Toddler & Early Childhood Therapy in Milwaukee

For kids roughly 2–6 with big meltdowns, big anxiety, and big feelings — play-based therapy with you in the room. Milwaukee area & online across Wisconsin.

The tantrums are bigger than other kids'. The meltdowns last longer. Bedtime is a negotiation, transitions are a battle, and you've started planning your life around what might set them off. Or maybe it's quieter than that — a little one who's hard to soothe, anxious in new places, or so "easy" you sometimes wonder what they're not showing you.

Usually it's not that anyone is doing something wrong. It's that something in the mix — temperament, environment, sensory needs, family stress — is making it hard for your child to regulate. That's fixable. And the earlier it's worked on, the more it changes what comes next.

Play is how little kids do therapy

Kids' language is play. It's how they explore the world, work through scenarios, and show us their internal dialogue. So if you're thinking "play therapy — isn't that a glorified babysitter?" — no. Watch a child build a world in Lauri's sand tray, with little figures for mom and dad and siblings, and you'll see exactly how much they're saying.

Lauri's office also has a sensory swing — a cozy little nest kids can climb inside. It's fun, and it's information: does your child twirl, or want stillness? How much input do they need before their body calms enough to talk about hard things? That sensory lens often leads to practical changes at home and school — sometimes including whether a 504 plan or IEP conversation is worth having.

Parents are part of the work — on purpose

With young children, Lauri works with the family, not just the child, because how everyone in a family regulates affects everyone else. Two things she tells parents that tend to lift a weight:

• "Good enough" parenting is real — and it's about 60%. If you respond well about 60% of the time, consistently, that is actually enough. Being "on" 95–100% of the time can even backfire: kids never get the chance to practice soothing themselves.
• In two-home families, consistency counts per household. If you're co-parenting through a difficult separation or divorce, your child doesn't need both homes to match. They need you to be consistent in your home. Keep your side of the road clean; that's enough to build connection.

Lauri sees a lot of families in high-conflict situations, and a lot of siblings and twins learning to regulate around each other. Whoever your child's people are — one parent, two, a grandparent, a caregiver — they're welcome in the room.

Meet Lauri

Lauri Budzynski, MA, LPC, NCC, ECMH-E®

Nine years as a therapist, endorsed in infant and early childhood mental health (ages 0–6), and the kind of therapist kids run down the hallway to see. Play, sand tray, sensory work — and always the family alongside.

Openings now

Meet Lauri →

Also see: infant mental health therapy (ages 0–3) and adoption & foster care therapy.