Sousa & Associates: Specializing in Child Psychotherapy & Play Therapy

05/22/2025

🧠 People often use the word “regulated” as if it is a synonym for “calm.”

⚖️ Regulated means your energy levels match the task at hand. Dysregulated means your energy levels do not match the task. Executive functioning skills, such as working memory, cognitive flexibility, and self-control, play a significant role in helping individuals regulate their energy levels.

🌟 Helping a child regulate can sometimes mean placing them in an environment where their energy levels match the setting. Other times, it involves helping their body meet its needs so that their energy levels align with the upcoming task. This can include strategies to improve executive functioning skills, such as practicing self-control or using tools to enhance working memory.

Being REGULATED means your energy levels match the task. It does not mean ‘calm’.
The image is by

05/09/2025

Because sometimes you just gotta sing and air guitar on a desk with your mates. 🥰

04/30/2025

Credit:

Correction is part of parenting. But when a child doesn’t feel connected to you, correction can feel like rejection. When connection is built before correction is ever needed, it makes those harder moments easier to navigate.

That’s why connection needs to happen long before correction ever does.

Build it in the calm, everyday moments:
✔️ Ask to join them in their play—before they even invite you.
✔️ Sit beside them while they color and say, “Tell me about this one.”
✔️ Make eye contact and smile when they walk in the room.
✔️ Share a laugh, a snack, or a story—even for just 5 minutes.

These small choices tell your child: “You matter to me—even when nothing’s wrong.”

Then, when something does go wrong:
✔️ Sit down at their level and say, “I’m here to help you through this.”
✔️ Ask, “Can you tell me what happened?”
✔️ Remind them, “You’re not in trouble. You’re learning. I’ll walk with you through it.”

Because when your child feels secure in your presence, they can handle your correction without feeling rejected.

Connection isn’t a reward for good behavior. It’s the foundation that makes growth possible.

04/19/2025

Food just tastes better like this…

04/17/2025

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”

-Plato

In the play therapy context, this idea is embraced to emphasize how play reveals a child’s inner world more authentically than verbal interviews or adult-style discussions.

So take a seat-kiddo level of course. Watch and Wonder! 👀

04/17/2025

clever creations…spring art inspo 🌈💐

04/10/2025

Playing through the life span...a must.

03/22/2025

02/04/2025

Expert level parenting…

02/01/2025

Play vs. Therapeutic Play vs. Play Therapy

What’s the Difference?

Play is a child’s language—it’s how they explore, learn, and express themselves.

There is however a difference between play, therapeutic play, and play therapy…

✨ Play is what kids do naturally—running, building, pretending, and creating. It’s fun, imaginative, and essential for development.

✨ Therapeutic Play uses play with a purpose! It’s often guided by a trained professional (like an OT, teacher, or C*C) to help with skills like emotional regulation, social development, or sensory processing. Building a safe therapeutic relationship is the central underpinning.

✨ Play Therapy is a structured, evidence-based mental health intervention led by a Certified Play Therapist. It helps children process emotions, heal from trauma, and express what words can’t always capture. Beyond “just playing” which has its own significant merit, Play therapy uses metaphors, symbols, and themes to help children express and process emotions they may not have words for. Through play, a child’s struggles, fears, and inner world come to life—whether it's a fierce dragon representing anxiety, a hidden treasure symbolizing self-worth, or recurring themes of rescue reflecting a need for safety. A trained play therapist recognizes these patterns, creating a space where healing unfolds naturally through the language of play.

01/15/2025

Silly us. 🥹🫶

Source: WonderLed Life
Art Source: Angelina Ballerina

🐸🍄❤️

01/02/2025

“Engagement” is a neurological state. When young children’s brains are highly engaged, i.e., they are processing information and ideas, accompanied by heightened emotion, they are learning more. Active play readily puts young children’s brains in that state.

Seek engagement and take the leap of faith that learning will follow. Let young children play. Step back and trust their brains to do what they do best: learn.