Healing Harbor Counseling. If you’re the parent of a child with ADHD, autism, trauma, or social anxiety, you want to set your kiddo up for success. And luckily, you don’t have to navigate their diversities alone. Trust Healing Harbor Counseling in Mesa, Arizona!

About. Tamara Woodard, LCSW, ADHD-CCSP, ASDCS, owner of Healing Harbor Counseling, was a DCFS caseworker for many years. Her caseload often included behavioral health for children who had a lot of trauma, which allowed Tamara to notice a huge lack of trauma counseling services in the Valley. 

This inspired Tamara to go back to school to become a licensed psychotherapist. While working as a behavior coach at the same time she attended school, she had the opportunity to work with kids who were struggling with mental health issues such as autism and ADHD. Tamara quickly discovered that she has a natural way of working with autistic individuals to help them develop coping skills, overcome challenges and improve their quality of life. Today, Tamara specializes in working with individuals and families living with ADHD, autism, trauma, and social anxiety, and she works with ages 12 months to young adults.

Autism Evaluations. Healing Harbor Counseling not only offers individual, family, group, and couple’s counseling, but they also offer autism evaluations. Tamara’s found that many individuals who seek her help with managing social anxiety and other symptoms such as sensory overload, may also have a form of autism.

After providing an autism evaluation, Healing Harbor Counseling can also help with improving socialization, anger management, self-esteem, and more!”  Tamara incorporates evidence-based interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) into all individual, family, and group session to help with recognizing, challenging, and replacing negative thought patterns. With training as a trauma therapist, she can also help with recognizing triggers and using skills and strengths to manage the flight, flight, freeze (shutting fawn) or fawn (overly pleasing) response. Tamara has a unique perspective as a psychotherapist, because her own kids are on the autism spectrum. Even so, her sons are now an engineer and a college student. In no way does autism have to be a stumbling block or a hindrance to success, especially with Healing Harbor Counseling on your side!

Groups. In addition to one on one therapy, Tamara offers groups for ages 5 to young adults that address anxiety, depression, social skills, regulating emotions, and improving self-esteem.  Groups include Kindergarten Enhancement during the school year, Kindergarten Readiness during the summer, Kool Kids for ages 6-9, Anxiety Busters for ages 10-13, Teens On a Mission for ages 14-17, and Young Adults Living with Neurodivergence.

Experience While Tamara has plenty of personal experiences, she also has over 10 years of professional experience. ‌Plus, in addition to therapy, she has provided training for teachers, law enforcement officers, other therapists, pediatricians, dentists, and fire fighters. All of these individuals need to know how to help people with autism so that they can thrive. For example, autistic individuals may keep walking when a police officer tells them to stop; if an officer touches them,  they could feel extreme anxiety leading to a fight, flight, freeze response. Situations like this can go very wrong unless the officer is trained to recognize and properly respond to an autistic person. That’s where Tamara steps in and offers individualized training so that she can advocate for autistic individuals! 

Groups & Coaching. Tamara loves what she does, and her passion for her job is evident! She does lots of in-session parent coaching, plus she can work with parents and kids separately with services such as ADHD counseling and autism counseling. She also offers parenting and couples groups, plus couples counseling for those living with neurodivergence, so they can help each other.

Her Mommy, Daddy, and Me group for parents with kids up to age 11 is another popular offering. They play and participate in fun activities together. When difficulties happen, Tamara provides in-the-moment parent coaching. This helps set parents and kiddos up for success!

Not able to visit Healing Harbor Counseling in-person? No worries, they also offer online parenting groups, telehealth appointments, and 1:1 video coaching for parents who live outside of Arizona.

Since autism and ADHD symptoms don’t automatically stop when your child turns 18, the Building Bridges group is a group for parents caring for adult kids. The group provides in-the-moment strategies designed to improve the parent-adult child relationship by fostering collaborative strategies.

Finding Their Superpowers! Ultimately, Tamara and Healing Harbor Counseling want to help kids as early as possible, so that their “superpowers” can be identified and encouraged. As a parent, Tamara has been through what you’re going through. She has seen first hand as a parent and as a psychotherapist how children and adults with ADHD and autism can thrive. She has the skills and knowledge to help you AND your child thrive!

Give your child a positive experience in a nurturing atmosphere at Healing Harbor Counseling! Contact them today.

Call them at (480) 430-1459

Visit the Healing Harbor Counseling website

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