Miriam Werzberger, LMSW

Growing up in a large family, there was a lot of pressure to become someone with status. I didn’t always know what I wanted my life to look like, but I knew I felt things deeply. I had this extra sensitivity to the world around me that everyone treated like a weakness. It took my own work in therapy to understand that it was one of the best things about me.

I’m Miriam, and I spent ten years working in a preschool before becoming a therapist. I was always drawn to the kids who needed a little extra patience and someone who understood what their behavior was trying to say. When I talked to their parents, they’d tell me they felt peace knowing someone was looking after their child with real care instead of judgment. Those conversations planted the seed for what I do now.

When I started providing home and community-based services to children, adolescents, and their caregivers, it gave me a firsthand look at what families are dealing with behind closed doors. Divorce, illness, poverty, children with challenging behaviors, and parents stretched so thin they couldn’t see a way through. These families came from all different walks of life, but the common thread was that they were overwhelmed and didn’t know where to start. Helping them work toward one thing at a time and watching the progress build over weeks and months gave me the push I needed to get my degree.

One of the biggest things I learned during those years, and something I carry into every session now, is that children don’t communicate the way adults do. They tell you what’s going on through play and their behavior. I love getting down on their level and learning about their world. I use drawing, games, emotion charts, and whatever else helps a child express what words can’t quite capture yet. With adolescents, the approach is different because trust doesn’t come easily at that age. Teens respond when they know I’m working with them, not against them. I give them room to feel everything they’re feeling without pressure to be a certain way.

I work with parents and caregivers too. A lot of the families I see are balancing so much that they’ve lost sight of where to even start. One of my favorite pieces of feedback from parents is that I helped them understand their child’s “language” and behavior in ways they hadn’t before. Sometimes the biggest breakthrough isn’t with the child at all. It’s the parent finally seeing what their kid has been trying to tell them. I also work with adults navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, low self-esteem, phobias, and neurodivergence. No matter the age, my approach stays the same.

The people closest to me would say I’m a kid at heart, and I think that’s why this work fits me so well. I’m curious by nature, I use humor when the moment calls for it, and I don’t get shocked by the things people say. Clients have told me that working with me feels different because it feels like we’re on the same team, working alongside each other rather than me talking down to them.