The onset of puberty brought on some mental challenges we were unprepared for. After the loss of a beloved grandfather combined with a traumatic experience at school, we found ourselves parked at children’s hospital’s mental health ward, fighting for our son’s life. A triple whammy of mental illness, bereavement and PTSD. Our son’s case was an extreme one but you Tatum, were undaunted and took us on. I say ‘us’ because it wasn’t just our son you coached, it was all of us. We did not know how to parent this child with so many challenges against him. It took just over three years, but we have our son back, and what an amazing teenager he has turned into. He’s kind, empathetic and sensitive to the feelings of those around him. His confidence is growing in leaps and bounds and he goes to sleep each night, excited for the next day. This hasn’t been an easy journey by any means. There were times despair was all we felt. But looking at him now, it was all worth it and I wouldn’t change a thing. He uses daily, tools you taught him to conquer his fears and frustrations. As parents, we use daily the tools you’ve taught us to help him communicate and model the behavior we want him to follow. “Thank you” just doesn’t do it justice, the gratitude we have for you. You’ve truly changed the life of our whole family. Thank you for who you are.

Tatum helped my son to become more assertive and to worry less especially at school. Initially, my husband and I were grasping at straws on how to help our son, and we felt that we didn’t understand the way that he was expressing himself. Tatum provided us with tools for communication and an insight into the feelings behind the behaviors. We feel that we know our son on a deeper level now and this helps us to know how to approach him. I feel more confident as a parent and I see a massive improvement in my son’s confidence and ability to cope. I would highly recommend play therapy with Tatum. Her ability to form a trusting relationship with my son and me as a parent made us all feel comfortable and secure during the process.

We brought our daughter to Tatum so she could learn tools to help her with sensory issues, separation anxiety and confidence-building. With clear expectations and communications, we were able to support her in navigating challenges and dealing with changes and situations in positive ways. Parenting is tough and we were grateful to have Tatum’s guidance and experience to help our family through a rough patch. We are grateful that our daughter connected so well with Tatum and built much needed self confidence through the process. She has really come out of her shell, is communicating her feelings more and smiling more often. Thank you Tatum!

We had our lowest point at Thanksgiving in terms of home/family conflict with Ben. I spent the nights of the week long holiday wondering with great concern “What was going with my son?” “Who had he become and why was he so angry and purposefully hurtful to his family?” I had thoughts to take him to the hospital for a psych hold. Tatum worked with us and was very supportive and reaffirming. Ben had challenges accepting his behavior but has worked through them with help and support. He is again the happy, fun loving boy we know and how he has strong coping skills and is understanding of his emotions, anger and how he impacts those around him.

Our goal was complicated. It evolved around trying to help our child with transitions and her sense of control in her life. She has greatly improved her response to and recovery from conflicts and transitions. Tatum was able to help us, as parents, change some of our approaches in order to help our child. It’s been great to have her input. Our family works better now.

I initially chose Tatum as my son’s play therapist for her non-directional approach. I think that this approach really suited what we were trying to work on with him. Our goals, included expressing emotions in an appropriate way, dealing with frustration, and respecting boundaries. I would say that I have noticed a marked difference in the way my son interacts with others, especially when it comes to using words to describe feelings. He has improved behavior at school too, and has been handling social interactions without a problem. Overall, I had a very positive experience with Tatum and she developed a trusting relationship with my son. I think that play therapy was an age appropriate choice for us. Tatum was consistent in respecting her therapy relationship with my son, while also giving good feedback to me as a parent.

Our daughter (8) was struggling with friend drama and was acting out some bullying behavior at home. When we tried to talk to her about what was going on, her response was “I don’t want to talk about.” Tatum was able to help our daughter identify difficult emotions and how to calm her body down so she didn’t over react. Additionally, Tatum helped her build the confidence to let others know what she needed and what types of behaviors she wasn’t willing to tolerate. Now when she gets frustrated at home she quickly realizes how she is behaving and works hard to figure out how to give herself space or talk about her feelings. At school, she seems less tolerant of bad behavior from others. And let’s them know under what circumstances she is willing to play with them. She is ok walking away from the friend. When we started with Tatum, we did not realize that our daughter’s life would be changed in such ways that will likely help her in relationships throughout her life.

When we first reached out to CTC (KidLife was formerly CTC), our son was being bullied. To the point of physical altercations taking place. Since then, we have seen a huge positive change in our son. He is back to the kid we remember when we lived back in the Midwest. Tatum is amazing and will forever be grateful to her and for the amazing work!!

Our experience with Tatum has been very rewarding. Her work has allowed our child to become a more confident, independent and care free child. I believe that Tatum’s ability to see how life experiences can affect a child on a cellular level enables her to work through things “stuck” in a child that not everyone can see. In turn, this lets the emotions, experiences, etcetra that are “stuck” get worked out in therapy and can free up the child’s spirit and allow them to be a lighter and happier individual.

The skills my son learned and the healing he was able to do in play therapy helped our family immensely. His teacher says “he’s like a different kid.” I feel he has become more himself- less hindered by anxieties, and more able to communicate his feelings. He has a great ability to calm himself down now, and I can’t remember the last time he had a tantrum. A year ago, he was having tantrums daily, sometimes twice per day. So the impact on all of our live has been huge. I highly recommend play therapy, and Tatum in particular, to any parents concerned about their child’s behavior and emotional well-being.

Tatum gave words to my son’s feelings so he could communicate more effectively.

There is a comfort level in handling problems now.

Tatum gave my daughter coping mechanisms for stress management.

We came for our son and you have helped our entire family.

We are so very thankful and grateful to have found Tatum! She was able to help our daughter express her anxieties in appropriate ways, as well as validate her worries. She also worked with not only me, but our daughter’s school. It was comforting to know all are on the same page and build continuity in all environments. Tatum also helped me as a parent in verbalizing and modeling effective stress management skills and coping strategies. Thank you for all you’ve done and your dedication to children.