Wholesome Healing

Home
United States
Severna Park, MD
Wholesome Healing

Wholesome Healing specializes in offering play therapy services to children and in working with parents through family consultation / parental support.

We are dedicated to helping children and families feel connected and to helping children thrive.

11/16/2025

I started the LLC in 2012, soon after my first child was born. At the time I was practicing at Johns Hopkins in one of their substance abuse treatment programs. I had the vision for what was to come! My vision for Wholesome Healing always was to have it be a practice where all the providers specialize in Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) and other evidence -based approaches, having the advanced training and credentials to provide the highest quality of evidence-based care to children, teens, and their families.

Doors opened: in Sept. 2016 at 877 Ritchie Hwy (where Annapolis Pediatrics is)... One month later I found out I was pregnant with my third child, Grace!

Moved to 770 Ritchie Hwy (current location) in fall of 2018 (also moved houses at the same time!!)

First worry monster picture/ idea - I made the cardboard one for a family festival we had in 2019. Then my very talented friend and designer for Wholesome Healing, Cate Hudgins, made the current one.

My husband and I still do the website ourselves!

First hire, Feb. 2022 - Brooke Riffe! I reached out to her because I knew how amazing she is - and she took a chance on me!
Fun fact, she started at a second location that I temporarily created and had in Annapolis- so that I could bring her on.

Expanded in 2023

Start of internship program: 2023 with Loyola. 2024 University of Maryland School of Social Work

Start of credentialed Play Therapy Training Center: 2025. I started this with the intention to provide the highest quality training for my team as part of their benefits here, and to others in the field as well.

11/15/2025

Yesterday our staff went on a mini retreat to study Sandplay! We had so much fun and left with tons of resources to bring back to the families we work with. We are so dedicated to our families and constantly working to improve our quality of care. We hope you can all feel this as so much intention, passion, and care goes into our work.

11/11/2025

⏰ Limited time left to join the Healing Foundations Series!

If you’ve been thinking about joining the Healing Foundations Series for this transformative learning experience, now’s the time!

✨ Modules 1, 2, and 3 are available via self-study, start anytime, and learn at your own pace.

💬 Modules 4 and 5 are LIVE, offering a unique opportunity for Mental Health Professionals to connect directly with the presenters and deepen their understanding through real-time discussion and reflection.

Don’t miss your chance to be part of this powerful series designed to strengthen your clinical insights and explore the implications of CSA, supporting healing at every age and stage of life.

👉 Register now before time runs out!

11/08/2025

This week in our team meeting we focused on gratitude and what that means in our lives.

We all made vision boards about how to see more gratitude. Gratitude is one of the fastest proven ways to elevate mood. A daily gratitude journal can be life changing and helps us bring attention to the beauty in our lives.

In November, we will make an intentional effort to cultivate this in the practice.

11/07/2025

Take a look into a day in the life of Vanessa! The woman behind Wholesome Healing and all it has to offer.

Vanessa is the founder of Wholesome Healing and built it from a one woman show to what it is today. Today we are proud to say we have 5 more clinicians, 3 clinical interns, an office manager, and our beloved therapy dog, Max.

11/02/2025

We don't find big messes scary because it's actually developmentally appropriate for kids to make messes and having the freedom to do that some of the time helps them process the things in life that are messy. Aggressive play is also healthy and needed for development. This doesn't mean you don't have any limits, but it does mean you help them find appropriate ways for aggressive play such as pillow fights or wrestling. Big feelings are also a part of childhood. As play therapists, we understand that allowing these and supporting your child through them will lead to them finding ways of self-regulation that work long-term. We also know that Child Centered Play Therapy is proven to reduce big problems that other forms of therapy have trouble making long-term change on. This is because play is a child's natural language so when you can teach skills in and through the play kids understand so much easier and quicker.

When we see kids who don't have enough time for free play, they often get stressed over time. This is because kids solve their problems naturally through play. They need the time to process changes around them emotionally.

When other people really want kids to talk vs. playing it can actually delay treatment. Sure some kids really benefit from talking, but younger kids respond to treatment much better when it's rooted in play. They don't have to talk to heal. The play becomes their language.

Kids actually learn so much faster through play than teaching skills because of the way their brains are wired. Play has been proved to teach skills 400x faster than traditional methods.

When people see kids as objects to shape they lose sight of the individual needs of the child. All children are different and we understand that treatment needs to be incredibly personalized. Your child is unique and we tailor skills to match their unique needs.

10/30/2025

In the spirit of Halloween, we want to support families in dealing with all the fears coming up with their kids. We’ve put together a basic dos and donts list to get you through scary season!

10/25/2025

Here’s a sneak peak into the life of a play therapist!

10/24/2025

This week we had the honor of diving into Filial Family Therapy training with Mary Ortwein who literally wrote the book on this approach.

Filial family therapy is an approach in which we teach the parents the skills they need to be the primary agent of change with their own child.

What many may not realize is that filial family therapy is the most effective approach for children ages 3-10.

In Mary’s words, this is an approach for parents “who are experiencing hard times with one or more of their children. Perhaps problems have been building up gradually, or perhaps they have seemed to suddenly appear like monsters in a fairy tale, but one day you decide times are too hard and something different needs to happen. “

Parents may be shocked to learn that in just 3 or 4 months “we can change hard times to good times.”

We are excited to bring this to our practice.

10/18/2025

Our worry Monster is a grounding force at Wholesome Healing. Once a year we empty out the worries, read them together, and let them go. We hold them in love, honor the release they represent, and send hope and light to each person who trusted this gentle monster, this symbol of relief, with their truth.

It's a sacred tradition that we hold dear.
A reminder that the work we do is so important. That SO many kids are carrying burdens that are invisible yet so heavy. Fear. Worry. Hardships.
To them all, and to their families, we send a meditation of loving kindness...

"May you all be filled with loving-kindness".
"May you all be happy and safe".
"May you all be healthy in body and mind".
"May you all be free from suffering".

10/17/2025

Fun facts about our beloved Max.

Born in: South Carolina
Was called: Blue boy
DOB: July, 23, 2020 (5 years old)
Things he gets in trouble for: eating food off the counter
Things that make him mad: foxes and raccoons in our yard
Things he gets excited about: catching squirrels (trying to)
Halloween costume: he doesn’t like to dress up - we tried a cow last year
Favorite sports teams: Ravens and Orioles

10/11/2025

In addition to training, research, and supervision to make sure we are clinically the best we can be... We also spend a lot of time, individually and as a team, making sure we are mentally and emotionally healthy. Today, we examined what is working for us and what is not, and set intentions about how to keep improving - because we know that we can't give what we don't have, and you, our clients, deserve the best!

Address

Severna Park, MD
21146

Website

http://www.wholesomehealingforall.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Wholesome Healing posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Wholesome Healing:

Shortcuts

Want your practice to be the top-listed Clinic in Severna Park?