Abbi Van Norman, MSW, LCSW

Licensed Clinical Social Worker | Child, Adolescent & Family Therapist

Abbi Van Norman is a dedicated and compassionate Licensed Clinical Social Worker with years of experience providing individual and family therapy to children, adolescents, parents, and families. Her work is grounded in connection, communication, emotional safety, and the belief that children do best when they feel genuinely understood, supported, and valued within the relationships that matter most to them.

Abbi has extensive experience working with children and families across both clinical and educational settings. Prior to transitioning exclusively to her clinical work at PLAE Therapy, she spent many years supporting children within a school environment, including her work at the Weilenmann K–8 School of Discovery in Park City. This experience developed Abbi’s strong understanding of the intersection between mental health, learning, executive functioning, relationships, family systems, and school success.

Throughout her career, Abbi has supported children and adolescents experiencing a broad range of social, emotional, behavioral, relational, and developmental needs, including:

• Anxiety, worry, and school-related stress

• Emotional regulation and managing big feelings

• Executive functioning, organization, planning, and task initiation

• Attention, focus, working memory, and impulse control

• Transitions, flexibility, and adapting to change

• School avoidance and difficulty separating from caregivers

• Social-emotional learning and social skills

• Friendship challenges, peer conflict, and belonging

• Self-esteem, confidence, and identity development

• Behavioral concerns and understanding the needs underneath behavior

• Parent-child communication and connection

• Family transitions, stress, and changing family dynamics

• Sibling relationships and conflict

• Coping skills, resilience, and problem-solving

• Developing independence and age-appropriate responsibility

A central belief in Abbi’s work is that “all children need to feel heard and believed.” She approaches children with curiosity rather than judgment and recognizes that behavior is often an important form of communication—particularly when a child does not yet have the language, skills, or emotional capacity to explain what they are experiencing.

Executive Functioning & School Support

Abbi’s years of experience within educational settings give her a particularly valuable perspective on executive functioning and the emotional demands of school.

She supports children and adolescents who may understand what they are supposed to do but struggle with the skills required to consistently make it happen. This can include difficulties with starting tasks, organizing materials, managing time, remembering instructions, maintaining attention, shifting between activities, prioritizing responsibilities, completing multi-step tasks, regulating impulses, and recovering when overwhelmed or frustrated.

Abbi understands that executive functioning challenges can also affect a child emotionally. Repeated struggles with schoolwork, organization, transitions, or expectations can contribute to frustration, avoidance, anxiety, conflict with caregivers, and diminished confidence.

Her work helps children build practical strategies while also protecting the child's sense of competence and self-worth. She collaborates with families to create realistic structures, routines, communication strategies, and supports that work with the child's developing brain rather than relying solely on increased pressure or consequences.

Individual Therapy

In individual therapy, Abbi helps children and adolescents develop greater emotional awareness, self-understanding, confidence, coping skills, communication, and regulation.

She utilizes a developmentally responsive, relational, and play-based approach, recognizing that children do not always process experiences through conversation alone. Play, creativity, movement, relationship, and age-appropriate skill building can provide meaningful pathways for children to communicate and make sense of their internal experiences.

Abbi creates a safe and nurturing environment where children can explore difficult experiences, understand their emotions and behaviors, practice new skills, and gradually develop greater confidence in navigating challenges.

Family Therapy & Parent Support

Family therapy is an important part of Abbi’s clinical work. She supports families in strengthening communication, connection, emotional safety, co-regulation, problem-solving, boundaries, and repair.

Rather than viewing a child's struggles in isolation, Abbi considers the relationships and systems surrounding the child. She helps families understand patterns that may be contributing to conflict or disconnection while identifying the strengths and protective relationships already present within the family.

Abbi supports parents in better understanding what may be underneath a child's behavior, responding to dysregulation with greater confidence, creating developmentally appropriate expectations, strengthening boundaries and routines, and remaining connected even during difficult moments.

Her family work may include whole-family sessions, parent-child therapy, parent consultation, sibling work, individual sessions, or an intentional combination of these approaches depending on the needs of each family.

The goal extends beyond managing a particular behavior or crisis. Abbi works to help families develop a stronger relational foundation so that family members can communicate more effectively, navigate conflict, repair after disconnection, and feel increasingly secure within their relationships.

Therapeutic Approach

Abbi brings a grounded, warm, collaborative, and strengths-based presence to therapy. Her approach incorporates elements of:

Play-based therapy • Attachment and relational work • Family systems • Executive functioning support • Social-emotional learning • Emotional regulation • Parent coaching and support • Communication development • Behavioral understanding • Strengths-based interventions • Developmentally responsive care

As a mother of two herself, Abbi also understands the complexity of parenting outside of the therapy room. She approaches parents as important partners in treatment and recognizes that families are often working incredibly hard with the tools and information currently available to them.

Education & Professional Background

Abbi earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Utah, where she developed a strong foundation in human development, behavior, and psychological well-being.

She continued her education at the University of Denver, earning her Master of Social Work (MSW) and receiving advanced training in clinical social work and supporting individuals and families within the larger systems influencing their lives.

Her combined experience in education, child development, school-based mental health, individual therapy, and family therapy allows Abbi to see the whole child. She understands that emotional well-being, executive functioning, relationships, learning, behavior, home life, friendships, and school experiences are deeply interconnected.

Today, Abbi works exclusively with PLAE Therapy, supporting children, adolescents, parents, and families in developing stronger skills, greater emotional understanding, healthier communication, and more connected relationships.

At the heart of Abbi’s work remains a simple and powerful belief: all children deserve to feel heard and believed.