Who I Help
Are you concerned about your child?
Has there been an increase in challenging behaviours at home or at school, difficulties regulating their emotions or struggles with self image and self-esteem? Or perhaps your child has just experienced a loss, a big life change such as parental separation, or just witnessed something traumatic. I even have parents contact me after a difficult season of life just wanting to know that their child is okay.
I understand how hard life can be for our kids and for you as parents. My goal is to create a safe, nurturing and playful environment where your child can begin to explore their experiences and their world. Together we will support your child to develop coping skills, a stronger sense of who they are and resilience and courage to face life’s challenges.
Courageous KIDS.
My approach to counselling is to meet your child where they are at and to work within their world using their most natural language - the language of PLAY! As a Certified Play Therapist I have undergone extensive training to help your child through whatever challenges they are facing in a way that will feel most comfortable and natural for them.
Child sessions are geared towards children between the ages of 3 and 12. These sessions can be individual and can also be accompanied by a parent, depending on your needs and our goals for the counselling process.
Courageous TEENS.
My goal is to create a space where your teen child can express themself in a way that feels comfortable and natural to them, whether this is through music, art, poetry, games, and more.
As children get older, they become more involved the counselling process and in setting their own goals. As this is also a time in development where they are seeking more independence, it is very common for teens to request individual counselling sessions. Parents are still involved in the overall counselling process but will only be joining sessions with their teen child’s permission and the specific information shared in sessions does remain confidential (See our FAQ section for more on the topic of confidentiality).
Children and teens can benefit from approaches such as Play Therapy, Sandplay Therapy, Art Therapy, EMDR, CBT and more! I work with you to find an approach that will be the perfect fit for your child.
Courageous PARENTS.
Can you imagine if there was a perfect guidebook to raise perfect children and have perfect relationships with them? For some reason as parents we often strive for perfection but that is a standard we just simply cannot live up to. Yes, we absolutely strive to be the best we can be for our children, but I wonder what it might feel like to say that instead of being perfect we can be good enough. And being good enough is…well…good enough!
As a parent myself to three young children I face new challenges EVERY.DINGDONG.DAY. Whether you have one child or can field a baseball team, you will get into a season where you feel you have things figured out and then BAM your child grows and changes and faces new challenges. Your job is to best support and guide them through it but there are times you might not know how. At Courageous Counselling my goal is to also walk alongside YOU and support YOU through these challenges so that you can feel heard, seen and understood as you be all that you can be for your child.
Parent involvement will look different depending on what you are looking for! Some options include:
Parent Sessions
The focus can be on education and general parenting support.
This is a great option when you want to focus on the relationship with your child or youth but the child is unable to attend counselling.
Parent-Child Sessions
The focus of parent-child sessions is to strengthen the connections between parent and child. Parents are educated and supported in a strength-based and non-judgmental way to be fully present with their child in order to actively work towards understanding their child’s needs and will learn how they can respond in a way that supports safety and enjoyment in their parent-child relationship.
Has your child experienced early childhood trauma?
When your child has had early childhood experiences where they may not have experienced a safe and secure relationship with a caregiver, or they had negative experiences and instability in their life, this can have a significant impact on your child’s ability to feel safe and secure in their current relationships. I have specialized training to work with all types of families including biological, foster and adoptive parents, grandparents or kinship placements. These sessions focus on the caregiver and child in joint sessions and can provide a structured and consistent environmentent that focuses on nurture and safety. This can help to regulate your child so that they can begin to experience and strengthen a healthy attachment with their caregiver.
A lot of my parent-child sessions are based off of principles from Circle of Security Parenting, DDP and Theraplay.
Questions?
Zoom over to my FAQ page!
Let’s Meet!
Asking for support is always the hardest step, so let me make it a bit easier. The first meeting is always a free 15 minute consultation. We can chat and get to know each other and discuss how I can best support you and your child. You can book this consultation by clicking on the button below, calling me directly, or sending me an email.