About |
Our clinic beliefs that most kids move through developmental stages without major incident. As parents, we expect and understand the "terrible twos", as well as our "moody" teens sitting in their rooms endlessly listening to their "I-Pods" while scanning their "Facebook" pages. However, there are instances when our children, despite all our efforts, prayers and interventions, are just not "making the grade."
When behavioral problems begin to surface, school work starts to suffer, and peer groups can change for the worse. If, and when, this happens, we as parents are often at a loss. Pointed questions such as "What did we do wrong?, "Why is this happening?", or "What do we do now?" begin to dominate late night discussions and the parent-child relationship. While often elusive and complex, answers to these questions can be found when employing the services and knowledge of doctoral level, licensed professionals.
With proper assessment behavioral issues can be diagnosed. With a defined plan difficulties in school can be overcome. With collaborative teamwork, utilizing your expertise as a parent, progress can be made. Improvement is not only possible, but probable.
Our new and innovative clinic offers Salt Lake County unique, affordable, imaginative and culturally/spiritually compatible solutions to issues that we as parents are often forced to face on a daily basis.
Our clinic was born out of our own frustrations as parents dealing with crowded schools, lack of support for home-school based parents, and inadequate health insurance options for our own children. Early Life was designed by parents with a dream....for parents like you. In short...Early Life helps parents find answers.
Perhaps one of the biggest problems faced by educators and parents is how to best teach and reach students who present with learning difficulties. Early Life will provide state of the art educational and psychological assessment for the diagnosis and treatment of disorders that affect the emotional, intellectual and academic progress of children.
Dedicated to excellence and professional service to your family members, the professionals at Early Life offer a wide range of diagnostic, therapy, and consulting services including, but not limited to:
1. PASS Based Psycho-Educational Assessment
2. Emotional Assessment
3. Developmental/Early Intervention Assessment
4. Kindergarten "Readiness" Assessment
5. Cognitive/"Gifted" Admissions Testing
6. Science Based Education/Tutoring Assistance Programs
7. Home School Assessment/Testing Services
8. In-Home Assessment Possible
9. IEP Advocacy Services
10. Child Therapy including, but not limited to:
a. ADHD
b. Depression
c. Trauma
d. Eating Disorders
e. School Behavioral Issues
f. Fear & Anxiety
Our Chief Psychologist, Dr. Frances L. Thompson, is a licensed clinical psychologist (UT#7588970-2501) with extensive training and experience working with children and teens presenting with an array of emotional, developmental, social and educational challenges.
Dr. Thompson received both her Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) and Master's Degree (M.A.) in Psychology from Phillips Graduate Institute in Los Angleles, California, and completed her award winning pre-doctoral and post-doctoral residency requirements at A Better Way Child & Family Services located in Berkeley, California. Dr. Thompson's unique clinical experiences with foster care youth provided highly sought after training and experience dealing with a wide range of problems associated with infants, children, and teenagers. Prior to completing her graduate studies, Dr. Thompson graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Dr. Thompson's expertise lies in performing evaluations that assess for ADHD, personality "abnormalities", learning disabilities, and other childhood developmental disorders. As part of her Doctoral Residency training program, Dr. Thompson became a certified youth trauma clinician through the University of Washington, as well as receiving certification from the University of California, Davis as a expert in PCIT (Parent-Child Interactive Therapy).
Dr. Thompson consults with teachers, medical doctors and other professionals to facilitate an understanding of your child's struggles and advocates for their needs. She believes that successful treatment entails the full collaboration of caregivers, teachers, tutors and other medical professionals and incorporates this component as part of a comprehensive treatment approach.
Dr. Thompson is an active member in good standing with the Utah Psychological Association (UPA), and the American Psychological Association (APA).