Nurtured Heart Consulting is a private agency that provides counseling,
consultation, parent coaching, and training to families, agencies, and
school systems. We specialize in working with challenging children from
preschoolers to teens as well as their parents and teachers. Many of these
children have been diagnosed with ADHD, ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder), anxiety, depression
or exhibit behaviors associated with these disorders. Through use of the Nurtured Heart
Approach, we seek to transform the lives of all kinds of children and the adults who care for them.
Louisa Triandis, LCSW, CNHT
Louisa Triandis is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with over 20 years of counseling experience with families, adults, and children of all ages. She is also a certificated school social worker and has worked in settings for severely emotionally disturbed children, as well as regular education supporting teachers with classroom management since 1994. She is a Certified Nurtured Heart Approach trainer and holds a certificate in art therapy. She is able to provide counseling, coaching and training in both English and Spanish. Louisa received her B.S. from Northwestern University and her MSW from The University of Illinois. She taught for the University of California School of Social Work for eight years.
Our Philosophy
All children need to be recognized for their greatness….however, challenging and intense children need this recognition even more than a typical child. Unfortunately, traditional parenting and teaching techniques can inadvertently cause challenging children to believe that they receive more attention and relationship when acting out rather than by “being good.” Over time, they come to believe that they are “bad” or “stupid” or “always in trouble.” Not surprisingly, these children often grow up to be adults that fail to live up to their potential. The techniques of the Nurtured Heart Approach turn this process upside down. Children and adults come to transform the way they think of themselves. They move from having a negative self concept (I am stupid, bad, a poor decision maker, always in trouble, etc.), to having a positive self concept (I am always good, even when I make mistakes, I am competent and make good decisions). When this transformation occurs, children begin to achieve and exceed their potential, and their relationships with adults improve dramatically!
What is The Nurtured Heart Approach?
The Nurtured Heart Approach is a way of building relationships with people in ways that are transformative. Through use of the approach we develop strong character, spirit and “high inner wealth”, or the sense of ourselves as people who are successful, happy and competent.
The approach has three main aspects, which must all be in place to truly work effectively:
- No Attention on the Negative (no energy or focus put into things that are going wrong).
- Pursuit of the Positive (focusing all of our energy, attention and relationship on things that are going right).
- Strict Consequences (there is always a true consequence given for negative behavior).
Use of the Nurtured Heart Approach has resulted in the following:
- Reduction in the rate of referral to special education programs from 15% per year to as low as 2% per year.
- Exceptionally low utilization of medications for children with ADHD.
- Reduction in the rate of teacher attrition from 50% per year to under 5% per year.
- 20% reduction in the number of school discipline referrals in one year.
- Reduction in the recidivism rate for juvenile first time offenders from 50% to under 18%.