Centre for Expressive Therapy

08/10/2025

The path to and from the playroom

08/06/2025

Rosalie is sampling this year’s blueberry crop

07/31/2025

« FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WISH TO LEAVE POLITICS OUT OF DEALING WITH TRAUMA, I wish to remind you that trauma is all about people living under social conditions where terrible things are allowed to happen, and where the truth cannot be told. »

~ Bessel van der Kolk, "The Body Keeps the Score

07/19/2025

As I walk with Rosalie on this summer night, after giving a 3 day workshop in my playroom, , i am filled with gratitude for the opportunity to pass on to the younger generation some of what I have learned over the years…Thank you again for receiving what I have to give .

07/11/2025

The butterflies, birds, the bees love my garden. They particularly enjoy the plants that are called weeds by many

06/28/2025

Tails are wagging…My next visitor has arrived…

06/23/2025

"I know the great tragedies of history often paralyze men with encroaching horror. They stand rooted to the spot until, one day, the Gorgon devours them.
But I mean to convince you that there is only an illusion of impotence. That intelligence, strength of character, and courage are enough to stop fate and sometimes to reverse it."
~ Albert Camus, in his Nobel Prize speech.

06/12/2025

Last Saturday, at the annual conference of the Canadian Play therapy Association I had the honour to receive the Monica Herbert award . It was wonderful to see colleagues and friends from long ago

06/10/2025

Sending white blossoms filled with loving thoughts to the people standing up in the face of brutality . Please do not look the other way… it is not business as usual …
With much gratitude

06/09/2025

Such a wonderful memory

What a gift it was to see you in my playroom, dear Lisa. Thank You for all you have given and continue to do to help the children. A bientôt! Lisa Terni Dion.

06/09/2025

The children love my new swing set as do their parents. Such a perfect spot to rest and ponder !…

05/27/2025

Absolutely!! Beautifully said…

When we reduce play to a tool for development, we miss its essence. Yes, children learn through play, there’s no denying that. But learning is just the byproduct.

Play isn’t something we use to get somewhere else. It’s not a trick for sneaking in academics or a vehicle for hitting milestones. It’s the space where children become themselves.

Through play, they experiment with identity, power, connection, courage.
They take risks, start over, push boundaries, and test ideas. Sometimes out loud, sometimes in silence. They’re not just rehearsing for life. They’re living it.

So when we focus only on what play teaches, we overlook what play reveals.
The joy. The agency. The inner world of a child shaping itself moment by moment, block by stick by story.

Let’s stop trying to extract value from play and start protecting its freedom. Because who a child becomes through play is far more important than what they produce because of it.