
Welcome to Fiddleheads!
Fun and Nurturing Pip-Pop Virtual Sessions, After-School Sessions, and Summer Sessions
Fiddleheads is a fun and therapeutic group that provides social skills instruction and emotional support to neurodiverse groups of children in our vibrant Bay Area Regional Parks.
Our groups are warm, playful, and instructive. Our skilled counselors and clinicians foster deep nourishing connections with the children. Your child will form healing relationships with nature and make new friends, while absorbing social lessons and connecting more deeply to their senses.
Formed in 2010 to support children and their families, Fiddleheads is a holistic, heart-centered therapeutic approach to social and emotional learning. Taking the stigma out of therapy while providing clinical level support, Fiddleheads brings joy, nature, and the real-life experience of authentic relationships and presence to each individual to help them overcome challenges and navigate the process of growing up.
Inclusiveness and acceptance are foundational to Fiddleheads structure. Awareness and respect of neuro, cultural, racial, and economic diversity is at the essence of our approach. For more information, please see our FAQ .
Enrollment for Summer Session is now Open!
Be sure to sign-up early to reserve your spot
Pip-Pop Virtual Sessions
Engage with us this Spring from the comfort of your home through our Pip-Pop Virtual Sessions! Fiddleheads has created a collection of engaging activities to support, inspire, and ground your entire family using sense based play groups, parent support programs, and courses for your kids and you to connect and grow together.
February 18–June 8, 2021
Meets 1 day every other week,
4:00 pm–5:00 pm
After-School Sessions
Our nature immersion after-school group provides a nurturing and enlivening experience for your child. With the care of our highly skilled counselors, our small groups quickly form into strong packs of friends.
September 13–November 15, 2021
Meets 1 day per week,
3:30 pm–5:30 pm
Summer Sessions
Our summer session is warm, playful, and instructive. We foster deep nourishing connections for your child—with nature, with other children, and with our supportive guides.
Session 1: June 14–June 25
Session 2: June 28 – July 9
NO GROUPS: July 12–16
Session 3: July 19 – July 30
Session 4: August 2 – August 13
Meets M–F, 9:30 am–2:30 pm

Meet the Team
Our team is made up of licensed therapists, therapists in training and skilled educators. All of our counselors and clinicians are chosen to participate in Fiddleheads for their passion for the outdoors, working with children, and the real life impacts that relational and mindful therapy can have on someone’s life. Meet our team and the roles they will play in your child’s life below.

Interim Clinical Team Lead
Our Clinical Director oversees all clinical aspects of the Fiddleheads Program. They oversee our training, guide and support our therapists and ensure proper clinical supervision is provided.
Associate Program Director
The Associate Program Director oversees and supports the administration of the FH’s program by the Fiddleheads team, which consists of regional managers, counselors, clinicians, and clinical supervisors. The APD’s dynamic role includes overseeing the program budget, providing guidance to team members, coordinating with the Clinical Director, and problem-solving with families and/or team members in the field.
Regional Managers
Fiddleheads Regional Manager provides support and training to our Fiddleheads Clinical Counselors, reports to the Associate Program Director and Clinical Director, and supports the administration of the nature-based after-school sessions and summer sessions in one of the regional locations in which Fiddleheads operates. Our Regional Managers are experts in what they do and hold together the many locations in which Fiddleheads operates.
Counselors and Clinical Counselors
Fiddleheads Counselors and Clinical Counselors use Fiddleheads curriculum and training to facilitate a social and emotional learning experience for children in a natural setting. Counselors are selected for their passion for working with youth in nature, their experience with neurodivergent youth, Our counselors are either on a clinical track as professional counselors, interns, or trainees with or pursuing master’s degrees in psychology, or are professionals with backgrounds in counseling, social work, psychology or outdoor education. All of our counselors receive weekly supervision and thorough training and support.
Fiddleheads Methodology
(click the icons below for more information)
Fiddleheads Participants
Many of the children we work with at Fiddleheads After-School Sessions and Summer Sessions may not have “labels” but have a cluster of symptoms the parents are seeking support with or finding accommodations for. We also welcome neurotypical children to our programs and believe it is a wonderful opportunity to deepen a child’s understanding of the wide array of ways that we all move with, and in, this world and each other. Children we have worked with in the past may have a diagnosis of:
- ADHD
- Aspergers/High Functioning Autism
- Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD or Atypical Autism)
- Oppositional Defiant Disorder
- Sensory Processing Disorder or Sensory Integration Dysfunction
- Speech and Language Delay
- Bi-Polar
- Anxiety Disorder
Fiddleheads Testimonials
From Parents
From Children

Frequently Asked Questions
Refund Policy:
Please understand that we keep our groups small to facilitate effective groups, and many fill up quickly. In order to provide the highest quality program, and to reliably staff our programs, we must plan well in advance based on confirmed registrations.
- Initial Deposit ($200): Non-refundable.
- Group Fees:
- 30 days before start of group: 100% refund.
- Once group has begun: credit of 25% to any Seeds offering.
If your child leaves the group early for any reason, there will be no full or partial refunds issued. If your child is unable to attend, please consider converting all or part of your registration fees into a tax-deductible donation to Seeds of Awareness. This will help us to offer Fiddleheads and other Seeds services to those who can’t afford them.
We will do everything within our power to ensure the safety of our staff and Fiddleheads kiddos. If the afterschool or summer camp program is cancelled due to COVID-19, due to the viability of our organization and the need to pay our staff, we will be unable to issue refunds. For an outline of our COVID-19 policies, please click here.
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Social Skills
Didactically teaching social skills is useful, and at times, crucial, for the development of children we are working with. Simply following, reflecting, mirroring and accepting behaviors is not always enough. Interwoven with embodied empathy, Fiddleheads counselors lead circles where children are taught what empathy looks like, how to actively listen, what taking turns communicating is, how we say please and thank you, and about behaviors that turn others away and are offensive. Some children benefit from the clear explanations of social skills and having them spelled out directly and repeated. We take opportunities to emphasize this education during circle time, story telling, and reflection upon it at our closing circles.