North Star Families exists to provide access to inclusive and collaborative resources and treatment services for the overall mental and emotional health of every kind of child and family.
We believe your family deserves to thrive, and our team is here to guide you on your way.
Our North Star is the guiding force in every action and decision we make, and we articulate these principles in our core values and expertise.
Research into child development highlights how our ability to slow down, bring awareness to, and reflect on our hardest feelings – anger, guilt, shame, loss – creates more capacity to tolerate these feelings in ourselves, our partners and our children. This reflective capacity creates more secure and trusting relationships with our children, partners and extended community.
We offer a developmentally-oriented, research based approach, that targets increasing the capacity to sit with these more difficult, challenging feelings – the ability to slow down, build awareness, and understand the links between emotions and their behavior. Understanding what feelings have led us to certain coping skills, and building more tolerance for these feelings, gives us more flexibility to choose how we respond to a feeling, rather than having the feeling take over.
We pride ourselves on our experience, ongoing investment in training and consultation, and the range of evidence-based treatments that we offer. These include but are not limited to DIR/Floortime, play therapy, EMDR, CBT for Trauma, Child Parent Psychotherapy, Reflective Parenting Groups, Child Parent Psychotherapy, Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), EFT for couples, SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions), and psychodynamically informed talk therapy. Each therapist brings a unique set of skills and talents, anchored by training in child development and research into attachment security. We offer expert guidance and assessment of your family’s needs.
Our team helps you identify and prioritize your family’s unique needs in a collaborative way by finding the most effective treatment for your needs. We do not believe in a ‘one size fits all’ approach. There is not one ‘right’ way to approach change, just as there is no one right way to approach parenting. When you initially call us, we spend time with you to see how we can help, and refer you to the best therapist for your needs.
All of our interactions with families are led by respectful collaboration, where we follow your lead to develop goals that honor your values and traditions. We believe in transparency and, above all, kindness in our communications, that the ultimate gift we can share with parents and kids is a caring, supportive relationship, founded on authenticity.
We believe that many families and communities are unfairly burdened by hate, gender bias, racism, ableism, systemic injustices and inter-generational cycles of survival strategies that make family and child wellness, a struggle. We strive to advocate for our families and communities of color, neurodivergence, disability, and our LGBTQIA+ families or anyone who experiences themselves as ‘othered’. We pledge to continue our own education in and reflective process in this area.
We believe complex needs deserve a custom approach. As such, we integrate different therapists or pediatric specialists to create a collaborative team as needed, working with families and children on best-fit solutions for individual needs. There is no one-size-fits-all approach here; we treat every parent and child uniquely to help them thrive.
Some of our many partners include pediatric occupational therapists, developmental pediatricians and neuropsychologists. If we feel a different service will be beneficial we will always make sure that a person or family lands where they need.
North Star Families has a strengths-based approach that focuses on understanding and supporting neurodivergent individuals, rather than treating or curing them.
To be neurodiversity-affirming is to believe that diversity and differences in the way we think, feel and behave is what makes people unique. Neurological differences are natural and should be accepted as valid and equal.
Autistic and other neurodivergent people do not require therapy just because they have a diagnosis. As with any child or adult, our ultimate goal is to support growth and development through joy, connection, and unconditional acceptance that builds confidence and leads to a positive sense of self. We do not offer therapy to change someone to appear neurotypical.
Our fundamental values of neurodiversity-affirming therapy at North Star include, acceptance, respect, empathy, empowerment and advocacy.
We are an out of network provider so we do not take in-network insurance. However, at your request, we can provide you with a monthly super bill to self submit to your insurance provider. If you have an out of network deductible, once you pay into that predetermined amount, your insurance will provide reimbursement. Every insurance plan is different and we know it can be hard to navigate. We have a dedicated office manager, Kyle, to help you learn more about your insurance coverage. Email her at [email protected] for more.
When you email or call us, you will first speak with our intake specialist and Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Janet Medrano. On this this initial connection, Janet will get to know more about your needs based on who is seeking therapy, for what, and where is the best location for regular sessions at one of our offices. Regardless, Janet is well versed in our teams strengths and training and will help place you with a therapist that can best serve your needs.
We provide full disclosure about our fees before we start working together. We have a range of fees based on experience and licensure. Our intake specialist will answer those questions on the first call.
Yes! All of our therapists see adults and couples, teenagers and children. Many of our adults and couples are also parents, and couples sometimes seek us out when they are parents as they would like therapists with parenting knowledge. We have therapists trained in the Reflective Parenting Program, FloorTime, psychodynamic therapy based in developmental theory, EMDR, EFT for couples, the Gottman Method for Couples, Trauma-Informed CBT, the Oaklander Model of Gestalt therapy to name a few. Many of these interventions are helpful for parents and children. We see everyone from pregnancy through later adulthood.
Some information about our specialities can be found in our Journal section.
“Dr. Wendy and Monica Manibusan have been an integral part in creating a safe space for my child to grow and thrive”
“Karena Lee and Kelly Broffman helped us at a time we didn’t know that we would ever get through! We have an autistic 5 yr old ( we didn’t know he was autistic when we came in) and Kelly worked with him and Karena worked with us to provide parent education and support. It was so helpful knowing they were in the same group and that it was easy for them to share any relevant information with each other. We are three months in and we see the changes in us, and because of those changes, our son is having an easier time. They also helped connect is with resources like the Regional Center http://www.lanterman.org which we never knew about before!”
“Janet was so kind and helpful on the phone. She really took the time to listen to our questions and concerns. It made me feel like she was really thinking about the best match of therapist for our family! Now we are working with Keith and its been an excellent fit for our 14 yr old.”