School Partnerships and Professional Consultation
We help schools navigate their most complex student situations.
Our experienced, licensed child therapists provide trauma-informed, neuro-affirming consultation and support partnerships for schools, pediatric providers, and community organizations.
When student needs are complex, schools need more than another handout
Many schools are supporting students with increasingly layered emotional, behavioral, developmental, sensory, and family-system needs.
Your team may be navigating:
Students who are frequently dysregulated or hard to reach
Neurodivergent learners who need more individualized support
Parent-school communication that has become tense or stuck
Staff disagreement about how to respond to behavior
Teachers who feel exhausted, blamed, or under-supported
Students with anxiety, trauma histories, school avoidance, sensory needs, or executive functioning challenges
Our consultation services are designed to help school teams slow down, understand what may be happening underneath the behavior, and identify grounded next steps.
Consultation that respects educators
We deeply respect educators as the experts in their classrooms.
The Real Work brings complementary expertise in child and adolescent mental health, occupational therapy, sensory processing, neurodevelopment, family systems, attachment, regulation, trauma-informed care, and neurodivergence-affirming support.
Together, we help teams move from “What do we do with this behavior?” toward:
“What is this student communicating, what does this team need, and what support will actually be usable in this setting?”
Companies we’ve helped integrate play-based, child-centered practices into via education and case consultation:
School Consultation Partnerships
How schools work with us
Flexible consultation and training options for schools navigating complex student needs, staff support, and family-school collaboration.
Situation-Specific Consultation
Best for teachers, administrators, counselors, learning specialists, or student support teams who want help thinking through a specific student concern, classroom dynamic, or family-school collaboration challenge.
Examples include:
- Supporting a student with ADHD, autism, sensory differences, anxiety, or school avoidance
- Creating consistent language across a team
- Preparing for a family meeting
- Understanding behavior through a nervous-system and developmental lens
- Identifying practical next steps for classroom support
Investment: $220/hour
Professional Development Workshops
Customized training for school staff on topics such as neurodivergent learners, co-regulation in the classroom, family-school collaboration, sensory processing, trauma-informed support, and reducing escalation cycles.
Options include:
- Brief in-service or lunch-and-learn
- Half-day workshop
- Full-day workshop
- Custom multi-session training series
Common topics include:
- Supporting neurodivergent students
- Understanding dysregulation and co-regulation
- Responding to big behaviors without escalating them
- Family-school communication
- Sensory needs in the classroom
- Staff sustainability and burnout prevention
Ongoing School Consultation Partnerships
For schools who want consistent support throughout a season or school year, we offer ongoing consultation packages.
These partnerships may include:
- Regular consultation sessions with a designated therapist or specialist
- Case consultation and collaborative problem-solving
- Support with family-school communication strategies
- Staff consultation or professional development
- Brief between-session coordination
- Development of consistent approaches for complex student needs
What your team can expect to come away with
- A clearer understanding of student behavior through a trauma-informed and neurodevelopmental lens
- Practical strategies staff can use right away
- Shared language across teachers, specialists, administrators, and families
- More confidence supporting neurodivergent students
- Reduced shame, blame, and escalation around challenging behavior
- Stronger family-school collaboration
- Support for both student wellbeing and staff sustainability
Our goal is not to add more to your team’s plate. Our goal is to help your team feel more supported, more aligned, and more equipped.
Why The Real Work
The Real Work is a therapy collective in downtown Beaverton specializing in mental health and occupational therapy services for children, teens, and families.
Our team includes clinicians with experience in play therapy, parent support, neurodivergence-affirming care, sensory processing, trauma-informed treatment, child development, family systems, and school collaboration.
Because many of our clients’ lives are deeply connected to school, we understand how important it is for families and schools to work together with clarity, respect, and shared support.
Start with a complimentary consultation call
The best place to begin is a 30-minute conversation. We’ll learn more about your school, your current priorities, and the kinds of student or staff support needs you are seeing.
Schedule a Complimentary Consultation Call
The Real Work
Downtown Beaverton
www.realworkwellness.com
Real Work School Consultants
Amber Kanallakan, LMFT
Amber specializes in helping schools and families navigate complex behavioral, emotional, and relational challenges with curiosity, compassion, and practical problem-solving. Her collaborative approach helps teams develop shared language and effective support strategies for students experiencing anxiety, emotional dysregulation, trauma, or school-related challenges
Consultation Program Lead, Licensed Child Therapist
Gabi Rookard, LCSW, RPT
Gabi brings expertise in neurodivergence-affirming care, nervous system regulation, play therapy, and family support. She helps educators better understand the underlying needs beneath student behavior and develop relationship-based strategies that foster connection, regulation, and long-term growth.
Licensed Child Therapist, Registered Play Therapist, Certified Synergetic Play Therapist
Licensed Child Therapist, Certified Synergetic Play TherapistKimia Amirifar, LPC
Kimia specializes in supporting young children with ADHD, anxiety, developmental differences, trauma histories, and complex family experiences. Her trauma-informed, brain-based approach helps school teams understand behavior through a developmental lens while identifying practical supports that can be implemented in classroom settings.
Submit an Interest form for your School
How we enrich your team
When schools partner with The Real Work for consultation or staff development, our goal is to help teams feel more confident, more effective, and more connected in their work with children.
Schools and educational teams often leave our consultations with:
A clearer understanding of child behavior through a trauma-informed, neurodevelopmental lens
Practical, immediately usable strategies for supporting regulation, connection, and emotional safety in classrooms and school environments
Increased confidence working with neurodivergent students, including students with ADHD, autism, sensory differences, anxiety, trauma histories, or relational challenges
Tools for reducing power struggles, escalating behaviors, and shame-based discipline cycles
Stronger collaboration between educators, specialists, and caregivers
Language and frameworks that help staff respond with curiosity and clinical insight rather than frustration or confusion
A deeper understanding of how play, movement, sensory systems, attachment, and nervous system regulation impact learning and behavior
Strategies that support both student wellbeing and staff sustainability, helping educators feel less burned out and more equipped
Consultation tailored to the real-world challenges their team is actually facing, rather than one-size-fits-all recommendations
We believe the best school support happens when educators feel empowered, respected, and genuinely supported themselves. Our consultations are collaborative, practical, relational, and grounded in current neuroscience and developmental research.
Whether we are supporting one student, consulting with a classroom team, or providing a larger staff training, we strive to help schools create environments where children and teachers can feel safer, more connected, and more able to learn.
Training & Consultation Options
One-Time Trainings
Lunch & Learn
60–90 minutes
Ideal for staff meetings or introductory training.
Includes:
Presentation
Q&A
Resource handouts
Investment:
$450–650
Half-Day Training
3 hours
Includes:
Customized content
Interactive discussion
Resources
Investment:
$1,000–1,600
Full-Day Workshop
6 hours
Includes:
Customized training
Activities
Implementation planning
Resources
Investment:
$2,000–3,200
Ongoing Consultation Packages
Foundations Package: 3-Month Partnership
Best for organizations beginning implementation.
Includes:
✓ Two consultation meetings/month
✓ Email support
✓ Resource recommendations
✓ Problem-solving around challenges
Investment:
$500–800/month
Total: $1,500–2,400
Growth Package: 9-Month Partnership
Includes:
✓ Two monthly consultations
✓ Two 60-90 minute staff trainings during the school year
✓ Implementation support
✓ Resource recommendations
✓ Email support
Investment:
$600–900/month
Total: $5,400–8,100
Popular Training Topics
Each training is tailored to your setting, but common areas include:
How to communicate effectively with parents
Understanding regulation, dysregulation, and co-regulation
Supporting neurodivergent children (ADHD, autism, sensory differences)
Responding to big behaviors without escalating them
The role of play in emotional and developmental growth
Sensory needs in everyday environments
Supporting families without increasing shame or overwhelm
Rethinking “challenging behavior” through a relational lens
Popular Consultation Topics
Autism and neurodivergent support
Sensory processing and regulation
Emotional regulation in the classroom
Trauma-informed behavioral support
School avoidance
PDA-informed support strategies
Parent-school collaboration
Play-based and relational interventions
Burnout prevention for helping professionals
Nature-based and movement-based regulation strategies
“ Whether we are supporting one student, consulting with a classroom team, or providing a larger staff training, we work hard to help schools create environments where children and teachers can feel safer, more connected, and more able to learn.”
We Partner With
Public schools
Private schools
Preschools
Daycares
Pediatric clinics
Community programs
Educators and administratorsnities