Supporting Families In Finding Their Balance
“If your kiddo has a difference, a diagnosis, or they simply present you with challenges that fall outside of your parenting wheelhouse, I’m here to help.” - Nina Essel, Founder of Balanced Kids
Parenting doesn’t come with step-by-step instructions. Raising children can be challenging, and it’s normal to feel frustrated and even overwhelmed at times. But if you feel like you’re doing more yelling than enjoying family time, if you’re worried about whether what you’re experiencing is developmentally appropriate, or if you simply need help navigating your children through a life event (divorce, death, serious illness), Balanced Kids is ready to help.
Through coaching, workshops and professional training, Nina Essel, an experienced Licensed Clinical Social Worker, can help parents understand their child’s development, recognize “big feelings,” and manage challenging behavior in the moment. Together, you will identify strategies that will work for your family and help you raise Balanced Kids.
Our Services
Parent Coaching
Individualized sessions support families and help them find the tools and strategies that will make for a more connected, less stressful life.
Parenting Workshops
Offered as single sessions or a series focused on a specific topic. Workshops can be customized upon request to fit a specific issue, group dynamic, or number of participants.
Professional Training
Balanced Kids offers sessions that will help an agency, organization and/or school build staff capacity in managing behavior, mental health and SEL best practices.
Meet Nina Essel
Parenting Coach & Licensed Clinical Social Worker
By the time you come to Balanced Kids, you’ve likely tried other strategies. So what makes Balanced Kids different?
Traditional parenting methods typically focus on rewards and consequences as motivators for positive behavior. But what do you do when those don’t work? Balanced Kids believes that kids are already motivated to do well but often lack the emotional and self-regulation skills to succeed. Behavior charts as well as rewards and consequences often fail to teach skills, instead we end up punishing our kids for skills they have not acquired yet. Balanced Kids utilizes relational approaches to support parents in acquiring new tools to support their child’s development with emotional and self-regulation skills.
“Luckily, the definition of good parenting is being responsive to the hand you’ve been dealt.”
- Dr. Ross W. Greene, Author of Raising Human Beings
What Parents Are Saying
“Nina helped us tremendously. She not only developed a plan to address behavioral concerns, but she transformed our entire approach to parenting. Highly recommend!”
— N.Herrera, coaching parent
"Nina’s session was extremely informative. It really gave me some new tools to manage myself while managing my toddler. I particularly enjoyed aspects where she broke down the science of our toddlers brains. Eye opening!"
— Zyphus Lebrun, workshop parent
“There is no one as helpful, patient, and kind as Nina. She gives us strategies that make sense for us...We never feel judged. We feel empowered to make our home a more serene place for all of us to enjoy.”
— H. Saslovsky, coaching parent
"Nina is magic...she’s the real deal, the best of the best. She helped us understand our son’s struggle with sensory overload and intense emotions. She gave us insight to help us empathize with him more and ultimately de-escalate situations rather than escalate."
— K. Berlin, coaching + workshop parent
"Our PTA hired Balanced Kids to run two virtual workshops with our families this past year. Nina was warm, thoughtful and reassuring. The best part was that while her advice and guidance was especially helpful during one of the hardest times we've encountered as parents, it was also advice we were able to take back into our lives as things slowly return to normal. I can't recommend her enough."
— Julia Smith, PTA President of South Mountain School
