Family Guidance Service

The Family Guidance Service offers evaluations and outpatient mental health services for children through the age of 11 - and on occasion through age 14 - and their families.  We offer services in English and Spanish.  Because of the community need, we have expanded to serve a limited number of youth ages 12-14.  Please note that our videos on this site do not reflect this recent change. 

We assist parents and children with various situations affecting the healthy emotional development of young children. Examples of the situations that we help with are:

  • parenting questions
  • behavior and discipline challenges
  • attention deficit/hyperactivity symptoms
  • reactions to abuse and other trauma
  • reactions to childhood bereavement
  • complications of adoption including attachment problems
  • adjustments in blended families
  • arrangements and reaction to divorce
  • impulsivity and aggression
  • fears, anxieties, and behavior rituals
  • separation problems
  • sleep and toileting problems
  • social isolation and peer conflicts
  • mood problems


Our goals are to achieve genuine growth within children and families, and we work with families as long as necessary to achieve these goals.  We help families understand the reasons why their children may be having emotional or behavioral difficulties. We may recommend medication, but we recognize that medication often just addresses symptoms rather than the problem itself. 

Getting started is simple.  We ask parents to complete our Request for Consultation form and submit as directed.  Parents can expect to hear back from us within two weeks, although occasionally our waiting lists are longer.  We work with a limited number of children who are 12, 13, or 14 years of age.  If you submit a Request for Consultation form for a child 12-14, we will respond within two working days and let you know if we will be able to offer a first appointment. 

We will arrange a first meeting in which we meet with parent(s).  On the basis of that meeting, we may have advice to offer, or we may recommend a more extensive assessment.

The Lucy Daniels Center has an unusually comprehensive array of treatment options for children, and we tailor our recommendations to the needs of each child. Continued help in the Family Guidance Service typically includes some combination of parent counseling, play therapy for the child, family therapy, collaboration with school, and medication assessment.  We may also recommend that parents consider further treatment in another one of the other components of the Lucy Daniels Center (the Early Intervention Program or SecurePath Program.)

Take a look at a video on the Family Guidance Service from a therapist's perspective. 

Insurances we accept include:

  • Aetna Behavioral Health
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield
  • Cigna Behavioral Health
  • Health Choice
  • Magellan 
  • Medicaid
  • MHN
  • United Behavioral Health

The Lucy Daniels Center accepts the insurances above as part of our goal of making our services accessible to all families.  We also offer fee reductions (sliding fee scale) for families without health insurance who qualify on the basis of financial need.