Certifications & Advanced Trainings

Trauma-Informed Expressive Arts Therapy
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) 
Play Therapy, completing steps for RPT-S (Registered Play Therapist and Play Therapist Supervisor)
Filial Play Therapy
TF-CBT (Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)
Advanced CPI (Crisis Prevention Institute)
Yoga Teacher (RYT) 
Radiant Child Yoga Teacher

Trauma-Informed Expressive Arts Therapy

Trauma-informed, arts-based therapies integrate neuroscience and neurodevelopment, somatic approaches, mindfulness practices, and resilience enhancement, using art making as the core approach. Trauma-informed expressive arts therapy is based on the idea that art expression is helpful in reconnecting implicit (sensory) and explicit (declarative) memories of trauma and in the treatment of PTSD (Malchiodi, 2003; 2008; 2012). In particular, it is an approach that assists the individual's capacity to self-regulate affect and modulate the body's reactions to traumatic experiences in the earliest stages to set the stage for eventual trauma integration and recovery. - Malchiodi, Cathy. "Art Therapy and Expressive Arts", 2012-2014.

EMDR- Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing

EMDR therapy is a cost-effective, non-invasive, evidence-based method of psychotherapy that facilitates adaptive information processing. EMDR therapy is an eight-phase treatment which comprehensively identifies and addresses experiences that have overwhelmed the brain’s natural resilience or coping capacity, and have thereby generated traumatic symptoms and/or harmful coping strategies. Through EMDR therapy, patients are able to reprocess traumatic information until it is no longer psychologically disruptive.- EMDR Humanitarian Assistance Programs."What is EMDR?", Trauma Recovery. 2015.

Play Therapy 

Play therapy is a structured, theoretically based approach to therapy that builds on the normal communicative and learning processes of children (Carmichael, 2006; Landreth, 2002; O'Connor & Schaefer, 1983). The curative powers inherent in play are used in many ways. Therapists strategically utilize play therapy to help children express what is troubling them when they do not have the verbal language to express their thoughts and feelings (Gil, 1991). In play therapy, toys are like the child's words and play is the child's language (Landreth, 2002). Through play, therapists may help children learn more adaptive behaviors when there are emotional or social skills deficits (Pedro-Carroll & Reddy, 2005). The positive relationship that develops between therapist and child during play therapy sessions can provide a corrective emotional experience necessary for healing (Moustakas, 1997). Play therapy may also be used to promote cognitive development and provide insight about and resolution of inner conflicts or dysfunctional thinking in the child (O'Connor & Schaefer, 1983; Reddy, Files-Hall, & Schaefer, 2005).- "Play Therapy Makes A Difference", Why Play Therapy?, 2015.