Samantha Pugh (she/her)

For the past nine years I have worked in the community mental health setting, directly with families experiencing chronic/toxic stress, intergenerational trauma, and exposure to violence. I am trained in evidence-based interventions that are proven to be effective for young children suffering from PTSD, including Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I am on the national roster for practitioners of Child-Parent Psychotherapy, to treat trauma in children birth to five and their caregivers.

I am an infant mental health specialist and work directly with new parents/caregivers and their babies, providing developmental guidance and relationship-based support to strengthen dyadic attachment between infants and caregivers. I work with expectant parents, grieving parents, and people who are struggling to become parents. I have extensive experience working with mothers experiencing perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, and helping them to find enjoyment in their babies.

I have been working with very young children and families for nine years. I am trained in numerous evidence-based interventions, including Child-Parent Psychotherapy (for kids aged birth to five and their caregivers), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (for ages three and older) and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (to help parents manage challenging behavior in young children ages three to eight).

I am on the national roster for Child-Parent Psychotherapy, the evidence-based practice to support healthy attachment relationships in young children (ages birth to five) and their caregivers. I think about everything through an attachment lens and know that a young child's relationship with their primary caregiver is the most important thing in that child's life. Additionally, I am trained to facilitate Circle of Security Parenting groups, to build secure attachments in young children.

I am trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and utilize this modality with very young children (ages 3 to 7) who have experienced trauma and are suffering from Posttraumatic Stress symptoms.

I am psychodynamically trained and attended Smith College School for Social Worker for my Masters in Social Work. I view all of my work through an attachment lens and am relational in style; I encourage my clients to explore the impact of their own early caregiving or traumatic experiences on their parenting style and to look at ways in which re-enactments come up in their lives or in therapy with me.