Child Counselling

Our children’s counselling program is based on the play therapy model where children express themselves and their feelings through play. This is short term counselling, provided FREE of CHARGE, to support and provide play based interventions for children who have been impacted by family violence, abuse, or bullying. We offer this program to children (ages 5-11) of all genders.

In order to receive this service for your child, we do require that at least 1 parent or guardian participate in the program to work toward counselling goals together.

Please note: Not everyone may be ready for our counselling programs. If your child is in crisis or needs emergency mental health support, please call 911 or a 24/7 mental health service. Our intakes are not conducted everyday. When you call or email us, we will schedule a 15 minute pre-screen over the phone. If counselling services are requested and deemed appropriate for your situation, we’ll schedule an in-person 1 hour intake with our child play therapist. Because of the nature of play based therapy, sessions need to be done in person. Unfortunately, we cannot offer this service via video or over the phone.

We gladly accept referrals from other organizations and medical professionals as well as individuals calling about services for their own children. If you are looking for immediate resources, please view our resources page.

Intake Process

We have a 2 step intake process. We start with a phone consult to ask about your child, your particular situation, and to answer any questions you might have. If your child is eligible, we will schedule an in-person intake to ensure your child will be able to benefit from the services we provide, and offer referrals for local supports when appropriate.

Please note: Spaces are limited and there is no guarantee that all children who go through our intake process will be able to receive child play therapy with us.

Parent Participation

It is critical that at least 1 parent or guardian participates in the program to help their child meet counselling goals. This may involve additional in-person sessions with parents, as well as such ‘homework’ as identifying behaviours, trying play based interventions, and supporting their child’s therapy in other ways in the home.

Please note: This is a mandatory aspect of the program, and if parents are unable to commit, we will NOT be able to offer this service to your child.

Short Term Counselling

We are able to offer a maximum of 10 sessions of play based therapy. If you would like additional supports, we do our best to recommend other professionals who may be able to offer similar services to support your child. Given that few agencies provide free play therapy, however, referrals may often be private and will require paying out of pocket. Our therapists are not available for private services (as outlined in our counselling agreements).