School Psychology

The School Psychologist evaluates and counsels children who are gifted and in need of a more challenging learning environment, or those having trouble learning and performing in school.  These children may have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Learning Disabilities (LD), Autism Spectrum Disorder, or Developmental Delays.  Since these problems continue into adulthood, School Psychologists also evaluate and work with adults who are having trouble transitioning to college, the work world, or adult life.  Besides working with those who are gifted or those having problems learning, School Psychologists also do Crisis Counseling and Peer Mediation.

Since the School Psychologist has to know how to work with young children, Play Therapy in its many forms is often utilized.  This may involve role-playing, drawing, and Sand Play Therapy.  In Sand Play Therapy, the child, or teenager, is simply selecting and arranging some of the many many characters available in the sand, but by so doing, they are, like in a dream, expressing issues that are bothering them. This well established form of therapy helps children work through problems and issues in a safe and non-threatening way.  Children are usually not really able to talk about early traumas or issues because the roots of such problems are below the level of consciousness.  Since healing is a powerful natural force, they will, in a safe and supportive environment, and when given the right tools, express these issues through the play and by doing so, heal at a deep level.

We are fortunate at Holistic Health & Counseling Center to have someone with Flora Torra’s bredth of experience, first as a teacher of children with Learning Disabilities and Special Needs and then as a School Psychologist.  She also has advanced certification in Neuropsychology.  Flora has worked for years in private practice and has had extensive training in the United States and Europe in Sand Play therapy.  She has found Sand Play therapy to be a powerful doorway to healing for both children and teenagers, and, “My background in the schools has taught me to be practical, positive and concise so that the recommendations of the evaluations can be individualized to the strengths and the needs of the student of any age.”