Who We Help
At Strong Foundations, we believe that everyone deserves compassionate, personalized mental health care that meets them where they are. Our experienced team provides therapy, neuropsychological evaluations, and psychiatric services for individuals across all stages of life. Whether you are seeking support for your child, navigating the transitions of young adulthood, working through personal challenges, or strengthening relationships, we are here to help. We tailor our approach to each client’s unique needs, offering evidence-based strategies in a warm, inclusive, and affirming environment. No matter your journey, you are welcome here.
We provide neuropsychological testing, therapy, and medication management for children and teens to address a wide range of concerns. Our intake process for therapy for children 13 years and younger involves meeting with parents only. This allows us to learn about your child’s developmental history, to understand the current difficulty, and to collaboratively develop a provisional treatment plan. For children 14 years and older, we split the first session time so that parents still have opportunity to speak freely without their teen present, and so that teens are involved in the intake process. Older teens are given the option to conduct the intake on their own, and are encouraged to invite parents into future sessions as appropriate.
Regardless of child age, we generally spend the second session meeting individually with the child to establish rapport, to assess their understanding of their challenge, to create investment in their treatment, and to set treatment goals. Our goal is to make therapy engaging, fun, and tailored to your child’s interests and age. We teach effective coping skills through talk therapy, artwork, and games.
Going forward, session time is divided so children and parents each have time with the therapist to learn new skills each week. We use evidenced-based practices, demonstrated by research to be effective in alleviating distress. We work with children and families using cognitive-behavioral, dialectical-behavioral, trauma-focused, and mindfulness techniques. Children and caregivers leave with a clear plan on what strategies to practice together at home, and how these activities link with their overall treatment goals.
For our pre-school age patients, we offer individual therapy as well as therapy with the parent-child dyad. Specifically, we offer Parent-Child Interaction Therapy to improve children’s self-regulation.
Being a college student is a unique time in life. They are having many experiences – making new friends, learning new material, managing increased expectations, establishing relationships with professors, moving to new places – that can be both exciting and stressful. They are finding their independence and are potentially balancing staying connected to family while also striking out on their own. College students are making choices about areas of study or career paths and benefit from a place to process thoughts and feelings related to this. We have therapists who have special experience working with individuals navigating this time in their lives. They understand the pressures students may be experiencing and are a compassionate ear while clients make their individual choices. Our therapists also teach science-backed strategies to manage mood, deepen relationships, and improve mental health. If needed, our psychiatrist can prescribe medication that will assist in meeting treatment goals.
For adults, we provide therapy, psychiatric services, and neuropsychological testing. Our therapy options include individual therapy, parent guidance, couples’ counseling, and family therapy. For individuals, we can help with a variety of concerns. Some of these include: anxiety or stress, depression, managing ADHD, relationship struggles, anger management, trauma, grief, and adjustment to changing life circumstances. No matter what your goals are, your treatment experience will be tailored to your needs and built upon your existing strengths.
We treat adults using cognitive-behavioral, dialectical-behavior, trauma-focused, internal family systems, and mindfulness approaches. These techniques are proven to be effective methods to alleviate distress. You will increase your awareness of your emotions, learn to manage them effectively, and improve your overall well-being.
For parents, we offer a unique service called Parent Guidance. These sessions give parents the opportunity to consult with a trained therapist about questions related to parenting or the overall health of their family. This is a flexible treatment option that allows parents to customize how many times and how frequently they would like to meet with one of our therapists. We will match parents with a clinician who has extensive knowledge of child and adolescent development.
It is important to note, Parent Guidance sessions are for adults only. It creates a time for the adults in a family to reflect on their parenting, their children’s needs, and to get ideas from our trained experts about the most effective parenting strategies. This option allows parents to seek consultation without needing the involvement of their child. This option works well when children or teens are not in favor of participating in therapy, but parents still want support. This service can also be a complement to other services your family may already be receiving.
If families are interested in involving their children in services, they would be best served by individual therapy for their child, or family therapy. Our individual therapy for children and teens include a component of parent guidance, as we believe children benefit most from therapy when parents are also informed, empowered, and committed to change.
Although this service can focus on a variety of topics, many parents seek guidance on obtaining and constructing meaningful and effective IEP and 504 plans for their children at school. Our pediatric specialists help parents identify their child’s areas of greatest need, and develop accommodations that can be shared with the child’s school. It is common for parents to experience anxiety about being prepared for an upcoming educational support meeting. We help parents feel less anxious about and more prepared.
Parent Guidance is covered by insurance benefits like any other mental health service. One parent in the family will become the identified patient and all services will be billed under their insurance ID. We are in-network for Blue Cross/ Blue Shield, Highmark, and UPMC commercial plans. Private pay options are also available. Learn more about our therapy fees and insurance options.
We understand that even the most loving and devoted families can struggle sometimes. Families are beautiful and complicated systems with multiple needs and personalities at play. It can be hard to navigate these challenges or tough conversations on your own. Our family therapists provide structure and coaching to create a safe space where members can share their perspectives, improve their communication skills, and work through conflict together. We have experience helping families of various cultural backgrounds and make up. We are here to help your family be the best version of itself and navigate current challenges with mutual respect and understanding.
Being a couple can be complicated at times. We often come to the relationship with different family or life experiences that shape how we communicate and connect with each other. Relationships can also be challenged by stressful life events, or by the day-to-day demands of parenting. Our couples counselors are here to create a safe and supportive space for you and your partner to explore your current conflicts, to examine what behavioral patterns may be present, to share your feelings and needs with one another, and to mindfully decide together how to best move forward. Our therapists use cognitive-behavioral, emotion-focused, and internal family systems techniques to guide you and your partner toward connection and healthy interactions.
We appreciate that all brains are different. We know we must understand how each client uniquely experiences the world to provide the most helpful psychological care. We are committed to meeting the needs of neurodivergent clients by taking the time to get to know each person, by applying our specialized training in neuroscience without judgement or assumption, and by working collaboratively with our clients and their families. We recognize you or your child have not always felt understood by or gotten your needs met by other professionals. Our practice is a place where you will feel affirmed, supported, and understood. We provide child therapy, adult therapy, neuropsychological evaluations, and psychiatric care to help you reach your goals.
All of our providers are LGBTQIA+ affirming. Most have training specific to addressing the needs of the queer community, and a number of our staff are members of this community themselves. We are dedicated to being a safe space for all individuals and families to improve their mental health and receive the support they need. Please feel free to ask us what you need to know to feel comfortable in engaging in services with our office. If you would like to reach out to our practice owner directly, she can be reached at dr.reitz@sfpgh.com.