117. Working with Kids Under Five in Therapy
Tue Sep 02 2025
In this episode of the Therapist Thrival Guide, licensed clinical social worker Miranda Barker sits down with Kaleigh Boysen-Quinata, LMFT, and Stephanie McDonald, LPC, to explore the unique challenges and rewards of working with children under five in therapy.
Together, they cover everything from early childhood diagnoses and play-based modalities like Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) and Play Therapy, to the essential role of parents in the therapeutic process. The conversation also touches on practical strategies for engaging resistant kids, navigating foster care and separated parents, and handling the unique challenges of telehealth with very young children.
Unfortunately, this will be one of our last episodes. Thank you for all of the support and listening-- we couldn't have made it this far without you!
OUR GUESTS:
Kaleigh Boysen-Quinata (she/her) is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and founder/director of Family Roots Therapy in Portland, OR. Kaleigh’s mission is to provide high quality, specialized mental health care to children and families. Before founding Family Roots Therapy, Kaleigh worked in community based mental health programs, a school-based program, and in crisis response and intensive services for children and teens.
Kaleigh has received specialized training in Child-Parent Psychotherapy. She has also received additional advanced training in perinatal mental health and solution-focused therapy. Her passion is helping parents understand their young children’s challenging behaviors and teaching them new tools and skills to connect with their children. She has spoken at conferences and other events on topics such as leadership, family therapy, engaging parents in treatment, and Positive Discipline.
Stephanie MacDonald (she/her) is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and the Clinical Director at Family Roots Therapy in Portland, OR. She is a Certified Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist, working with Autistic youth, as well as Autistic adults, including late-realized or questioning. She practices Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) with new parents and their young children and Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) with preschool and elementary aged children and provides parent coaching to their grown-ups. In addition, she integrates theories such as Interpersonal Neurobiology, Synergetic Play Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy, Humanistic Therapy, and attachment science, and utilizes a feminist and social justice-focused lens. She also specializes in couples/relationship counseling, perinatal counseling, and working with adults who have parents with personality disorders. Her practice is neurodivergent-affirming and queer-affirming, and she is excited about working with folx from those communities.
Listen to their podcast, the Family Roots podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-roots-podcast/id1830360793
OUR HOST:
Miranda Barker, MSW, LICSW, has been practicing as a therapist for several years. She previously worked as a child protection investigator, adoption social worker, case manager, and the Director of Brand Content at Ellie Mental Health. Follow her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miranda-barker-msw-licsw/
The Therapist Thrival Guide is a podcast by Ellie Mental Health. We want to move therapists beyond surviving and into the realm of thriving by covering all the things that graduate school didn't teach you! This mental health podcast is hosted by Miranda Barker, LICSW and a rotating cast of seasoned therapists. Each episode features a therapist speaking to their areas of expertise to help us learn how to thrive as therapists.
Ellie is a national mental health brand organized around community-based outpatient mental health clinics. It all began with a single office in St. Paul, Minnesota back in 2015, and has expanded to an explosive number of locations nationwide after franchising our model in 2021.
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In this episode of the Therapist Thrival Guide, licensed clinical social worker Miranda Barker sits down with Kaleigh Boysen-Quinata, LMFT, and Stephanie McDonald, LPC, to explore the unique challenges and rewards of working with children under five in therapy. Together, they cover everything from early childhood diagnoses and play-based modalities like Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) and Play Therapy, to the essential role of parents in the therapeutic process. The conversation also touches on practical strategies for engaging resistant kids, navigating foster care and separated parents, and handling the unique challenges of telehealth with very young children. Unfortunately, this will be one of our last episodes. Thank you for all of the support and listening-- we couldn't have made it this far without you! OUR GUESTS: Kaleigh Boysen-Quinata (she/her) is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and founder/director of Family Roots Therapy in Portland, OR. Kaleigh’s mission is to provide high quality, specialized mental health care to children and families. Before founding Family Roots Therapy, Kaleigh worked in community based mental health programs, a school-based program, and in crisis response and intensive services for children and teens. Kaleigh has received specialized training in Child-Parent Psychotherapy. She has also received additional advanced training in perinatal mental health and solution-focused therapy. Her passion is helping parents understand their young children’s challenging behaviors and teaching them new tools and skills to connect with their children. She has spoken at conferences and other events on topics such as leadership, family therapy, engaging parents in treatment, and Positive Discipline. Stephanie MacDonald (she/her) is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and the Clinical Director at Family Roots Therapy in Portland, OR. She is a Certified Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist, working with Autistic youth, as well as Autistic adults, including late-realized or questioning. She practices Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) with new parents and their young children and Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) with preschool and elementary aged children and provides parent coaching to their grown-ups. In addition, she integrates theories such as Interpersonal Neurobiology, Synergetic Play Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy, Humanistic Therapy, and attachment science, and utilizes a feminist and social justice-focused lens. She also specializes in couples/relationship counseling, perinatal counseling, and working with adults who have parents with personality disorders. Her practice is neurodivergent-affirming and queer-affirming, and she is excited about working with folx from those communities. Listen to their podcast, the Family Roots podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/family-roots-podcast/id1830360793 OUR HOST: Miranda Barker, MSW, LICSW, has been practicing as a therapist for several years. She previously worked as a child protection investigator, adoption social worker, case manager, and the Director of Brand Content at Ellie Mental Health. Follow her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miranda-barker-msw-licsw/ The Therapist Thrival Guide is a podcast by Ellie Mental Health. We want to move therapists beyond surviving and into the realm of thriving by covering all the things that graduate school didn't teach you! This mental health podcast is hosted by Miranda Barker, LICSW and a rotating cast of seasoned therapists. Each episode features a therapist speaking to their areas of expertise to help us learn how to thrive as therapists. Ellie is a national mental health brand organized around community-based outpatient mental health clinics. It all began with a single office in St. Paul, Minnesota back in 2015, and has expanded to an explosive number of locations nationwide after franchising our model in 2021.