The Heart of Counseling is a strong therapeutic relationship between you and your counselor. Research shows that this is the single most important factor in success across all counseling therapies. However, it is not the only factor, and this relationship is necessarily channeled through techniques and approaches that must meet clients at their ability to process and express their own life experiences.

Play Therapy

(Ages 4 to 12)

This therapeutic approach is designed to allow children to express their inner worlds using the ‘universal language’ of children: Play. Using play therapy a child may share and explore their thoughts, feelings, and experiences in ways that they are not yet able to with words or insights, as an adolescent or adult can.

Due to the nature of this type of therapy it is best that these sessions be in person, rather than online. If you wish to learn more about this approach, please click on the link to the Center for Play Therapy’s website below.

Center for Play Therapy

Activity Therapy

(Age 12 to 18)

Activity therapy acts as a bridge between Play therapy and adult Talk therapy for the more developed and emotionally capable adolescent mind. This method respects their increased maturity and expressive ability while also providing a playful structure to help ‘bridge the gap’ in expression for the still developing mind. This activity might be a game, art, craft, or other expressive activity to help provide an outlet and structure to the session.

Talk Therapy

(Ages 18 and Older)

Talk therapies are what one often thinks of when considering counseling, a private session between you and your counselor in which you express and explore your life’s challenges and emotional/mental health. This form of therapy is done with adults and older adolescents who have the developmental ability to engage and understand using this mental health approach. Though this is nominally called ‘Talk therapy’ it may include other expressive forms and techniques that might be helpful to your mental health journey, such as art therapies, sand tray therapies, trauma-informed techniques, or other methods of exploration and healing. If you wish to learn more about counseling approaches, please explore the link to the American Counselor’s Association below.

American Counselor's Association