Philosophy / Approach
Approach
Our services encompass the entire family. We practice a relationship based psychodynamic approach to therapy that utilizes both drama therapy and play therapy to reach children and adolescents for whom traditional talk therapy is less effective. Play-based interventions take each client’s unique profile, learning style, sensory processing, emotional needs, and regulatory issues into account. Additional services are available for adults, families, caretakers, educators, and professional providers who are seeking help with relationships, emotional growth, and innovative therapeutic and educational techniques. Cognitive behavioral techniques, group dynamics, and family systems are also taken into account.
Group Work
The Social Skills Through Drama program integrates theater games with therapeutic exercises to strengthen assertiveness, communication, empathy, flexibility, and collaboration with the developmental milestones created by Drs. Stanley Greenspan & Serena Weider in their Developmental, Individualized, and Relational theory of child development.
Group work focuses on children 0-13 years old, who have trouble learning to relate and communicate, or have developmental challenges, such as Autism, PDD, ADHD, Sensory regulatory disorders, NLD, and Anxiety Disorder .
Children ages 0-3 work on strengthening attachment skills through parent/child play groups with a primary care giver.
Children ages 4-5 strengthen social skills and prepare for school-based peer play with partial parent/peer groups.
School-aged children (up to age 13) are separated into peer groups based on social needs and developmental capacities.
All children are screened prior to placement to find an appropriate play-group.
Families are included in the process via direct communication with the therapist; this may include participation in a play group, attending parent coffee club, or listening to the debriefings which follow each peer-only group. Family members may also seek additional assistance for marriage, sibling relationships, anxiety, grief, and/or depression.