Wonders Counseling Blog
Mindfulness Meditation Changes Your Brain for the Better
People who regularly practice mindfulness meditation can attest to the positive effects of increasing calm, reducing stress and enhancing ability to develop insight on one’s life. Now, we have ample research to back up the positive impact meditation has. Dr....
3 Resources for Play Therapy With Trauma
I hear a lot of therapists asking for resources for using play therapy with trauma. While this short resource list is hardly comprehensive, you'll find some treasures here. Eliana Gil and Paris Goodyear-Brown are two experts on this topic when it comes to using play...
Resources for Child Centered and Directive Play Therapy in the Play Room
I recently led a live webinar now available as a recorded training called Bridging and Blending Non-Directive & Directive Play Therapy and as I explain at the beginning of that training I am passionate about operating from a prescriptive approach in order to...
Offering Group Play Therapy in Your Private Practice
Play therapy with groups of children can be a powerful modality for growth and healing. Much of the research done to demonstrate efficacy of play therapy has been with groups of children. Many children benefit from being able to participate in group play therapy....
Blending Play Therapy with Family Therapy
Therapists who have earned the credential of Registered Play Therapist through the Association for Play Therapy know the importance of including parents as an essential part of the treatment plan when we see children for play therapy. Many play therapists also provide...
Filling Your Private Practice: How to Be a Client Magnet
Often I ask groups of therapists and coaches who are starting out in private practice what they feel they most need, and a lot of times I hear, "I need to know how to get more clients,". I completely understand when you’re in the beginning of building that business,...
Busting the Blocks to Having Your Ideal Private Practice
If you are like many people you spend a lot of time thinking about your dream career. That's a very good thing because visualizing what you want to bring to life is an important first phase of manifesting what you long for in your work. The problem here is that often...
Treating Selective Mutism With Play Therapy
I remember my very first case with a child who presented with selective mutism. I was under supervision and direction. I was working at an early childhood development center provisionally licensed as an Associate Professional Counselor. When first approached by the...
Are You a School-Based Play Therapist? One Survival Skill You Need
By Guest Author Sarah Scott Dooling, LCSW, RPT-S In the public education and social work industries, we have created a culture that seems to stipulate that the more we work, the better we are. The harder we work the more validated we will be. If we put work first and...
6 Playful Parenting Strategies
The research indicates that children whose parents who actively utilize playful parenting strategies also have significantly healthy and strong bonds with their parents. It is also found that children whose parents engage in playful parenting have stronger bonds...
8 Time Management Tips for Therapists
In my 20+ years running my own businesses and 12 years of mentoring and coaching therapists on how to create and sustain a successful private practice, I've learned one core and essential strategy. You MUST have a relationship with clock and calendar that is...
54 Books for Play Therapy
The power of stories in the process of healing dates back to ancient Egypt and carries forward as the practice of bibliotherapy. Bibliotherapy is the use of books to help children deal with the issues and challenges they are experiencing. It consists of selecting...
Support for Children When There is a Divorce
Divorce can be difficult on everyone, but the challenges are ten-fold when there are children in the picture. Children are the ones who often end up suffering the most as a result of divorce. This can be because no one has explained to them what’s happening, or even...
4 Ways to Learn More in Less Time: Help for an Information Junkie!
I confess I am an information junkie. I love to read. I love to learn. I love to share what I learn with others! I'm insatiable I admit. I have a thirst for knowledge that is never completely quenched. Time is a precious commodity and as life flies by so quickly these...
Help for Parents When Children Lie
A common frustration among parents, teachers, and those who work with children is when children lie. Often, we focus on the problem behavior. However, it is important to look past the actual lie and try to figure out what is underneath the lying. In other words, the...
3 Steps to Make Life Happen with Goal Setting and an Action Plan
It's that time of year again. We are bringing one year to a close soon and as we pull up to the brink of a new year with new hope we start dreaming of the life we want in the new year. Dreaming of what you want for your life and career is an important first step....
Help Brain & Body Work Together
Your brain is an incredible structure that is capable of so much more than you give it credit for. It controls a variety of functions that happen without conscious thinking, such as your breathing and your beating heart. Your brain is command central for your balance,...
6 Signs a Child is Not Happy in School
Preschool typically is a happy time in a child's life and then they move on to elementary school. There is no denying that school can be challenging for a lot of children. There are times when they have conflicts with their friends or there are times when they...