About Carannante Wellness & Consulting

About Wendy Carannante

Wendy Carannante has dedicated more than 20 years to helping children, families, and schools better understand the factors that influence learning, behavior, emotional well-being, and development. As a Licensed Psychologist in Virginia, Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP), and Registered Play Therapist (RPT), she combines extensive clinical expertise with a compassionate, relationship-centered approach that empowers children and families to thrive.

Wendy earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Statistics from James Madison University before completing both her Master of Science in Psychology and Specialist in Education (Ed.S.) degrees in School Psychology at Radford University. She began her career in Virginia public schools in 2003 and founded Wendy Carannante & Associates in 2012. In 2026, the practice expanded and rebranded as Carannante Wellness & Consulting to reflect a broader vision of providing psychological services, therapy, consultation, and wellness-focused support for children, families, schools, and professionals.

Throughout her career, Wendy has worked closely with children, families, educators, physicians, and community professionals to understand each child's unique strengths, challenges, and needs. She specializes in psychoeducational evaluations, Independent Educational Evaluations (IEEs), play therapy, parent consultation, and school-based problem solving. Her areas of expertise include learning disabilities such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia; ADHD; autism spectrum concerns; anxiety; emotional regulation difficulties; behavioral challenges; and social-emotional development.

Wendy believes that behavior is communication. Children's struggles rarely exist in isolation but are shaped by development, temperament, relationships, learning differences, expectations, life experiences, and environmental factors. Rather than focusing solely on symptoms or diagnoses, she seeks to understand the whole child and the meaning behind what a child may be communicating through their behavior, emotions, play, and interactions with others.

Grounded in play therapy principles, Wendy believes that children grow and heal within the context of safe, trusting relationships. She helps children develop greater self-awareness, emotional understanding, confidence, resilience, and coping skills while honoring their individual personalities, strengths, and differences. Her goal is not to change who children are, but to help them better understand themselves and navigate the world with greater confidence, success, and self-acceptance.

A hallmark of Wendy's work is her ability to help parents make sense of their child's behavior in a way that feels compassionate, practical, and hopeful. She is particularly passionate about helping caregivers understand the emotions, needs, and developmental factors that may be driving challenging behaviors. By empowering parents to respond with connection, empathy, emotional validation, and consistent boundaries, she helps reduce family stress, decrease power struggles and meltdowns, and strengthen parent-child relationships.

Families often describe Wendy as warm, relatable, and down-to-earth. She combines professional expertise with real-world parenting experience and understands the challenges families face in balancing school expectations, emotional needs, family life, and everyday stressors. Her approach emphasizes collaboration, recognizing that meaningful change occurs when children, families, schools, and professionals work together toward a shared understanding and plan of support.

In addition to evaluations and therapy, Wendy provides school psychology contracting services, behavioral consultation, educational advocacy support, professional development, and consultation for schools and organizations. She is passionate about bridging the gap between home, school, and clinical settings to ensure children receive the support they need across environments.

Wendy is also the author of the forthcoming memoir I'm Tired, They're Wired, which explores parenting, attachment, neurodiversity, resilience, and the realities of raising children in today's world.

Her mission is simple: to help children feel understood, help families feel empowered, and help every child build upon their strengths, embrace their individuality, and reach their fullest potential.