Counselling Sessions With Children & Young People
Individual Counselling using Expressive Therapies and Jungian Sandplay Therapy is available for children and adolescents. These personal journeys of healing increase self awareness, emotional intelligence, embodiment and reconnection to inner resources.
Young people come to counselling for many different reasons.
They may have been affected by an emotional or traumatic event, like family separation or relinquishment, divorce, bullying, or the death or illness of a loved one. They may have suffered an early trauma, repeated abuse, emotional or physical neglect, numerous foster care placements, or live in an ongoing stressful environment, like shared parenting, foster care or out-of-home care, resulting in emotional turmoil. Often a child’s unusual or challenging behaviours alert us that something is not quite right and they may benefit from connecting with and articulating their inner world. We all have a deep yearning to be heard and listened to. This desire and yearning to express what is inside is stronger in young people.
When our emotions are unable to flow easily we can feel ‘stuck’, sad, angry, alone, resentful, depressed, confused and more. Adults can either carry these feelings around for long periods of time, ignoring the messages from their bodies and the yearnings from their heart, or find positive ways to deal with them. Children are less able to create this split and can lack the language to gain appropriate support. They will respond through behaviours that often seem challenging to adults, ie. aggressive outbursts, attention (need) seeking, anxiety, attempting to gain control, challenging peer and sibling relationships, people pleasing, sleeplessness, bedwetting, depression, school refusal and the list goes on.
A deeper look below the surface reveals what is preventing ease and growth. Sandplay Therapy and Expressive Therapies provide safe ways for young people to explore and express what is happening in their inner world by bringing a deeper awareness to these stuck places and uncovering internal resources and positive emotions that exist at the core of each and every one of us.
Sandplay Therapy and Expressive Therapies are somatic and creative self-discovery interventions that bypass the logical mind and tap into that world we know exists but cannot seem to comprehend consciously. This experiential, often non-verbal and holistic way of working involves more than ‘just talking about the problem’, and provides the opportunity for real and lasting change. It is based on the belief that each person has their own inner wisdom, and that the expert on who we are and what we need is actually inside us. This allows children and young people to not just express in words a particular issue, but to then feel the energy of their inner experience. When we connect with and engage with this energy we become open to new ways of understanding the problem. These psychotherapeutic interventions allow reconnection, release, repair, repatterning, embodiment, insight, integration and a sense of well being and resolution.
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“This course has completely changed the way I work. It gave me the most appropriate model of therapy for children experiencing domestic violence. I enjoyed learning in a supportive, mindful and inspiring environment. Monique is a wonderful teacher. She lives and breathes what she teaches and inspired me to do the same.”
“Monique is absolutely lovely & wonderful! She has such a great mix of personal, accessible energy along with depth and breadth of experience, as well as the ability to convey theoretical concepts clearly.”
“This course was invaluable, surprising, unfolding and growthful! Monique is awesome. She has a wealth of knowledge, is supportive, experienced and flexible. I loved discovering new parts of myself, the connections I made with other colleagues and the case presentations. Engaging in my own Sandplay Process has been most informative in my work with clients. I have learned to trust the process and am more present with my clients.”
“I loved the whole program, but especially enjoyed the Sandplay activities. This was my first experience with Sandplay Therapy and I was very excited by it and its potential. I love Monique’s style of sharing her knowledge. She is warm, kind, safe, generous, knowledgable and awesome!! This training was absolutely inspiring!”
“Monique’s ability to hold a safe, nurturing space in which to learn and heal was paramount to the emotional, relational and intellectual depth I was able to go to in the training.”
“The highlight for me was the blend of experiential and theoretical. It was just right! Monique was compassionate and experienced with a good understanding of the range of material across Sandplay, Symbol Work and Trauma theories. This was an enticing introduction to a great combination of topics. It was well presented, informative and enriching. There was a good mix of personal and professional learning.”
“Monique was excellent! She has a great knowledge of both Trauma and Sandplay. Her sensitivity and skill as a therapist came into play allowing greater focus on the experiential aspect of learning the content and tools.”
“Monique is so masterful and authentic. She is delightful and brought symbols and Sandplay to life. This training was enriching and transformative. It will change my practice and my ability to work with people in any context.”
“I am more confident that I can connect with children and build trust as well as a deeper and more reflective practice. Monique brings a passion and genuineness to this work. Her experience working with children and parents was evident and useful.”
“I really loved the depth of play I experienced in the Sandplay and Symbol Work. Monique’s experience and wisdom within the field makes it easy and effortless to trust in each of the processes. Her presence is calm and reassuring.”
“Monique, thank you so much for such a powerful and healing training. I appreciate how much energy you put in to your training and wish to acknowledge you for your beautiful presence throughout. You are an incredible teacher and therapist and such an amazing role model for us to learn from. I am so grateful that I made the decision to invest in my personal and professional development. I sense that this course will be life changing for me.”