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Immediately after our son turned 4 years old his behavior at home and preschool took a nose-dive. He was aggressive, disrespectful, self-injuring, not listening and antagonistic. After looking into different... read more behavioral therapy options we decided on play therapy with Dr. Brenna. What better way for a kid to work out his/her issues than through what they do best; play? It was great. Our son went once a week for an hour and just had fun. He had no idea we had an agenda. Which to us was important. We didn't want him to think he was "bad" or "defective" but we wanted to get him the help he needed so we could nip whatever issues he was having in the bud and hopefully avoid more problems when he is a teenager and more difficult to manage. Dr. Brenna was wonderful. She was very kind and caring, supportive and professional. Our son clicked with her quickly and would be very excited to go see her and play every week. We noticed an immediate improvement in behavior after only one or two sessions. He was regulating his emotions better. Less angry outbursts and hitting himself. Being more cooperative and calm. Even at preschool his behavior improved. He went from getting a bad report every day to getting a good one. After only 15 sessions we can honestly say our son has grown tremendously in his attitude and behavior. He is more considerate of others, he thinks before he acts now and considers the consequences of his actions, he is helpful and thoughtful and much less explosive. Dr. Brenna offered a parenting training seminar that we also found very helpful. It teaches parents to use the same methods of interaction that she uses in play therapy. It has really helped us a lot at home in correcting behavior in a kind, loving, respectful and effective manner. He really responds well to this system of reflecting feeling, choice giving, limit setting and enforcing consequences if the limit is vioated. And he doesn't argue when we have to enforce a negative consequence, because he knew his choices ahead of time and he made the choice fully aware of the consequence. It is empowering for him and lifts the burden of us being "the bad guys" all the time. We really can't recommend Dr. Brenna enough. My son had a great experience and we are very pleased with the results.

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 can’t say enough wonderful things about Mrs. Brenna. She has been instrumental in helping my son emotionally, deal with the divorce of his parents. She is a skilled professional... read more and possess a wealth of knowledge that has been helpful for me as a parent, and for my son. He just loved going to see Ms. Brenna, it was often the highlight of his week. She is so patient and kind, easy to talk to, helpful, considerate, thoughtful, flexible, approachable, understanding, sympathetic, insightful and I could go on and on. We are beyond grateful to have met and worked with Mrs. Brenna. I would suggest her to any one of my friends in a heartbeat (and I have). She is simply amazing at what she does, truly AMAZING. Before starting with her, I looked high and low, trying to find someone that I thought would be able to help my son deal with his emotions in a way that was fun, effective and appropriate for a 5 year old and she was definitely it! We ❤️ Mrs. Brenna!

Dr. Brenna is an angel that saved our family from an unimaginable situation that involved the courts and a reunification therapist that was not taking into account the best interest... read more of my son. She was so gracious to see my son knowing that I would eventually need her to provide her expertise in my case. She was able to allow my son to have a voice based on what he wanted while others were telling him that he didn't have a say in the matter and would do as he was told. Fortunately for us, the courts took her advise and the case was closed. My son established such a bond with Dr. Brenna that even after the case was closed, he still wanted to go see her. From the bottom of my heart there are not enough words to express my family's gratitude for your professionalism, your willingness to help and your caring ways! Forever grateful. If I could give 10 stars I would!

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.

I highly recommend Ms. Brenna, I was at my wits end when I brought my son to her, he was having a hard time at school not wanting to go,... read more having huge melt downs often at home, he seemed angry all time. I tried everything to help him and the doctors said I should start him on medication but I really did not want to do that. So I found The Kid Counselor and decide to give it a try, not really believing play therapy alone would ever help him or be enough. But I am a believer now!!! She completely changed my son!! He loves school now he has learned to control his temper and he is really happy! Words cannot express my gratitude for Ms Brenna. I will be forever thankful for her and what she did for our family. ❤️

Dr. Brenna is amazing. Our son was having a lot of anxiety over his food allergies and became fearful to eat. After a few sessions with Dr. Brenna... read more he started to feel more comfortable with eating again and now he is eating a lot! We are so grateful for Dr. Brenna for giving us our son back! I highly recommend her.

Dr. Hicks is amazing! She knows how to make kids feel comfortable and the parents. We noticed real progress with getting our kids the tools to be successful. Would... read more recommended her to anyone!

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 wonderful with my son, and with me. She has brought a new dynamic to our home that is working and is based out of mutual respect,... read more love, and guidance. Our kids have a lot going on, things have changed and it's not simple anymore. They have more to process and for some it's very difficult to do without learning how to regulate themselves. My son has learned self regulation, do we still have days that are hard? Of course we do, but there are FAR fewer days when he doesn't catch himself. It's amazing the work he's done with Dr. Hicks, and I promise you will love her too.

Brenna has been a God send for our family! My two daughters liked her immediately and I saw improvement in their behavior fairly quickly. My youngest daughter often... read more asked why we go to see Miss Brenna because “all I do is play.” They continued to improve and grow throughout our time with her. Brenna was so good at educating me and keeping me informed. We graduated several months ago and the reasons we saught Brenna’s help initially have remained a non-issue.

Brenna is amazing! She is so gentle and loving but knows exactly how to get your child’s attention. My daughter is in love with Brenna and was so sad when... read more her sessions were over. I cannot possibly recommend her enough. She helped my child tremendously during my divorce and helped me to see her behavioral issues as a reaction to her emotions and how to help her express those in healthier ways. I’m so grateful my daughter had her during this difficult time