Services Provided
01.
PLAY THERAPY HELPS CHILDREN EXPRESS THEMSELVES AUTHENTICALLY
Play Therapy provides a safe and inviting environment for children and teens to express their feelings and find ways to create play and art that resembles the stressful experiences they are struggling with internally.
Play Therapy differs from regular play in that the therapist is trained to reflect the child’s inner world, offer and model regulation and help children resolve their struggles in empowered ways. Play allows children a safe psychological distance from their challenges and allows them to express their true thoughts and feelings about their experiences at a pace that is appropriate for their developmental level. In the playroom there are a wide variety of toys and activities provided to facilitate their expression. These include, sand tray, play gym, games, stories, art/craft tools, and sensory materials.
The attuned, responsive, and validating relationship that develops between therapist and child provides a restorative emotional experience and serves to release the natural healing resources that lie within the child. Play Therapy allows children to attach meaning to confusing things and “turns on” the right brain (the feeling brain) to allow for rhythm and movement, a critical piece to healing trauma stored in the body.
Play is presence in motion.
02.
The teen years are hard for so many. It is a time of change and growing independence. Fortunately, we have learned a lot about brain development in recent decades, and one thing that has become clear is that it isn’t just raging hormones causing changes in our teens. It’s also that their brain is going through a rapid period of development, and the limbic system (the emotional brain) is suddenly large and in charge. During this time, you will see an increase in the intensity of your teens’ feelings and a decrease in their ability to put the brakes on when responding to those feelings.
At the same time, your teen’s baseline level of dopamine (the feel-good brain chemical) has plummeted, which may lead to complaints of boredom. And to top things off, they get a huge boost of dopamine when they engage in technology like video games, YouTube or anything super risky, so they are naturally drawn to high-risk, thrill-seeking activity.
All of this can cause worry, frustration and tension in family relationships. I help teens understand and navigate their experiences while building their connection to themselves you and who they are wanting to become.
Areas of concern ~ when to reach out
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Struggling with school performance or motivation
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Displaying defiance, or showing aggression
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Noticeable shifts in mood, such as increased irritability or emotional outbursts,
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Persistent sadness, worry, or withdrawal
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Struggles with friendships or peer relationships
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Experienced a distressing event, like a natural disaster, accident, or loss of a loved one
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Engaging in harmful activities
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Coping with divorce, relocation, or loss
03.
Be cared for as you care for your child.
Parents and caregivers that I work with come to me because they want to understand their kids better. They want to feel connected and to be helpful. Often, caregivers wonder, “Is there something wrong with me? Wrong with them? Can I help them? Why are they so unhappy and difficult?”. You just want them to be happier, more enjoyable, and able to manage their daily activities – and you know they absolutely want the same things. It’s so hard, the behaviors make no sense, and no advice, books or podcasts seem to be helping. I also talk with a lot of parents who feel that once they learn the right strategy or find some techniques everything will be fine. And yes, some of it is about parenting, but it’s not about behavior management. It’s about knowing what your child needs to feel connected, what their body is experiencing, and how to help them.
I have found that good parenting involves strengthening your own intuition. Just as the power of observation is crucial to understanding our children’s behaviors, we must also observe ourselves. It is pretty much impossible to help children connect to themselves if we as caregivers are not also connected to ourselves. Self-care begins with awareness, and it is our portal into gaining compassion for ourselves and for our children. How are our bodies and brains doing? How are our children’s?
No Wonder You are Exhausted!
I will help you stop and observe what is going on and what will be important to attune to and notice. When we practice becoming more aware, it leads to feeling more grounded and balanced and provides a momentary pause that can prevent us from saying or doing things that are not in our child’s or our own best interests.
My goal is to strengthen the connection between you and your family and for it to be the driving force of long-lasting change and the predictor of future outcomes.
As Dr Dan Siegel says, “Making sense of life can free parents from patterns of the past that have imprisoned them in the present.”
04.
Theraplay
Theraplay is a research-based, short-term, attachment-based intervention in which elements of play therapy are used to teach caregivers attuned play skills and strengthen parent–child relationship. This play becomes the natural agent of change. And it builds emotional development, self-regulation, and social skills.
Who Benefits from Theraplay?
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Acting out, angry or disruptive behaviour
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Defiant or controlling behaviour
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Shy. withdrawn or clingy behaviour
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Attachment concerns
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Parents/caregivers who are feeling disconnected from their child
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Foster families
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A history of trauma or neglect
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Autism Spectrum, Disorders
Theraplay is an especially effective, often preventative treatment for young children - even for those under three years of age, because it is play-based rather than language-based. The active playfulness of Theraplay often engages children who have not responded to more traditional therapy approaches or who are oppositional. Theraplay’s appealing activities help these children “buy into” the therapeutic process and bring about change without the need for the child to talk about or express problems.
Parent-Child EMDR
Traumas that have not healed in this generation have the potential of being passed into the next. The sense of self in any child does not develop in isolation; in fact, it develops in the parent-child relationship and other important relationships early in life. We came to this world to connect with others and when these connections do not happen or they happen in a way that hurt us or injure us, our sense of self is affected.. In many cases having the child as well as the parent receive EMDR therapy (together or separately) may be recommended for best results. Sometimes the parent may be highly traumatized by living through the traumas of their children and the healing needs to take place in both the child and the parent.
Sometimes because of the parents’ early experiences with their own parents, they may have difficulties setting boundaries with their kids, or they may be overprotective, neglectful, abusive, too distant, or too intrusive. Parents' emotional problems can affect their children’s emotional, physical and psychological development. For instance, a parent with depression, without knowing or intending to, may neglect their child’s needs for connection and love.
05.
I believe healing happens when we feel seen, understood, and supported – not just in our minds, but in our entire nervous system.
Many of the adults I work with are incredibly insightful – they know they don’t want to react in anger, spiral into anxiety, or shut down in sadness. And yet, in hard moments, they find themselves stuck in the same cycles of emotional reactivity and self-blame.
I help adults who struggle with:
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Anxiety and chronic worry
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Depression and feelings of hopelessness
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Anger and emotional regulation
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Relationship challenges and attachment wounds
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PTSD and complex trauma
Attachment-Based Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR)
As an attachment-based, nervous system-informed EMDR therapist, I focus on integrating principles of attachment theory with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy. Our work will help you understanding how early attachment experiences impact your core beliefs, emotional regulation and interpersonal relationships. Attachment-based EMDR facilitates a natural healing process within the brain, helping you to process distressing memories, release emotional blockages, and experience more secure connection within yourself and within your relationships.
The theoretical model underlying EMDR is the Adaptive Information Processing model (AIP). AIP asserts that experiences that are overwhelming, traumatic, terrorizing or otherwise distressing may get “stuck” in our brains. These “stuck” experiences can lead to distressing psychological and physical symptoms. Alternatively, AIP asserts that as humans, we are geared toward healing and feeling better. EMDR acts as a support to allow your nervous system to do what it naturally does: heal and deepen resiliency.
Ego States Therapy holds the perspective that there are no bad parts of you – only aspects that call for greater awareness and compassion, and new ways of doing things. This is especially true for the parts of you that have been affected by chronic stress, abuse, neglect, or trauma. I use the tools of Ego States Therapy (and sand tray) to help you come to understand and develop compassion toward the parts of yourself the world doesn't acknowledge or celebrate, including the shadowy parts you may be ashamed or afraid to address.
Together, we thoughtfully mine out who you truly are and how you want to show up in your life and relationships, so you can deepen your self-understanding and better know why you do the things you do. As you gently move toward knowing and caring for every aspect of yourself, you can experience life from a place of wholeness and move through the world feeling resolved and settled inside.