For when family life is feeling harder than it should.
Sometimes that looks like your toddler having tantrums you don't know how to handle, and you're just looking for someone who can tell you what's developmentally normal and what isn't. Maybe your kid is melting down out of nowhere, refusing to listen, or having big emotional reactions that send you spiraling or walking on eggshells.
Maybe your child has a diagnosis (ADHD, anxiety, or something else) and what worked at age four is no longer working at age eight. Sometimes, nothing is technically wrong, but you're exhausted, you don't love how you're showing up, and you suspect that some of what's happening between you and your child is also about you.
I'm Dr. Sarah Crystal. I'm a clinical psychologist in Seattle, and I help parents understand what's going on with their kids and with themselves so families can start enjoying the everyday again.
Three ways I work with parents:
If you need answers about your child
Comprehensive psychological evaluations, ADHD evaluations for kids and adults, IQ testing for private school admissions, and independent assessments for organizations. You arrive with a question, and leave with a clear explanation of what's going on, in writing, with concrete recommendations you can use.
If you need real change in your family
Parent coaching to help you understand and respond to your child's behavior more effectively. Parent therapy to work on what's going on for you underneath the parenting: stress, anxiety, old patterns, the way you were raised. Both are structured and time-bound, drawn from twenty years of clinical work.
If you have one specific question
A one-hour consultation is a focused, single-session meeting designed to help you work through one specific issue. How to talk to your child about a divorce. How to support a reluctant reader. Whether a behavior is something to worry about. You leave with a clear plan.
What I’ve learned in two decades of this work.
Some parents have been trying for years: the books, the calm-down corner, the consequence chart, the podcasts, with the same patterns showing up. Others are at the beginning, with a two-year-old who is suddenly a tornado, searching for someone who can help them through a particularly difficult developmental stage.
I help you see what's actually driving your child's behavior, what role your family dynamics are playing, and what's going on for you during the chaos. Once that becomes clear, the strategies start working.
This is the work I love.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME
I’m Dr. Sarah Crystal.
I'm a clinical psychologist based in Seattle and a mother of four. My approach is grounded in science and shaped by real-life parenting. I offer therapy, parent coaching, and psychological evaluations for children and adults.
I believe there is no such thing as a “problem child”. There is a kid inside a family, a school, and a community, and what shows up as undesirable behavior is almost always a reflection of something happening underneath.
Review & Testimonials
Free tools, if you’re not ready to book.
Sometimes you just need something practical you can use right now. I'm building a small library of free trainings, videos, and parent guides drawn from the same work I do with clients one-on-one.
New resources coming throughout the year.
“Nothing Works!”… What to Do When You’ve Tried It All and Your Child Still “Misbehaves”
If you are a parent who says: "We've tried everything, timeouts, rewards, consequences, charts, and nothing works…” You are not alone. I hear this from parents all the time. Here’s a hard truth... If your child is dysregulated, no “strategy” will “work” until they feel calm enough to process it. Let’s unpack what’s actually happening when “nothing works” and what to do. Behavior Is a Signal First things first: challenging behavior isn’t the problem, it’s the signal. It’s how kids say: “I’m...
Microdosing Self-Care. The Hidden Power of Tiny Regulating Moments.
Be honest…when you hear “self-care,” do you almost immediately think: “Yeah, must be nice.” Fair enough. Most traditional self-care advice feels like it was written for people without kids, without full-time jobs, or without toddlers melting down at bedtime like clockwork. But here’s the thing I teach every parent I coach: You don’t need a weekend retreat. You need five minutes to show your nervous system that it matters. Enter: microdosing self-care. Nervous System Care for Small Moments...
Can’t Access Your Skills in the Moment? It’s Not You. It’s Your Nervous System
You’ve read the books. You’ve practiced the scripts. You’ve even rehearsed what to say during your child’s next meltdown. And then…the moment hits. Your child is yelling, throwing, flailing. Your body tenses. Your mind blanks. And suddenly, every tool you practiced disappears. You’re not calm. You’re not grounded. You’re reactive or saying things you promised yourself you’d handle differently. If that sounds familiar, here’s something really important to understand...This is your nervous...
