About Us

Hi, I am Dr. Elisabeth Dahl, a licensed child psychologist in the state of Michigan who specializes in treating childhood anxiety disorders. I created Brave and Balanced Children as a safe space for you (parent/caregiver) and your child to find their inner superhero and practice courage for all the scary situations in life. I specialize in treatment of anxiety disorders and related (e.g. OCD, panic, phobias, adjustment disorders with anxiety).​

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We offer a unique parent training that helps prepare parents and parents-to-be to address their child's anxiety before it even occurs with our Medical Setting Anxiety Training for parents/caregivers!

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A national poll conducted by C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital showed half (50%) of young children fear doctor's visits, with fear of injections/needles the most common experience driving this. A study published in the Journal of Dentistry found that one-third (30%) of young children have dental anxiety. Unfortunately, children do not "grow out of" this fear. In general, when anxiety is left unchecked, it has a tendency to endure and even worsen over time. Illustratively, over 60% of adults suffer from debilitating anxiety around routine or specialist medical and around 75% of adults fear dental appointments. This is even higher than the percentage of young children (ages 2-5) that the above-referenced sources show have these anxieties.

 

Brave and Balanced Children's 2-4 session medical setting anxiety training aids parents/caregivers - especially those with their own medical setting anxiety - to best support their child(ren)'s emotional reactions, including anxiety, in medical settings and during medical interventions. This training aims to prepare - rather than treat after-the-fact. This is highly important in supporting children toward avoiding their routine worries or anxiety becoming the intense phobias or medical trauma experiences that many adults carry. Interested in finding out more? Check out our Services Page and our Blog for more information!

 

I aim to partner with you (parent/caregiver) and your child in order to find balance in your child's life so they can engage to their best abilities in their activities while honoring what they bring to the table with their personality, development, and readiness for different stages of treatment.  

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Welcome to Brave and Balanced Children! We cannot wait to meet you!