Biography

This doctor inspires parents to make the most of play with their children. In only a few sessions, Dr. Ritter's short-term consulting model encourages parents by engendering confidence in and control over their own parenting style. Dr. Ritter's parenting book, Come Play with Me!, illustrates her true passion for working with parents, caregivers and teachers to improve relationships with children. Dr. Ritter is also an enthusiastic and inspiring public speaker and presenter.

The Founder and President of Effective Parenting, LLC in Atlanta, Kelli B. Ritter, earned her Ph.D. in counseling from Georgia State University where she specialized in child and family counseling. Dr. Ritter trained as a play therapist with many years of experience and research in child and family counseling. She possesses a unique approach to helping families by utilizing concepts and skills from Play Therapy, Individual Psychology and Positive Psychology.

Dr. Ritter has served many non-profit organizations and headed numerous community service fundraising projects including The Northside Hospital Foundation's Celebration of Lights and CREW's Compassion in Action. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for Girl Talk, Inc.

Dr. Ritter spends the majority of her professional time conducting classes and workshops for parents, teachers, grandparents and caregivers. She also teaches as Adjunct Faculty at Argosy University in Atlanta. She lives in historic Inman Park with her husband and two boys.

Select Publications

Ritter, K.B. (2006). Come play with me! Effective parent-child play: Using structured playtime to interact with young children and practice useful parenting skills. Atlanta, GA : Effective Parenting, Inc.

Chang, C. Y., Ritter, K. B. &, Hays, D. G. (2005). Multicultural trends and toys in play therapy. International Journal of Play Therapy.

Chang, C. Y., & Ritter, K. B. (2004). Multicultural considerations of Adlerian parent education. The Journal of Individual Psychology.

Draper, K., Ritter, K. B., & Willingham, E. U. (2003). Sand tray group counseling with adolescents. Journal for Specialists in Group Work..

Ritter, K. B., & Chang, C. Y. (2002). Play therapists’ self-perceived multicultural competence and adequacy of training. International Journal of Play Therapy.

Ritter, K.B. (2003). An exploration of mothers’ perceptions of the value from attending an Adlerian study group based on the active parenting today program. Unpublished Dissertation.

Snow, J., Kern, R. & Ritter, K. B. (2002). Making the lifestyle concept measurable.In R. Kern & D. Eckstein (Eds). Psychological fingerprint: Lifestyle interventions and assessment. Iowa: Kendal/Hunt.