Child/Youth & Play Therapy Langley
Giving kids permission to play.
Child/Youth & Play Therapy is a fantastic way to engage children in feeling comfortable enough to share what they’re going through and feeling. At Transitions Counselling Centre, we give them permission to play and in return, they open up to us.
PLAY THERAPY CAN HELP
The use of play therapy as a tool helps children work through emotional issues. It allows children to form deeper self-esteem which helps improve their lives. Child/Youth & Play Therapy can be used to address these concerns and others:
- Behavioural concerns
- Attachment
- Emotional concerns
- Relationships
- Communication development
- Traumatic past experiences
Children are often not able to communicate their feelings in the same way adults do. This type of therapy allows children to recreate, and with the assistance of the therapist, discuss the feelings and emotions they’re feeling. Whether it’s sadness, anger, worry or extreme happiness, all feelings are welcome during play therapy.
TECHNIQUES USED IN SESSIONS
There are a variety of types of expressive play therapy including dramatic and fantasy play, sandbox play and art-focused play. When a child comes to us, we allow them to explore the office and select the play activities they want to do. This helps build trust and a therapeutic alliance between the child and therapist.
The child’s therapist may also choose certain activities to help certain types of emotions or reactions come out. For example, they may encourage the child to play with dolls to elicit emotions pertaining to family.
HOW WE WORK OUR MAGIC
This type of child therapy works best when it happens consistently. So, having a predictable schedule of the day and time remaining the same allows your children to get comfortable with us.
While a parent may want to ask questions to their child about the session, allow your child to reach out to share first. If the parent is tempted to ask, it could hurt the trust and comfortability that the therapist has worked to gain with the child.
We are here to support you along your journey.
MEET THE CHILD/YOUTH & PLAY THERAPY LANGLEY TEAM
LISA MOORE
MA Counselling Psychology, RCC, CCC
Clinical Counsellor and Certified Play Therapy Supervisor
It’s my goal to help people heal and grow through periods of transitions in their lives. Many of us experience loss, grief or unhappiness as we transition from one role to another in our daily lives.
It’s my honour to help counsel you during these difficult transitions and help you heal from any of these experiences:
- Dreams you don’t achieve
- Changes in career
- Diagnosis of a child with special needs
- A loved one entering long term care
- Divorce from a spouse
- Beginning of a new marriage
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I am a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) through BCCAC. I am also licensed through CCPA and hold a CCC license. I completed my Masters of Counselling Psychology at Trinity Western University and began working in my own private practice in 2016. Before going back to school to pursue my masters, I worked as a senior executive in sales and marketing. I believe that my unique education has allowed me to help people grow and develop and create change for themselves.
About 10 years ago, I became involved in helping a family with special needs children and it was through that journey that I came to the work I am most passionate about; helping parents of special needs families. Using play therapy, I am able to access children for ADHD, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, Autism and other types of learning disabilities.
The following list below are my areas of specialization:
- Personal development
- Assertiveness / Boundaries
- Depression, anxiety & panic disorders
- Phobias
- Past or recent trauma or abuse
- Relationship and couples counselling
- Addictions
- Divorce, separation and blended families
- Eating disorders and addictions
- Life transitions
- Gender dysphoria, LGBTQ transitions & other issues
- Communication building
- Grief counselling
- Career planning
CHILD AND YOUTH THERAPY
- Child play therapy
- Self esteem and confidence coaching
- Anxiety and depression
- Career exploration with youth
- Dealing with separation and divorce from the child and parents perspective
- Helping parents and children with strategies to deal with ADHD and ADD
- Assessments for Autism, ADHD, Oppositional Defiance Disorder
PARENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS ADVOCACY AND MEDIATION:
- Access to assessments and diagnosis
- Psycho-educational, Autism, ADHD testing
- Referral to local psychologists for assessments and testing
- Referral to local behavioural consultants and creating a behavioural intervention team
- Mediation with school districts and IEP planning
- Access to 3rd party funding and Ministry of Children and Family case workers
- Completing government and agency paperwork to obtain funding, therapy and resources
- Family planning at transitional ages: birth, school age and adult