Shealah West Therapy, LLC

02/07/2026

Shame often hides behind control, anger, detachment, humor, competence, helping others, which is why people say: “I don’t feel shame - I just feel empty / tense / irritated / tired.” Childhood shame doesn’t disappear - it becomes strategy. You don’t heal it by pushing confidence, forcing positivity, or “thinking differently”. You heal it by recognizing its disguises, separating past messages from present reality, and creating experiences of being seen without performance. If shame shows up in your adulthood, it does not mean something is wrong with you. It means something happened in your childhood when your sense of self was still forming. 💛

02/07/2026

02/06/2026

From Mariam Jensen, LCMFT, RPT - Joyful Heart Therapy, LLC
The “Why Play Therapy?!” Series - Day 4 – The Therapeutic Relationship is the Primary Healing Agent

“The Relationship is the Therapy.” - Dr. Garry Landreth

Neurobiological research consistently identifies safe, attuned relationships as central to emotional healing. For children, the therapeutic relationship provides a regulated external nervous system, before internal regulation in their own nervous system is possible. Through consistent attunement, responsiveness, and acceptance, the Play Therapist supports co-regulation and fosters neural integration, which then aids the healing process.

This relational safety allows children’s stress-response systems to settle, creating the conditions necessary for exploration, emotional processing, and developmental growth. Healing occurs not through directive instruction, but through repeated experiences of being emotionally supported and understood. In that way, and as Lisa Dion states: “the therapist is the most important “toy” in the playroom”. A trained, experienced, and possibly also Registered Play Therapist™️ has the clinical expertise, training, and knowledge to form a trusting therapeutic relationship with the child, to facilitate the healing process, in an age and developmentally appropriate manner, and according to the unique needs of every child.

02/05/2026

Lol. How ChatGPT sees me. What do you think? Obviously one of the cats needs to be Siamese.

02/03/2026

The “Why Play Therapy?!” Series - Day 2 – Why Research Matters in Play Therapy!

Parents often ask: “How do we know play therapy actually works?”
That’s an important question—and one worth exploring.

Play therapy is not based on guesswork or intuition alone. It is supported by decades of research showing positive outcomes for children experiencing anxiety, trauma, grief, behavioral challenges, and difficulties with emotional regulation, to name a few. Many play therapy modalities have been studied using evidence-based standards.

If you’re someone who likes to look at the research behind the work, here are a few highly reputable and reliable organizations that collect, review, and publish play therapy outcome data:

🔹 Center for Play Therapy at the University of North Texas
https://cpt.unt.edu/research-and-publications

🔹 Association for Play Therapy (APT)
https://www.a4pt.org
(Research & Publications section)

🔹 Evidence Based Child Therapy
https://evidencebasedchildtherapy.com

🔹 Child-Centered Play Therapy International (CCPT-I)
https://ccptinternational.org/research

🔹 Sandplay Therapists of America
https://www.sandplay.org/jst-article/sandplay-therapy-an-evidenced-based-treatment/

These organizations compile peer-reviewed studies and clinical research that guide ethical, and effective Play Therapy practice.

Play Therapy may look simple on the outside—but it is grounded in science, specialized training, and intentional clinical care, by a trained and experienced Play Therapist who is also a Mental Health Professional holding at least a Master’s Degree and also holding the highest and independent level of licensure in their State of practice in the USA (Requirements may differ based on other countries). Play Therapy is designed to meet children exactly where they are developmentally and emotionally 💛

02/03/2026

The “Why Play Therapy?!” Series - Day 1 – Play Is a Child’s Language

Children often feel big emotions they can’t yet put into words. They may act out, withdraw, or use imagination to communicate what’s happening inside. Play therapy honors this natural language of children, allowing them to express feelings safely through toys, storytelling, and creative expression. When parents understand that play is their child’s voice, they can see beyond behaviors to the deeper messages children are trying to share 💛

02/01/2026

Yes!! Teach them to respect animals!

01/31/2026

You can't Google life experience.

01/23/2026

Brrrr! Online sessions from the home office today! Paperwork and Siameezer watching will keep me occupied! What are y'all doing today?

01/21/2026

YES, PARENTS, please listen to this!

01/20/2026

"Adoption does not erase trauma.
Prayer does not replace proper support.
Love does not automatically heal a brain wired for survival." 🎤🤚

You’ve probably seen the headline by now.

An 11 year old boy killed his father.

And the internet did what it always does.
It picked a villain.
It decided the parents failed.
Calling them negligent.
Saying this never would have happened “in their house.”
Deciding who’s at fault from a headline.

Here’s what keeps getting left out.

That child was adopted.
Which means his story didn’t start in that home.
It started with loss.
With separation.
With trauma that love alone cannot undo.

And before anyone twists this
no, this does not mean adopted children are dangerous.
It does not mean adoption leads to violence.
Most adopted children will never harm anyone.

And I need to say this clearly
I am not excusing what he did.
Taking a life is wrong.
Always.

What happened is tragic and devastating and irreversible.

And there is documentation that his parents were trying to get him help.
They raised alarms.
They asked for mental health support.
They were not ignoring what was happening in their home.

Still
a man is dead.
A father is gone.
A family is shattered forever.

Two things can be true.

We can grieve deeply for a father who should still be here
and still say out loud that trauma, when left untreated, does not stay quiet.

Adoption does not erase trauma.
Prayer does not replace proper support.
Love does not automatically heal a brain wired for survival.

And sometimes parents do everything they are told to do
and the system still fails the child anyway.

Scripture tells us to be slow to speak.
Slow to anger.
Quick to listen.

So maybe we stop blaming.
Maybe we stop pretending we know what we would have done.
Maybe we lead with mercy instead of pride.

This family does not need our judgment.
They need prayer.

And that child
who will carry this for the rest of his life
needs it too.

Because Jesus never led with condemnation.
He led with truth and compassion.

And this story deserves both.

01/12/2026

Oh... ouch. Good reminder for all of us.

Today I was reading in a group where an adoptive mother was upset because her adopted child will not call her mom.

She was hurting.
She felt rejected.
She just wanted to know if that was normal.

And then I saw a comment telling her she should demand respect.

I had to sit with that for a minute.

Because demanding a title from a child who has already lost one is not respect.
It is control.

Respect is built through safety.
Through consistency.
Through showing up when it is hard and staying even when nothing is given back.

A child calling you mom is not a requirement.
It is not a right you earn by providing food or shelter.
It is not something you get to demand because you signed adoption papers.

That word can hold so much pain.
So much loyalty conflict.
So much fear of replacing someone they love.

And none of that is disrespect.

Adopted children are not created to meet our emotional needs.
They are not here to validate our role.
They do not exist to make us feel chosen.

I say this as an adoptive mother.

My children do not owe me a title.
They do not owe me gratitude.
They do not owe me proof that I am doing a good job.

They were created because God intended their life.
Not because I wanted to be called mom.

Our job is not to be honored.
Our job is to be safe.

If a child calls you mom one day let it be because it grew naturally.
Because trust made room for it.
Because love softened the fear.

Not because it was demanded.

Children in adoption have already lost enough.
They should never be asked to give up more just to protect an adult’s feelings.