My Areas of Specialty, by Jordyn Staar, MA, ATR-BC, LPC

Hi, my name is Jordyn Staar, MA, ATR-BC, LPC. I’m an Art Therapist and Licensed Professional Counselor. My bio provides a general overview of my background, but I also wanted to share more about my experience and talk about some of my specialties here on the blog.  

Child And Adolescent Therapy

As an art therapist and counselor, I have 5 years of experience working with children and adolescents. I’ve worked in an inpatient setting with youth in crisis often displaying more severe behaviors. Working with teens in this setting, I fostered connections and developed trust allowing teens to feel safe to express inner turmoil. When I later transitioned to private practice, that experience helped me navigate change and emerging problems within families. In my 5 years of working with children and adolescents, I helped work through many challenges, transitions, and diagnoses such as Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, Divorce, Grief/loss, Family Conflict, Peer Conflict, and more. In my work, I use art therapy, verbal processing, and skill building to help their development. I like to create a space for kids and teens where they can develop their emotional vocabulary and build the confidence to support themselves while fostering healthier relationships with their families. 

Self Esteem

A big part of my practice is emboldening my clients to voice their feelings and concerns with friends and family by helping them develop confidence and self-esteem. I start by building a therapeutic relationship with kids and teens, so they can feel safe and allow themselves to be vulnerable as they explore their problems. Together, we explore their feelings and develop the words to better express themselves. As they practice their communication skills and work on their emotional intelligence, my clients set the foundation to become emotionally regulated adults. I hope the children and adolescents I work with walk away with a boost in self-esteem that can lead to feeling a sense of control over their emotions and problems that emerge. 

Loss

I believe loss encompasses death, divorce, moving, and even the ending of a relationship. I understand the complexity of the grieving process and empathize that is different for everyone.  Grieving can be difficult because using words may be too hard at the moment. Using art therapy is very helpful; the act of creating a visual piece that the client can then choose to verbally process is often experienced as less threatening and more empowering. 

Family Systems

I find when working with children and adolescents, understanding their family dynamics tends to play a part in addressing their presenting behaviors. I encourage parents to be part of their child’s therapeutic process. I provide parent sessions to troubleshoot ways to support their child in their home. I help parents get a better understanding of the obstacles they may be facing communicating with their children and work toward creating a better dialogue. Having family sessions can allow both parents and children to feel seen and heard as they express their concerns on equal terms, which helps everyone develop the necessary skills to be capable and comfortable working out problems on their own outside of therapy sessions.