For the curious...

Systemic family therapy looks at the family as one system whose parts influence and impact the whole. What happens in one part of the system ripples into all parts of the system, just like an ecosystem.

Social constructionism explores the ideas of multiple truths and realities. We are co-constructing our lives through relational experiences every moment. So in therapy we are exploring many possibilities for thinking, seeing, attuning and understanding.

Interpersonal interventive interviewing is a systemic way of seeing and listening within family therapy which looks at the patterns happening in the spaces and relations between family members. It was designed by Dr. Karl Tomm who continues to teach and provide therapy through The Calgary Family Therapy Centre (CFTC). I have had the extreme privilege of enjoying my practicum and several years since with CFTC.

Narrative therapy centres language and the ways we author our lives. It invites us to explore the words and descriptions we choose to describe our lives. Narrative therapy privileges our stories of survivance and strengths.

Somatic Experiencing® was developed by Dr. Peter Levine. Through somatic experiencing we centre the nervous system's narrative to allow it to 'complete it's process' and find places where the 'threat recovery impulse' might have become stuck. Clients also learn somatic based skills to support their incredible nervous systems to increase their capacity for presence, joy and connection. Somatic Experiencing can be incredibly empowering for clients since it invites clients into their embodied experiences as a clear way of knowing.

Embodied Awareness is the work of Dr. Beth Hedva through The Canadian Institute of Transpersonal and Integrative Sciences. Embodied Awareness (EA) integrates personal inner work and supporting others in becoming fully present in body and mind while expanding into spiritual directed therapy and resourcing. I had the honour of training and becoming certified in EA from Dr. Beth Hedva in person and continued mentoring with her as a trainer for subsequent cohorts. To learn more: https://www.hedva.ca/embodied-awareness/

Expressive Arts Therapy can offer ways of knowing and expressing where words might not be available. Through various creative expressions like painting, poetry, collage, movement or sound and rituals spaces open for our own inner guidance to be brought forth.

Experiential Learning is essentially learning by doing and reflecting. Through my career at Enviros we were trained and offered many exciting opportunities to dive deep into experiential learning as a way of serving the children, youth and families we worked with.