East Bay Educational Therapy
Making learning click, one student at a time
Evidence-based learning tailored to meet each student’s individual strengths and needs.
What is Educational Therapy?
Educational Therapy is a holistic approach that combines therapeutic and educational practices to support individual learning. It draws on educational, sociological, and psychological frameworks to guide its methods. This approach recognizes the important role a child’s environment and identity play in the learning process. Educational therapy utilizes evidence-based interventions to address the root causes of learning difficulties and build resilience.
What To Expect...
Individualized Treatment Plan:
Educational therapists review existing records, conduct formal and informal assessments, and collaborate with the student, family, and educators to set clear and achievable goals. These goals may target academic skills, executive functioning, self-regulation, or social-emotional growth.
Supportive Partnerships:
Educational therapists take a whole-child approach, working across multiple environments to support students. They partner with families by offering guidance, resources, and practical strategies. Through consistent collaboration with parents, teachers, and other allied professionals, educational therapists help reinforce skills across settings to provide meaningful progress.
Ethical Guidance:
Educational therapists use the Association of Educational Therapists' Code of Ethics to guide decisions, uphold professional integrity, and advocate for their clients’ best interests.
What Not To Expect...
Diagnosis:
Educational therapists do not diagnose, assess, or prescribe medication for mental-health related conditions nor do they administer neuropsychological testing.
Quick Fix:
Educational therapy focuses on long-term outcomes with the ultimate goal of independent and autonomous learning. Depending on the nature of the learning difficulties, the therapeutic relationship may last from several months to several years.
Tutoring:
Tutors typically teach a specific subject area and are focused on short-term academic goals. Educational therapists address broader learning goals in addition to supporting specific subject areas.
Psychotherapy:
Educational therapists are not psychotherapists and do not provide talk therapy. Educational therapists collaborate with psychotherapists to develop integrated strategies to support both academic and emotional needs.
Evidence-Based Learning Practices
Educational therapy teaches students how the brain works. When students understand how they learn best, they can self-advocate and meet their own learning needs.
Utilizing the latest research in neuroscience, learning theory, and developmental research, educational therapists provide evidence-based interventions tailored to meet each student’s learning needs.
Multisensory Instruction
Purpose: Engage multiple senses in learning
Benefit: Strengthens memory and understanding by activating visual, auditory, and kinesthetic pathways
Metacognitive Strategy Instruction
Purpose: Teach students to monitor their thinking
Benefit: Develops independent learning, problem-solving, and self-awareness
Executive Function Support
Purpose: Improve planning, organization, and working memory
Benefit: Helps learners manage tasks, prioritize work, and stay organized
Social-Emotional Learning
Purpose: Address motivation, confidence, and emotional regulation
Benefit: Enhances engagement, resilience, and persistence in learning
Guiding Principles
Neuroplasticity
Learning occurs across the lifespan and can be enhanced through skillful intervention. Engaging in diverse and stimulating activities promotes neuroplasticity, allowing the brain to adapt, reorganize, and form new connections
Neurodiversity
Neurological differences are a natural and valuable part of human diversity, contributing unique skills and strengths that enrich learning environments.
Neuro-Affirming
Support students in understanding themselves rather than conforming to “neurotypical” norms by fostering self-awareness, teaching self-regulation strategies, and validating diverse communication, sensory, and emotional needs.
Social Justice
Foster equitable, inclusive learning environments that honor students’ diverse backgrounds and experiences, while challenging biases and promoting critical thinking about societal inequities.
Disability Rights
Students with disabilities have the right to equal access, opportunities, and support in education. Support families in connecting with legal resources and assistance, and advocate for accommodations and interventions that are both inclusive and equitable
Anti-Ableism
Disability is a positive aspect of human diversity, not to a deficit. Promote meaningful participation for all students by creating accessible learning environments using Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
Charlie McDonald (they/them)
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership
I am an educator currently working towards a certification in Educational Therapy from UCSC, Silicon Valley Professional Education. My approach is shaped by my own experience as a highly energetic and anxious student who struggled to sit still and be quiet. I incorporate movement as a cognitive tool, using physical activity to strengthen executive functioning skills, alongside multisensory instruction to help learning stick. As a queer, trans* educator, I am especially committed to supporting trans* and gender-diverse students with learning differences.
Free Sessions for Trans* Students
Feeling safe and seen matters. Free educational therapy sessions for trans, nonbinary and gender expansive students, created by and for the community.
