Founder’s Mission

I founded Oakwood Family Institute with the goal of supporting parents and their teen and young adult children by offering a comprehensive array of clinical services tailored to the needs of each family. The need for family support and guidance has never been stronger than it is today. Having worked with hundreds of families and young people over the past 27 years, I have found that parents facing the complexities of their teenager’s world oftentimes have insufficient resources and knowledge to address their teen’s problems. This can leave parents doubtful and ambivalent in their parental decision-making. All too often parents feel isolated and overwhelmed in addressing their child’s or family’s unique set of challenges.

At Oakwood, we “get” what families need to feel supported, and we have the clinical resources necessary to achieve successful outcomes for our clients. I see families as complex systems that come with many parts, and as such we provide families the comprehensive help they truly need to create positive change not just for the adolescent or young adult child, but for the family system as a whole. At Oakwood it is our mission to provide families with the direction and resources needed to help teens and young adults thrive developmentally, giving parents and their children the power to create and sustain transformative change in their lives.