About the Creator
Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor · MA · US Air Force Veteran · Mom & Grandmother
I'm a licensed professional clinical counselor who works with adults navigating some of life's hardest chapters — trauma, PTSD, anxiety, grief, and the quiet everyday struggles that often go unnoticed. I'm also a mom and a grandmother, which means I live this work from both sides.
Before my clinical career, I served in the US Air Force — an experience that shaped how I think about resilience, structure, and showing up for the people who need you. When I transitioned into mental health, I brought that same dedication with me.
Over years of practice, one thing kept coming up that I couldn't ignore. My adult clients would learn powerful coping skills in session — grounding techniques, breathing exercises, ways to sit with big emotions — and then say: "I wish I could teach this to my kids." They were gaining tools that were changing their lives, but had no kid-friendly way to share them with their own children.
That gap — therapy skills stopping at the adult, never reaching the kids who could benefit most — is what kept me up at night. As a mom and grandmother, I felt it personally. I knew these techniques worked. I'd seen them transform my clients' lives. But there was no bridge between the therapy office and the living room.
I looked at what was available for kids' emotional wellness and kept running into the same problem: apps built by tech teams who consulted a therapist as an afterthought. The exercises felt clinical. The language was adult-first. The designs assumed a 6-year-old and a 14-year-old need the same thing.
They don't.
"My clients kept telling me they wished they could share what they were learning in therapy with their children. CalmCritters is the bridge I built to make that possible."
CalmCritters takes the coping tools I teach in my practice — grounding exercises, cognitive reframing, breathing techniques, emotion identification — and translates them into something kids actually want to engage with. A digital support animal that grows with them. Games that teach without lecturing. Progress they can see and feel proud of.
Every interaction is designed with developmental appropriateness in mind. A 5-year-old gets big colorful buttons and sensory exercises. A 13-year-old gets journaling prompts and stress management tools for school pressure. Because meeting kids where they are is the whole point.
CalmCritters exists for one reason: to bridge the gap between the therapy office and the family home — making the coping skills adults learn in therapy accessible to their children.
Too many kids are told to "calm down" without ever being taught how. Too many parents learn incredible tools in their own therapy but have no way to pass them on. And too many families can't access consistent therapy for their children due to cost, availability, or stigma.
This platform isn't a replacement for therapy — it's a companion to it. For families where a parent is in therapy, it helps them share what they're learning. For families without access, it provides evidence-based tools that can make a real difference on their own.
Most children's wellness apps start with tech and consult a therapist later. CalmCritters started in a therapist's office and added tech to deliver what families were already asking for.
Every exercise comes from evidence-based practice — CBT, grounding techniques, emotion regulation strategies adapted for young minds.
Children don't want a therapy app. They want a game with a cool animal companion. We give them both — the healing is built into the fun.
Three distinct tiers (5-8, 9-12, 13-15) ensure language, complexity, and design match your child's developmental stage.
A parent dashboard shows emotional patterns and growth without violating your child's privacy. See progress, not private entries.
If you're reading this, you probably care deeply about your child's emotional wellbeing. Maybe you've noticed them struggling with big feelings. Maybe you're looking for something to supplement therapy. Maybe you just want to give them a head start on skills that will serve them for life.
Whatever brought you here — I'm glad you're here. The fact that you're seeking resources for your child already puts them ahead. Emotional intelligence isn't something kids are born with; it's something they learn. And the earlier they start, the stronger their foundation becomes.
CalmCritters is being built with your family in mind. Every design decision, every game mechanic, every word of copy is filtered through one question: "Would this actually help the families my clients are trying to support?"
If the answer isn't a clear yes, it doesn't make the cut.
CalmCritters is actively being developed. Want to be the first to know when it launches?
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