Laurie Chaikind McNulty, LCSW-C

Laurie Chaikind McNulty is a Licensed Certified Social Worker–Clinical who joined Jonah Green and Associates in early 2017. She provides individual, family, and group therapy, as well as parent consultations for children with a range of challenges, including anxiety, ADHD, mood/self-esteem problems, behavioral issues, autism spectrum disorder, and other concerns. Laurie has extensive experience in working with children and families with developmental delay and disability from her work as a therapist at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. She has also served as a one-to-one instructor of Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). Laurie enjoys developing therapeutic plans with clients to enhance a variety of skills, including positive emotion regulation, anxiety reduction, enhanced executive functioning, and social skills. She is keen on helping parents create calm and supportive home environments that help children regulate their mood and behavior, and that enhance attachment and positive connections. Laurie works with children from toddlerhood through adolescence.

Treatment Approach

Laurie’s approach to therapy is collaborative in nature; she includes families and children in treatment planning to ensure that therapy works for them. Her work and training in interdisciplinary practice with physicians, speech therapists, occupational therapists, educators, and psychiatrists has taught Laurie that a comprehensive picture of the child is vital to best address mental health concerns and to promote progress across the board. This coordinated, integrated approach to care allows for meaningful, long-term solutions to the concerns that are so often raised in the therapeutic environment.

Laurie uses a variety of evidence-based therapeutic models, based on the needs of the individual, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), play therapy, mindfulness, and attachment models. She incorporates parent-child interactional techniques from the Fussy Baby Network, and is certified in the use of the NCAST Parent-Child Interaction Scales. Laurie is a Registered Circle of Security Parenting Facilitator, and uses this video-based curriculum to help families increase their understanding of emotional regulation, enhance feelings of connectedness, and decrease negative behaviors. It is important to Laurie to tailor the therapeutic environment to the unique learning needs of each child and family. To achieve this goal, she often incorporates multimedia tools, such as videos, movement, art, drawing, writing, and games to make sure the child is able to fully participate and benefit from the session. These tools also generalize nicely to the home and school so parents can integrate what their child is learning in therapy to help them across settings.

Education

Masters Degree in Social Work, University of Maryland specializing in Child, Adolescent and Family Health, where she trained in the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities Scholar Program.

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Minor in Education, University of California, Berkeley

She also has advanced training in several therapeutic techniques including Circle of Security Parenting, the Fussy Baby Network, and the Facing Your Fears Program, a cognitive behavioral therapy group for youth with high functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder.