Kindred Pediatric & Family Therapy, PLLC

03/04/2026

So much good information here! We can’t ignore the brain-body connection when it comes to pick eaters. 🩵

02/25/2026

You can now read all about Kindred’s new therapists on our website!

If you’re interested in scheduling an appointment or just want to learn more about how Kindred may be able to help your child and family, feel free to submit an inquiry on the “Contact Us” page. 😊🩵

Kindred’s team of therapists offer various evidence-based therapy modalities, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). Our clinicians intentionally weave creativity and play into every session t...

02/16/2026

🧬🧠💊Kindred Pediatric & Family Therapy is now offering GeneSight® testing 🧬🧠💊

When we talk about medication for kids and teens, one of the biggest questions parents have is: “How do we know this will work for my child?”

🧬That’s where GeneSight® testing can help.🧬

GeneSight is a simple cheek swab test that looks at how your child’s body may process certain mental health medications. It doesn’t tell us which medication will definitely work—and it doesn’t replace a thorough evaluation—but it can give helpful insight into how their genetics may impact medication response or side effects. 💊

It can help guide medication choices, especially if your child has struggled with side effects or hasn’t responded well to previous medications.

We’re excited to share that Patricia Mendoza, FNP is now a registered GeneSight clinician and is able to offer this testing within our practice.👩🏽‍⚕️

As always, medication decisions are based on the full picture: symptoms, history, therapy progress, medical factors, and family input. GeneSight is just one piece of that puzzle. 🧩

If you have questions about whether this testing makes sense for your child, we are always happy to talk it through. 🩵

02/07/2026

✨Just make it exist first, you can make it perfect later✨

Whether it’s starting a school project or starting a business. When you put action to something, momentum will follow.

Ex*****on beats perfection every. single. time. 💖

02/03/2026

Here’s a little survival guide I put together for (🙈 myself) all of you stuck at home in the snowstorm who *may* be feeling the effects of the winter “strircrazies”. ❄️🤪☃️🩵

No really… as I was typing this my 2yo squirted an entire bottle of pancake syrup onto a paper plate. 😅🏳️

“Alexa, play ‘We’re All in This Together’ from the High School Musical soundtrack.”

01/20/2026

Today Kindred honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy 🩵👨🏾🇺🇸

“…the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.” -MLK

01/17/2026

“Sarah will do ANYTHING for attention.” 🤷🏻‍♀️
“Johnny will hurt himself on purpose and come to me crying just to get attention.” 🙎🏽‍♂️
“I even asked Bobby ‘WHY did you do that?!’ And he TOLD ME he just wanted attention.”🙋🏼‍♂️

So what’s with all the attention-seeking? Can I tell you a little secret? We’re all attention seekers. Humans—and ESPECIALLY kids—value social and emotional relationships more than anything else—even if their behavior is telling you otherwise. They. want. connection. 🫂💞

Connection, attention, approval, whatever you want to call it. It’s all the same.

Kids repeat behaviors that reliably get the attention of others, because their brains are wired for connection, not logic—and attention is one of the strongest reinforcers we can give.

Studies on attachment and social motivation show that a caregiver’s voice, facial expression, or emotional energy activates reward circuits in the brain. 👀
When a child hits, screams, lies, curses, or throws—and a caregiver reacts strongly—the brain associates that behavior with connection and stimulation. 🧠 The child’s brain learns, “This behavior gets my parent fully engaged.”

So, what can we do to stop all the negative attention-seeking behaviors and form true meaningful connections? Here are a few tips…

🙅🏻‍♀️ Ignore what you can. Whining, crying for no reason, mildly inappropriate language, pretending to be hurt, ect.

🗣️Tell your child what you want them TO do, not what you want them NOT to do, using as few words as possible. (Ex. “Stop running around the store, you’re going to trip and fall!” ➡️ “Use your walking feet.”) Using the words “don’t” and “stop” open the door for a power struggle or argument. Be firm, direct, and concise when you give your child a command of what TO do.

💬 Use “positive opposites”. If your child struggles with getting along with their peers, praise them in a HUGE way whenever you observe them cooperating with others (ie. holding the door for someone at the store, being kind and gentle with pets, helping their sibling with homework, ect).

🫶🏻 Follow praises for positive opposites with affection for bonus points. A hug, high five, or even a simple pat on the back further reinforces that you see their strengths and you approve of their behavior.

✅ Remember—Behavior that we attend to gets BIGGER. Behavior that we ignore gets SMALLER.

01/03/2026

Hard and wonderful can coexist. 🤍

12/28/2025

Parenting has its way of digging up skills we were never explicitly taught when we were kids—emotional regulation, boundary setting, healthy communication, and repair after conflict. For many parents, this can feel like reparenting yourself while raising your child.

At Kindred, we offer individualized parenting support to help families build these skills intentionally. Our work is tailored to your family’s needs and focuses on strengthening relationships, improving communication, and breaking generational patterns in a sustainable, supportive way.

Learning this now doesn’t mean you missed something. It means you’re changing something. 🤍