Our Compassionate Counseling St. Louis therapy team loves working with anxious and angry kids, teens, and college students as well as parents!

The St. Louis therapists at Compassionate Counseling St. Louis not only work with kids and teens but also with college students and parents! Not only does our team work with people in office, we also see teens and college students for online therapy throughout the state of Missouri! All of our therapists specialize in anxiety work, and love working with anxiety across the spectrum - from classic anxious responses to anxiety that looks more like an anger management issue.

While all of our St. Louis therapists are trained in assessing for anxiety-driven anger, incorporating CBT, and utilizing Feedback Informed Treatment, our team also gets to bring in their own background and specialty for each client.

This week, we’re each sharing our top 3 therapy items and why we love them!

Molly Shaffer, MA, LPC
Child & Teen Therapist, Trauma Specialist and Parent Coach

1. Fidgets: I have to have some sort of fidget for my clients to use in session. Fidgets are great for helping people regulate while talking about difficult topics, like trauma. They give you something to do with your hands and somewhere to look.

2. Art Supplies: I have used a lot of coloring or art making (origami, masks, legos, creating characters) that has really allowed for emotional expression and understanding to increase through play.

3. Games: I play games in therapy so often, whether it be in person or virtual. It's not only fun, but games can be turned into so many different types of therapy interventions by changing the rules or creating questions related to the moves of the games.

Samantha Ferrara, MSW, LCSW
Teen & Child Therapist, Parent Coach

1. Dry Erase Board and Worksheets: I love to provide a visual element to the kids and teens that I am working with!

2. Board Games/Card Games: Games are such a great way to begin building rapport and can be used to navigate emotions or encourage discussion (i.e. feelings uno, discussion or emotion jenga).

3. Legos and Art Supplies: I really like to have expressive outlets to help discuss challenging feelings or topics such as art supplies, Legos, etc.

Lydia Sparling, MA, PLPC, NCC
Child Therapist

1. Art Supplies: I often use colored pencils/markers/crayons with clients, especially when art is one of their strengths.

2. Worksheets: I really like to use worksheets to help stem conversations and retrospection.

3. Games: I utilize games and play therapy! I love when I can gain information to help a client through play, as well as when the client can review skills learned during therapy sessions through play.

Want to work with our team of anxiety therapists?

Appointments with any of our Compassionate Counseling St. Louis therapists can be scheduled through our intake coordinator right here. You can schedule a free phone consultation to find out more about Compassionate Counseling St. Louis and get you or your child scheduled right away!

select a time to talk with our intake specialist about the best fit for you

Curious to learn more about anxiety and anxiety-driven anger? Reach out to us at hello@compassionatecounselingstl.com. As child anxiety experts, we love working with kids, teens, college students and parents to help manage their anxiety, stress, and anger. Compassionate Counseling St. Louis is located in Clayton, MO and works with families throughout St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Ladue, University City, Town and Country, Webster Groves, Creve Couer, Kirkwood, Richmond Heights, and Brentwood. We also provide online therapy Missouri wide to teens and college students. You can set up your first free consult on this website, on our consultation page.