Play is the language of children. It is how children explore and communicate their inner world and perceptions of life! As a child enters the play room and forms a relationship with me, a synergy forms. We connect with each other as the child learns and explores, and together we dive into the work of moving towards feelings, thoughts, memories, and body sensations that have been a previous source of challenge and dysregulation for the child. In this play, as we move towards challenges, I teach regulation and the child begins to learn new behaviors, beliefs, and a new way of being in the world right there in the room. Through this play and our relationship, new patterns, belies and behavior are formed… we create new neuropathways in the child’s brain in real time through play!
“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children PLAY is serious work.” - Fred Rogers
I offer play therapy for the following:
Emotion Regulation ~ Anxiety ~ Depression ~ Unexplained physical symptoms (incontinence, stomach aches, etc) ~ Grief & Loss ~ Divorce ~ Bullying ~ Trouble at School ~ Sleep Disturbances (fear of sleeping alone, trouble falling asleep, waking up during the night, nightmares)
I have had the privelege of 15 years of working with children using different types of therapy - and have found through research and experience that synergetic play therapy is the fastest form of treatment for issues such as anxiety, emotion regulation, re-occuring meltdowns, and phsyical symptoms because it rewires the child’s brain in real-time. {When parents are involved in the process and equipped to support the child at home in addition to play therapy… it is a dynamic duo! I love working with both child and parent to create this powerful dynamic!}
“Experience and training aside (of which she has both), Katie’s approach to therapy is encouraging and even fun. When we started putting into practice the tools that Katie empowered us with, we saw positive results immediately. To be able to process a situation that feels debilitating and in turn find multiple concrete, attainable solutions is a relief beyond words.” ”
