Different Brains. Big Feelings. Real Connection.
A Space to Be Exactly Who You Are.
For the quirky kids who feel different, the teens who feel misunderstood, the young adults figuring life out, and the parents who just want to see their child happy.
Sometimes Life Feels a Little Weird. Sometimes It's Just Really Hard.
Maybe you've always felt like the odd one out.
You're the goofy kid with the big imagination, the teen who overthinks every conversation, or the young adult who wonders why everyone else seems to have life figured out.
Maybe making friends feels complicated, your emotions seem bigger than everyone else's, or you spend so much energy trying to fit in that you're completely exhausted by the end of the day.
Maybe you've always felt a little different but haven't quite figured out why.
Or maybe things used to feel pretty okay, until life changed.
Your parents separated or divorced. Your family looks different than it used to. Home feels tense, relationships are complicated, or you're trying to make sense of changes you never asked for.
Maybe you're angry. Maybe you're sad. Maybe you're tired of everyone asking if you're okay when you don't even know how to answer.
And maybe you're a little bit of all those things.
Whatever your story, you deserve a place where you don't have to pretend everything is fine.
For Kids Who Feel Different, Kids Who Have Been Through a Lot, and Kids Who Just Need Someone Who Gets Them
Haley Gardner, AMFT, works with children ages 8 and up, teenagers, and young adults through age 30 who are navigating the sometimes messy, confusing, and overwhelming parts of life.
She has a special passion for neurodivergent kids and teens, including those with ADHD and autism, as well as young people who have always felt a little different but aren't quite sure why.
But you don't need a diagnosis, a label, or even an explanation for why things feel hard to work with Haley.
She also supports kids, teens, and young adults who are struggling with anxiety, big emotions, friendship challenges, self-esteem, divorce, family conflict, difficult transitions, and other experiences that can make life feel uncertain.
Sometimes the challenge is figuring out how your brain works.
Sometimes it's figuring out how to handle everything happening around you.
And sometimes it's both.
You don't have to know why you're struggling to deserve support.
A Little Weird? A Little Goofy? You're Welcome Here.
Haley believes therapy shouldn't feel like another place where you have to behave perfectly, say the right thing, or squeeze yourself into someone else's expectations.
Maybe you're the kid who loves talking about your favorite thing for hours. Maybe you're the teen who feels awkward in groups but wishes making friends were easier. Or maybe you're the young adult who's spent years trying to be who everyone else expects you to be.
You might be funny and anxious. Creative and overwhelmed. Confident one day and completely unsure of yourself the next.
All of that is welcome.
Haley takes a warm, collaborative, and neurodiversity-affirming approach to therapy. That means she recognizes that every person experiences the world differently, and those differences aren't something that automatically need to be fixed.
She helps young people understand themselves, recognize their strengths, explore their feelings, and develop practical tools for navigating everyday challenges.
Whether you're neurodivergent, wondering if you might be, or simply trying to find your place in the world, Haley wants you to feel comfortable showing up exactly as you are.
Because you don't have to be less weird, less sensitive, or less yourself to feel like you belong.
What If You've Always Felt Different but Never Knew Why?
Some kids and teens know early on that they have ADHD, autism, or another neurodevelopmental difference.
Others grow up feeling like something just doesn't click.
Maybe you're the kid who doesn't understand why friendships are so confusing. The teen who spends hours replaying conversations in your head. Or the college student who looks like they're doing fine on the outside but feels completely overwhelmed on the inside.
Maybe people have described you as too sensitive, too quiet, too intense, too distracted, or someone who just needs to try harder.
And maybe you've started wondering whether your brain works a little differently.
Haley offers a welcoming, neurodiversity-affirming space to explore those questions without judgment or pressure to fit into a particular category.
You don't have to walk into therapy knowing whether you're neurodivergent. You don't need to have everything figured out.
Together, you can explore your experiences, understand your needs, recognize your strengths, and find strategies that make everyday life feel more manageable.
And if neurodivergence isn't part of your story, that's okay too.
Sometimes understanding yourself starts with finding someone who's willing to listen.
When Your Whole World Changes, It's Okay to Have Big Feelings About It
Sometimes life gets complicated in ways you never asked for.
Your parents get divorced. You start moving between two homes. Someone important leaves. Relationships change. Maybe your family is going through conflict, or everything feels different from how it used to be.
And suddenly, life doesn't feel quite as predictable or safe as it once did.
Maybe you feel caught in the middle. Maybe you're worried about hurting someone's feelings. Maybe you're angry that things changed, even though you love everyone involved.
Or maybe you just miss the way things used to be.
For kids and teens, those feelings can be hard to explain. Sometimes they show up as frustration, shutting down, anxiety, acting out, or struggling at school.
Haley understands that there is often more happening underneath the surface than what adults can see.
Through her experience supporting children and families navigating divorce, high-conflict situations, custody-related transitions, and complicated family relationships, she recognizes how deeply these experiences can affect young people.
She offers a supportive place where kids and teens can explore their feelings, make sense of difficult experiences, and develop healthy ways to cope with changes they may not be able to control.
Because even when you can't control what's happening around you, you deserve support figuring out how to move through it.
For Parents Who Just Want to See Their Child Happy
It's hard watching your child struggle, especially when you're not sure how to help.
Maybe your child comes home from school completely overwhelmed. Maybe friendships never seem to last. Maybe small frustrations turn into huge emotional reactions, or your once-talkative child has started shutting down.
Maybe your family has experienced divorce, separation, or other difficult changes, and you're worried about how your child is handling everything.
Or maybe you're wondering whether ADHD, autism, anxiety, or something else could be contributing to their struggles.
You see how bright, funny, creative, and wonderful your child is.
You just wish they could see it in themselves.
You've tried encouraging them, reassuring them, giving them space, and offering advice.
Sometimes it helps. Sometimes it feels like nothing gets through.
And that's exhausting for everyone.
Haley understands that parents don't need another person telling them what they're doing wrong.
They need someone who can help them better understand what their child is experiencing and how to support them.
With experience in individual and family therapy, Haley recognizes that kids don't grow up in isolation. Their relationships, school experiences, family dynamics, and everyday environments all play a role in how they feel.
She works to help young people feel heard and supported while encouraging healthier communication and connection within families when appropriate.
Because sometimes the greatest gift you can give your child is a place where they don't have to hold everything together.
You Don't Have to Change Who You Are to Find Where You Belong
Growing up can be messy, confusing, exciting, and overwhelming, sometimes all before lunchtime.
For some kids, therapy is about navigating ADHD, autism, sensory overwhelm, or big emotions.
For others, it's about working through anxiety, friendship drama, self-esteem struggles, divorce, family conflict, or the pressure to be someone they're not.
And for young adults through age 30, it might mean navigating college, relationships, independence, identity, or the realization that they've spent years feeling misunderstood.
Haley meets clients where they are.
Her goal is to help young people better understand themselves, develop emotional awareness, build practical coping skills, strengthen relationships, and feel more confident navigating life's challenges.
Not by changing who they are.
But by helping them discover that who they are deserves understanding, acceptance, and support.
You don't have to change who you are to find where you belong.
Getting to Know Haley
Haley brings experience working with adolescents, families, and complex family dynamics.
During her clinical training at Nexus Youth & Family Services, she provided individual and family therapy, facilitated skills groups for adolescents and caregivers, and collaborated closely with families, schools, and community agencies.
She also served as a court-approved supervised visitation monitor, giving her valuable experience supporting families through high-conflict situations, custody-related transitions, and difficult family changes.
Haley has additional training in neurodiversity-affirming care, trauma and attachment, and suicide and self-harm prevention.
She earned her Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from Alliant University and her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from California State University, Sacramento.
Beyond her clinical training, Haley believes one of the most important things a therapist can offer is a space where young people feel genuinely heard, understood, and accepted.
No pressure to be perfect. No need to pretend. Just space to figure things out, one step at a time.