"My son started seeing Joe for speech therapy when he was 10 years old. He was diagnosed at age seven with ADHD and had been taking ADHD medication for a couple of years. While the medication helped him focus during class and improved his test scores, my husband and I saw that our son still struggled socially and emotionally. He misinterpreted social cues and communications and often felt frustrated by his peers’ comments and actions. He also struggled to adapt to new situations and to changes in routine or plans. His meltdowns, inability to cope with life’s ups and downs, and friendship challenges worried my husband and me.
Things that you or I might see as neutral or positive could actually be cues of danger to our son. For example, if he saw someone laughing, he might think, “Is that person over there laughing at me? I must be dumb. I hate myself.”
We tried traditional therapy with no success. A therapist recommended Joe to us after learning that Joe’s approach had worked well with other children who struggle with issues similar to our son.
Joe’s approach to therapy drew in my son right away. I expected push back after our first visit. Instead, he said, “Joe is really nice. I’m glad we get to go back next week.” I could have wept with joy.
Each week, my son, Joe and I play games together. Through Joe, I’ve learned that when human beings play, they feel connected to others and feel safe and content. We are giving my son repeated safe connection with others. We’re teaching him how to find joy. And I’m learning how to help him regulate his feelings and get back to feeling safe.
During the week away from Joe, when we do something fun as a family or I can see that my son is having a joyful moment, I will sometimes later comment about how cool X activity or moment was. I might say, “Isn’t it great you got to do X? I could see how much you were enjoying it. And now the cool thing is that anytime you want, you can remember X. It’s like you have a little vault in your mind with all the fun and happy things you’ve done. Sometimes when I am sad, I’ll remember one of the fun and happy things I’ve done, and I’ll realize that life will be sweet again.”
As a parent, my natural inclination has always been to feel what my son is feeling. If he’s upset, I feel upset. But I’m learning to recognize where he is and use actions and words that are cues of safety for him.
My son has been seeing Joe for a year now. I feel so fortunate that we found Joe and that my son and I are able to learn and grow through our work with him."
LC Parent
"Joe is the first person who really understood my child and gave me the understanding I needed. We had worked hard for six years with three skilled, knowledgeable therapists, two occupational therapists, a naturopathic doctor, and many other doctors and specialists before finding Joe Falkner.
Understanding my child's non-neurotypical experience and reality allowed me to recognize her needs and meet them much more adequately. This understanding also gave me the perspective to grow in compassion for my child and her behaviors. If you have a complicated, intense kid and all the parenting book recommendations just do not work for your child, I would strongly recommend Joe. Finally we have a guide and some real hope on this very unique parenting journey."
MP Parent
"I didn’t quite understand it when we first started therapy, but I’ve had so many aha” moments these past few months.
A (Dad) asked G (Client) last week what he thought he was learning from you, and he said, “Joe is teaching me how to work well with others and cooperate.” That was such a huge statement!
Previous therapy sessions (more traditional talk therapy) resulted in a lot of agitation and weren’t effective. He loves coming to your office, and it seems to reset us all. We’re very grateful for your thoughtful approach."
KF Parent
"Joe is remarkable. Instead of focusing on blame and negative intentions, he helps his clients focus on how our bodies are “wired” to act and react in certain ways - and how, by understanding how our nervous systems respond to different stimuli, we can work together to shift and manage those reactions. We came to Joe with the goal of helping our son to improve his social skills. Not only have his relationship skills improved, but our whole family dynamic has shifted to one of much greater understanding and grace."
CH Parent
"Having our son work with Joe has improved our son’s and our family’s lives in so many ways. Joe is expert at deciphering where the complications lie in our son’s learning abilities and he so accurate and wise in developing methods to improve these weaknesses. His understanding and rapport with a 12 year old who has some relational and behavioral struggles are amazing. My son really likes coming to work with him and feels so comfortable talking about anything. Joe knows exactly how to motivate him to work really hard and stick with things when it gets tough. One of the first things Joe had our son complete was the safe and sound listening program. We saw immediate excellent results with his emotional regulation, self calming strategies and his listening/focus abilities.
As parents we are always asking Joe questions about executive functioning, behavioral issues, etc. Joe is patient and thorough in his answers. His explanations demonstrate his wisdom and depth of knowledge in these areas.
Joe helped us breakdown the IEP from our school. He helped us create a much better and clearer IEP with much more specific goals and steps for the school and my son to work towards that can best help my son directly in his areas of need."
N E Parent
"I worked closely with Joe for seven years at an Intermediate School District, where school districts sent special education students who had needs that exceeded the capabilities of their staff. Consistently, Joe's interventions with those students impacted their functioning in significantly positive ways. The biggest challenge for many individuals is not learning skills, but applying learned skills in the context of meaningful relationships. One of Joe's greatest strengths was his capacity to attune to students/clients in such a way as to increase their motivation to apply these skills. As a result, they began to experience more rewards in relationships which in turn made them want to learn more skills. The depth and breath of Joe's knowledge prepares him to work with a wide-range of individuals. His passion for assessment and treatment inspires his clients to become the best that they can be."
Gerard LaSalle, M.S., Licensed Psychologist
Program Director, School-Linked Mental Health Services
St. David's Center for Children and Families
St. Louis Park, MN
"I have had the privilege and honor of working with Joe Falkner over the past seven years. As executive director of Lionsgate Academy, an innovative charter school for students with autism, I saw first-hand Joe’s incredible skills and talents in working with people on the spectrum. Joe has a unique combination of incredible knowledge and practical experience. I witnessed this blend assisting Liongate’s students in reaching their potentials. Joe has a very personal style in connecting with students that provides him the ability to influence students to overcome many of their hurdles to success. Joe also had the same magic in working with both the student’s family and other supporting staff. Joe’s successes with struggling families was a thing of beauty. In a relatively short period of time, because of Joe’s incredible commitment to his work and his record of success, I selected him to be Liongate’s Clinical Director. Joe continued to be very successful in that role. I would strongly support the utilization of Joe’s talents in working with people on the spectrum.”
Stan Hacker
Executive Director, LIonsgate Academy (retired)
Things that you or I might see as neutral or positive could actually be cues of danger to our son. For example, if he saw someone laughing, he might think, “Is that person over there laughing at me? I must be dumb. I hate myself.”
We tried traditional therapy with no success. A therapist recommended Joe to us after learning that Joe’s approach had worked well with other children who struggle with issues similar to our son.
Joe’s approach to therapy drew in my son right away. I expected push back after our first visit. Instead, he said, “Joe is really nice. I’m glad we get to go back next week.” I could have wept with joy.
Each week, my son, Joe and I play games together. Through Joe, I’ve learned that when human beings play, they feel connected to others and feel safe and content. We are giving my son repeated safe connection with others. We’re teaching him how to find joy. And I’m learning how to help him regulate his feelings and get back to feeling safe.
During the week away from Joe, when we do something fun as a family or I can see that my son is having a joyful moment, I will sometimes later comment about how cool X activity or moment was. I might say, “Isn’t it great you got to do X? I could see how much you were enjoying it. And now the cool thing is that anytime you want, you can remember X. It’s like you have a little vault in your mind with all the fun and happy things you’ve done. Sometimes when I am sad, I’ll remember one of the fun and happy things I’ve done, and I’ll realize that life will be sweet again.”
As a parent, my natural inclination has always been to feel what my son is feeling. If he’s upset, I feel upset. But I’m learning to recognize where he is and use actions and words that are cues of safety for him.
My son has been seeing Joe for a year now. I feel so fortunate that we found Joe and that my son and I are able to learn and grow through our work with him."
LC Parent
"Joe is the first person who really understood my child and gave me the understanding I needed. We had worked hard for six years with three skilled, knowledgeable therapists, two occupational therapists, a naturopathic doctor, and many other doctors and specialists before finding Joe Falkner.
Understanding my child's non-neurotypical experience and reality allowed me to recognize her needs and meet them much more adequately. This understanding also gave me the perspective to grow in compassion for my child and her behaviors. If you have a complicated, intense kid and all the parenting book recommendations just do not work for your child, I would strongly recommend Joe. Finally we have a guide and some real hope on this very unique parenting journey."
MP Parent
"I didn’t quite understand it when we first started therapy, but I’ve had so many aha” moments these past few months.
A (Dad) asked G (Client) last week what he thought he was learning from you, and he said, “Joe is teaching me how to work well with others and cooperate.” That was such a huge statement!
Previous therapy sessions (more traditional talk therapy) resulted in a lot of agitation and weren’t effective. He loves coming to your office, and it seems to reset us all. We’re very grateful for your thoughtful approach."
KF Parent
"Joe is remarkable. Instead of focusing on blame and negative intentions, he helps his clients focus on how our bodies are “wired” to act and react in certain ways - and how, by understanding how our nervous systems respond to different stimuli, we can work together to shift and manage those reactions. We came to Joe with the goal of helping our son to improve his social skills. Not only have his relationship skills improved, but our whole family dynamic has shifted to one of much greater understanding and grace."
CH Parent
"Having our son work with Joe has improved our son’s and our family’s lives in so many ways. Joe is expert at deciphering where the complications lie in our son’s learning abilities and he so accurate and wise in developing methods to improve these weaknesses. His understanding and rapport with a 12 year old who has some relational and behavioral struggles are amazing. My son really likes coming to work with him and feels so comfortable talking about anything. Joe knows exactly how to motivate him to work really hard and stick with things when it gets tough. One of the first things Joe had our son complete was the safe and sound listening program. We saw immediate excellent results with his emotional regulation, self calming strategies and his listening/focus abilities.
As parents we are always asking Joe questions about executive functioning, behavioral issues, etc. Joe is patient and thorough in his answers. His explanations demonstrate his wisdom and depth of knowledge in these areas.
Joe helped us breakdown the IEP from our school. He helped us create a much better and clearer IEP with much more specific goals and steps for the school and my son to work towards that can best help my son directly in his areas of need."
N E Parent
"I worked closely with Joe for seven years at an Intermediate School District, where school districts sent special education students who had needs that exceeded the capabilities of their staff. Consistently, Joe's interventions with those students impacted their functioning in significantly positive ways. The biggest challenge for many individuals is not learning skills, but applying learned skills in the context of meaningful relationships. One of Joe's greatest strengths was his capacity to attune to students/clients in such a way as to increase their motivation to apply these skills. As a result, they began to experience more rewards in relationships which in turn made them want to learn more skills. The depth and breath of Joe's knowledge prepares him to work with a wide-range of individuals. His passion for assessment and treatment inspires his clients to become the best that they can be."
Gerard LaSalle, M.S., Licensed Psychologist
Program Director, School-Linked Mental Health Services
St. David's Center for Children and Families
St. Louis Park, MN
"I have had the privilege and honor of working with Joe Falkner over the past seven years. As executive director of Lionsgate Academy, an innovative charter school for students with autism, I saw first-hand Joe’s incredible skills and talents in working with people on the spectrum. Joe has a unique combination of incredible knowledge and practical experience. I witnessed this blend assisting Liongate’s students in reaching their potentials. Joe has a very personal style in connecting with students that provides him the ability to influence students to overcome many of their hurdles to success. Joe also had the same magic in working with both the student’s family and other supporting staff. Joe’s successes with struggling families was a thing of beauty. In a relatively short period of time, because of Joe’s incredible commitment to his work and his record of success, I selected him to be Liongate’s Clinical Director. Joe continued to be very successful in that role. I would strongly support the utilization of Joe’s talents in working with people on the spectrum.”
Stan Hacker
Executive Director, LIonsgate Academy (retired)