Growing Roots Therapy

05/27/2025

Happy Pride Month! Everyone is welcome at Growing Roots Therapy.🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 We recognize that children have a deep understanding of their own identity and feelings, regardless of age. We also recognize that it can be hard when your child expresses an identity you were not expecting or don't understand. There are many good resources available to parents to help in your journey of understanding gender and sexuality. Here are just a few we recommend:

Gender Spectrum collective


If you are the parent of a transgender or gender creative child struggling to find local support/resources, feel free to reach out to Sara for a free phone or email consult: sara@growingrootstherapy.ca

05/12/2025

Another type of play therapy modality that we use at Growing Roots is sandtray therapy. This technique uses a sand tray, along with a variety of small figures and tools to assist children in expressing themselves without words. It’s a complex and power tool that incorporates the use of metaphors to help children process trauma and anxiety, express feelings, and reflect upon inner worlds with some distance.

04/11/2025

At Growing Roots Therapy, Circle of Security is one of the tools we use to build strong connections between caregivers and children. Circle of Security provides a roadmap for identifying what our children need from us, in order to develop into secure individuals who know how to confidently explore new things, and also how to ask for help and comfort when they need it. Circle of Security helps us as parents learn to recognize the emotions that arise inside of us, so that we can work at being present and supportive through all of our children's emotions. This is the inner work that deepens connections within our own hearts as well as with the hearts of our children.

03/13/2025

I (Tanya) would love to share my book with you! I wrote The Helping Rock to provide a framework for showing children the importance of sharing our gifts with others and the strength we gain by working together. In this book, learning to ride a bike is hard work for Lani, especially because she won’t accept any help. But when Mama uses the helping rock to teach Lani the value of both giving and receiving help, Lani begins to see the joy and connection sparked by working together. As the colourful sparkling rock is passed among Lani’s friends, readers witness the many ways we help each other. By exploring this book and the included activities, parents, educators, and counsellors can promote a growth mindset and encourage children to share their gifts and be open to receiving help when they need it.

02/19/2025

At Growing Roots Therapy, we also use Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). DBT is a type of cognitive behavior therapy that focuses on teaching and practicing four core skills (mindfulness, acceptance & distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness). Of course, we integrate art, toys, visuals, and play to best meet the need of our child and youth clients. You can find more about DBT here: https://dialecticalbehaviortherapy.com

09/27/2024

09/20/2024

Growing Roots Therapy has a new website. Take a peek, link in bio.

09/13/2024

We are beyond excited to announce that Tanya Hoover has joined our team at Growing Roots Therapy. Tanya comes to us with a wealth of warmth, experience and training. Tanya is currently accepting new clients.
Meet Tanya:

You in three words: My kids saw a meme of someone at a sports game wearing a t-shirt that says, “I just hope both teams have fun!” My kids felt that summed me up, and they know me best, so…😊...Okay, three words. Thoughtful. Playful. Growing.

Length of time in practice: I’ve been a Child Play Therapist since 2012. Prior to that, I worked as a consultant to child care centres supporting children with challenging behaviours, and prior to that, I worked with preschoolers with diagnosed disabilities as a Child Development Counsellor.

Kids? My kids are 13 and 9. They are amazing and busy and have such incredible ideas of their own…and I try hard to keep up! haha Parenting is most definitely the best thing I’ve ever done, and the hardest thing I’ve ever done. We all just want to help our kids be the best they can be, right? Who knew it was so exhausting?😀💕

Cat or dog? We have the two sweetest, snuggliest cats: Holly and Cinnamon. 🐱

Sweet or salty: My favourites are dark chocolate, potato chips, and an endless cup of tea! ☕

Favourite story book: I LOVE children’s books! I am the author of one children’s book and I hope to write more. Amy Krouse Rosenthal is one of my favourite children’s book authors, so I’ll go with her book One of Those Days. I find that everyone can relate to this fun, realistic book. ✨

If you want to learn more about Tanya's education, training and areas of expertise, please visit her bio on our website.

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04/25/2024

At Growing Roots, we also integrate Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Play Therapy. EMDR is an evidenced based and structured therapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences using bilateral stimulation. We integrate the use of sand, art, visuals, and toys to make the process more related and engaging for children. You can learn more about EMDR here: https://www.emdria.org

03/08/2024

At Growing Roots, one of the play therapy modalities that we offer is called Theraplay. Theraplay is a child and family therapy for building and enhancing attachment, self-esteem, trust in others, and joyful engagement. It is based on the natural patterns of playful, healthy interaction between parent and child and is personal, physical, and fun. To learn more about Theraplay, you can visit the Theraplay Canada website.