Jennifer Rood, PsyD

As a pediatric psychologist, I specialize in working with preschool-age children through adolescents who have anxiety, and preschool through elementary school-age children who have emotion regulation difficulties. I also work with adolescents who have difficulties with executive functioning and with high-achieving children and adolescents who need help with stress management. I offer parent behavioral training to address behavioral issues in children under age 10, as well as psychological evaluations and testing.

I have always been fascinated with how the mind works and how our thoughts, emotions and behaviors can either help or hurt us. I was drawn to working with children because of my belief that teaching effective coping strategies for anxiety, anger and depression can prevent future problems for them.

My approach to care is to teach evidence-based techniques in a child- and family-centered manner. I do this by incorporating play, fun and humor while implementing cognitive-behavioral, behavioral and parent behavioral counseling strategies.

My psychological evaluations are aimed at understanding the whole intellectual, academic, social, emotional, behavioral and personality makeup of the child. I make sure to take the time to fully explain the results to parents and caregivers so they know to advocate for what their child needs.

Seeking out psychological services can be a scary process, and even considering this step makes you brave. I truly believe that if we can build a trusting relationship and work together as a team, then every one of my patients and families has the ability to thrive.

In my free time, I enjoy yoga, playing games, dinner with friends, and watching movies with my husband and daughter. In general, I was an anxious kid. Then in college, I stepped way out of my comfort shell and studied abroad in Australia. There I had the opportunity to hold a koala and pet a kangaroo.