the dark,... read more not knowing what play therapy was, and little to no faith that anyone could help her be better. Brenna sat is down and let us explain what we were trying to fix per say about our daughter. She asked questions and gave us insight into what play therapy was and how she mainly just let's the kids be kids and they blossom in front of her in way parents don't see or understand. After the first few weeks our daughter was changing and it was not happening in ways we even realized. She was better behaved and it wasnt until we took a step back and went back over our concerns that we were in awe over the changes. Brenna helped teach our daughter how to explain the feelings inside her. That was by far the best time/money ever spent. My 8 year old is thriving now in school at home and with her brothers and sister. She even tested out in school and is considered "gifted". Without Mrs. Brenna Hicks I dont know what I would of done for my sanity as a parent. Highly highly recommend The kid Counselor!

Mrs Brenna helped me with my son who was 10 years old. She gave us the tools and taught each of us how to apply them in a way that... read more benefited us. What I appreciate about Mrs Brenna is that she becomes a part of your team. She listened and addressed current and relevant issues that we had going on. Then we would make a plan for success. Very good stuff!

Our experience with Brenna was life-changing. My child went in with some potential long-term issues and walked out with a new lease on life - confident, happy, and with a... read more set of lifelong tools to take with her on her journey forward...and this happened in a relatively short period of time. You're getting the best of the best here.

We have 9 yr old boy/girl twins and recently had a few major changes that was causing anxiety and sometimes panic for both kids. We tried the usual therapy talk... read more sessions with someone else, but wanted to try something more for them. We are extremely impressed with the results from play therapy. We did both individual and group (my 2 kids together) sessions. We were amazed at what all Brenna could see in each of our kids through play. We gradually saw improvement each week and now have the skills and tools needed to cope if anything were to arise thanks to her!! My kids loved going each week!! You will not be disappointed. Best investment you will make to help your child for sure!!

If you’re reading reviews, then you’re considering play therapy for your child. And lucky for you, you’ve found the best. Dr. Hicks is professional, smart, articulate, caring, respectful, and incredibly... read more knowledgeable. After being told by several academic settings (and even professionals who never even spent time with my son!) “maybe he needs a diagnosis” or “maybe medications might help,” we knew that those weren’t the next step. Thankfully, our research led us to Dr. Hicks. Dr.Hicks is the first professional we met who wasn’t trying to “diagnosis” our son. She wanted to give him and US the tools to navigate his emotions and behaviors. And that she did. (I HIGHLY recommend her parenting workshop,too.) Dr. Hicks was accommodating to all our needs and always willingly to consult with professionals involved in our son’s care. This was crucial, esp in the educational setting. We will be forever thankful to have her as part of our son’s team!

Dr. Hicks is a true proven professional that takes every child she cares for to the highest personal level. Finally someone that truly cares about her patients! she worked with... read more our daughter for most of 2017 and has an unbelievable approach to treatment. She is the best there is hands down!

I am so grateful to Dr. Hicks and the CPRT course. I am a homeschool mother of an only child (8yo) who was ready to say I'm over it... read more and put him in public school. I initially found Dr. Hick's practice with the intent that I would schedule appointments for her to "fix" my son Through my sessions with Dr. Hicks and the CPRT program, I learned that I was saying the same things she was teaching but I wasn't using the right words to "get through to him". I learned the secret language to be able dissolve conflicts or deescalate situations. More importantly I learned that it wasn't necessarily my son that needed to be "fixed" but our relationship and the methods that we communicate. I completed the CPRT course during pandemic , meeting with Dr. Hicks virtually - I felt like she gave me every second plus some of her attention and really helped me learn the skills of play therapy. If I had a question she was prompt in responding and detailed to address my concerns. Even when I was harder on myself to see the progress or appreciate the growth, she was always quick to point those moments out and celebrate them. I can honestly say that I feel like every penny was well invested in the CPRT course and my relationship with my son. Our home is a more peaceful place to be because of Dr. Hicks and the CPRT course.