Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Stokka Merendino and Suvi Miller.
Kimberly and Suvi, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We are both mental health providers specializing in the treatment of children and families. We have independent private practices that shared practice space and a passion to provide the best possible services to our clients. In our ongoing work with children, adolescents and their families, we realize that for some children mental health support is not all that is needed—for some children, there is a need for additional intervention to help them be their very best. Often when our client families seek a multi-disciplinary assessment for their child they face very significant waitlists or receive reports that don’t translate to what is best for each child and her unique needs. In January of 2018, we made the leap to purchase a property in an effort to build out a state-of-the-art space to provide high quality, comprehensive developmental assessments for children. In August of 2018, we launched The Child Assessment and Training Center of Denver.
Our vision is simple. We believe that children and families should have the opportunity to participate in a high-quality assessment process that identifies the child’s strengths, learning styles, and opportunities for growth. Comprehensive assessments include evaluating the child’s cognitive ability, sensorimotor skills, language, and communication as well as social and emotional wellness.
We have brought together a group of child experts to create a team that provides high-quality assessments. Each professional involved our comprehensive services has a minimum of ten years of experience in her respective field. Most of our team members have small businesses in their own area of expertise in addition to contributing to our services. Collectively, we have over 150 years of experience.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being an entrepreneur is never easy. We both have extensive experience in the field of mental health and continue to maintain our own private practices (suvihmiller.com and BarnematConsulting.com) while we are growing our new business—which can sometimes stretch us a little thin! Embarking on a new business has its rewards and challenges, like any relationship. Navigating the expected and the unexpected is certainly stressful at times but has allowed for growth in our partnership and for us as professionals as well.
Purchasing and owning a space, working with contractors, dealing with buildout delays, coming up with marketing strategies, figuring out who to call when something goes wrong, putting in lots of blood, sweat and tears— these are all the hallmarks of entrepreneurship. Never easy, but well worth it in the end!
Please tell us about The Child Assessment and Training Center of Denver – what should we know?
The Child Assessment and Training Center of Denver provide comprehensive developmental assessment services that are the gold standard in the Denver area. We use the Transdisciplinary Play-Based Assessment model, developed by Toni Linder, a renowned child researcher from the University of Denver, for children under the age of six. This model is designed to evaluate children from birth to age six in structured and unstructured play settings using observation. For children over age six, we use a customized approach with standardized measures–more appropriate for this older developmental age. Each child is evaluated to identify strengths and areas of growth in the four areas of development including cognitive development, sensorimotor development, language, and communication as well as social and emotional health. What are your child’s intellectual abilities and how do they best learn? How does your child process sensory information (hear, touch, taste) and how does he/she move her body? How does your child communicate and are there any signs of challenges in literacy? How does your child connect to others?
We are most proud of how our services are tailored to each unique child. We don’t just complete an evaluation of a child and develop a report—we collect comprehensive background information, interviewing the people important to the child’s development. We work to discover the questions parents and caregivers have that are unique to their child—what are they most concerned about? Challenged by? What brings them joy with their child? What tries their patience? After the assessment is complete and the report provided to the caregivers, we give them an opportunity to meet with all the professionals from the team together—to get clarification, ask questions and develop a road map for how best to help their child thrive.
Deciding to have a child evaluated can be a big decision for many parents.
Many of the families that seek an assessment for their child tell us that life is difficult. Transitions during the day create tantrums and tears, routines are challenging. Families realize that their child is bright, but he or she is struggling academically. Our goal is to help parents and caregivers identify their child’s strengths while also identifying the challenges and opportunities for growth so that they can thrive as a family.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
If we had to choose only one word, it would be integrity. We strive to provide the best possible services from a highly experienced professional team perspective, assuring that each family feels heard and helped in a way to suited to their unique child’s needs—never a one-size-fits-all. The highest compliment we can receive is a referral from a family that has been helped by our services.
The Child Assessment and Training Center is focused on providing high-quality services for every family. We are driven by the desire to help every family have a road map for their child moving forward.
Pricing:
- Transdisciplinary Play-Based Assessment (birth up to age 6) = $3600
- Customized Evaluation (children age 6 and up) = $4500
- A La Carte Assessment services = priced on specific needs of the family
Contact Info:
- Address: 495 Uinta Way Suite 260 Denver, CO 80230
- Website: www.childassessmentandtraining.com
- Phone: 303.834.3493
- Email: info@childassessmentandtraining.com
Image Credit:
212 photography/bloom portraits for the headshots
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