Aloha! I’m Damon Ackerman, a licensed mental health counselor. I help transform the lives of children, teens, parents, and adults.

For Parents
I can benefit parents with:

• helping children with behavioral difficulties to decrease outbursts,
• helping an adolescent to listen, and
• supporting a teenager who is struggling with mood swings.

I can offer solutions for parents with:

• a child who has a learning disorder,
• a gifted child who has trouble fitting in, or
• a child who is suspected to have autism.

A child with a diagnosis is just as capable as any. With the correct support parents and children can learn to succeed.

Facilitating Transformation and Positive Changes for People Facing Challenges
Through years of professional training on the Hawaiian islands, I have learned how to motivate children, coach parents, empower individuals and heal families. I can be very effective with strong-willed and emotionally intense children, as well as with those who are shut down and avoidant. I can help get even the most willful children to make positive changes. I am especially adept at improving confidence and trust with people with a wide variety of developmental, social, mood, or intellectual challenges.

Autism Specialist
I am proficient with people who have high-functioning autism and people on the autism spectrum. I have researched autism extensively. I am a graduate student of the APA-accredited Hawaii School of Professional Psychology in Honolulu, and my dissertation on autism was accepted at the American Psychological Association’s 121st Annual Convention. People with autism tend to be complex, and I am highly attuned to them and that complexity. For more information, please see my website: https://theautistictherapist.com/

I help individuals and parents improve their quality of life. I help couples and families create more cohesiveness. I have worked with both local families and families new to the islands on an abundance of issues.

Creative Approach
I use a broadly varied approach informed by:

• leading-edge practices in therapy,
• holistic health,
• and the mindfulness movement.

My approach is comforting, creative, reverent, and respectful.

Helping Individuals and Families
I teach individuals and families how to:

• generate hope,
• understand their challenges,
• build better skills, and
• develop innovative solutions.

Helping Both Couples and Divorced Co-Parents
I have helped many couples:

• improve their relating,
• reduce challenges with communication,
• increase emotional reciprocity,
• rekindle intimacy, and
• learn how to speak to one another in a way that invites optimism and trust.

My approach with couples is respectful and solution-focused, allowing each partner to speak about their feelings and behaviors in a safe and supportive environment. I apply a version of this method to help co-parents find more effective ways of raising their children with the support of a former spouse.

Effective
I work effectively. I help:

• families, parents, and teens to negotiate more successfully;
• couples to be more nurturing and functional;
• and children with internal challenges to articulate, regulate, and behave more functionally.

I look forward to strengthening our island community by working with you. Thank you.
Mahalo,

“There’s always a possibility of richer maturation – of taking more and more responsibility for yourself and for your life…And this is what I hope…to make you understand how much you gain by taking responsibility for every emotion, every movement you make, every thought you have…We touch each other by honestly being what we are, not intentionally making contact.”

—Frederick Salomon Perls

Damon Ackerman, LMHC
Individual, Child, and Family Therapist