Welcome!
Play Therapist
Certified EMDR Child Specialist
My Mission:
My mission is to help clients gain skills and insight that empower and help them find their inner strength and develop a mindset that they do matter in this world, and can make a difference!
What is Play Therapy?
Play therapy is a structured, theoretically based approach to therapy that builds on the normal communicative and learning processes of children. Through play, I am able to help children learn more adaptive behaviors when emotional or social skills are deficient.
Children don't often express their feelings through verbal communication. They haven’t had the experience and don’t always possess the words to express feelings and solve problems in adult ways, but through play, children can express their inner world and actively problem solve.
Play therapy differs from regular play in that the therapist helps children to address and resolve their own problems. Play therapy builds on the natural way that children learn about themselves and their relationships in the world around them. Play provides a safe psychological distance from their problems and allows expression of thoughts and feelings appropriate to their development.
By confronting problems in the clinical play therapy setting, children find healthier solutions. Play therapy allows children to change the way they think about, feel toward, and resolve their concerns. Even the most troubling problems can be confronted in play therapy and lasting resolutions can be discovered, rehearsed, mastered and adapted into lifelong strategies.
My Vision
When working with children, I feel it is important to include the caregiver in treatment. This may look different with each client as each person brings their own experience into therapy.
My preferred method is to meet with parent/caregiver first to gather important information in order to best work with the client and in order to determine treatment goals. I use a variety of methods in my work, tailoring it to meet the client’s needs. This may include EMDR, Somatic work, play therapy, mindfulness, parenting support, nutrition, strengths based, attachment, as well as many others as it seems fit.
My approach in therapeutic work is one that is compassionate, collaborative and supportive while offering a safe space for clients to ask questions, discuss progress and setbacks, and share without feeling shamed or judged.
My experience includes working with trauma (simple and complex), anxiety, depression, PTSD, behavioral concerns, parenting support, life adjustments, grief, and self-esteem.
In the Philippines in 2012 working with victims of trauma and rescued victims of sex trafficking.