PlayWorks Individual and Family Therapy

03/05/2026

Conscious Discipline is a great parenting program that teaches about connecting with your child and brain based skills. Free.

We are so excited to partner with Ms. Heather Chatham of Chatty Learners for this Conscious Discipline series!! There will be two separate classes, Three Brain States and Seven Skills of Discipline, each is four weeks. You can sign up for one or both for FREE! Classes are Wednesday evenings from 6-8pm at the 701 in downtown Grand Forks. Go to ndsu.ag/parenteducation to save your spot!

02/28/2026

Black mental wellness deserves visibility — not just for a day, but every day.

This Black History Month, we’ve recognized diverse voices and experiences while underscoring that mental health equity is essential to overall health, safety, and opportunity.

Today, on , we continue to elevate conversations about stigma, center culturally responsive care, and reaffirm the importance of community-based solutions.

Black mental wellness is shaped by strength, resilience, advocacy, and collective care. It also requires access, investment, and systems change.

As Black History Month comes to a close, our commitment continues.

Learn more and join the movement at nami.org/chea, and explore the Crisis Can’t Wait campaign at nami.org/crisiscantwait.

02/23/2026

First Responders take care of yourself! Thank you for all you do.

We cannot talk about public safety without talking about mental health.

Operational stress is cumulative. Call after call. Shift after shift. Exposure after exposure. Without recovery, that stress does not just disappear. It becomes injury.

The research is clear:

Repeated exposure changes the brain.
Culture impacts help-seeking.
Burnout is not just exhaustion.
Protective factors truly matter.

This is not about individual weakness.
This is about systems, leadership, and recovery.

For responders:
Rest is operational readiness. Support is strength.

For leaders:
Wellness must be built into policy, not left to individuals to figure out alone.

For communities:
If we want healthy services, we must have healthy responders.

Mental health injury is real. It deserves the same response as a physical injury.

We are stronger when we acknowledge that and build systems that reflect it. 💙

source: https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0001013

02/21/2026

Dougy Center is a great resource for grief information and help. Check their site out!

02/21/2026

Brain-spotting is pretty powerful therapy also! Both are done at PlayWorks.

02/14/2026

Happy Valentines Day! You are amazing!

02/11/2026

EMDRIA (emdria.org) is the site to find information about EMDR and to find therapists who have finished both levels of training or are certified. Certified means both levels of training were completed, received additional training and meets continuing education requirements to uphold the certification, and has received several hours of supervision. I have been certified for about 14 years. EMDR is a powerful therapy that takes training to understand and safely guide people through the process. Any questions just ask!

02/07/2026

Final day of Play Therapy Week! Sand Tray therapy is an expressive therapy technique where clients (children, teens, or adults) use miniature figures in a sand-filled tray to create images. It’s tapping into the subconscious to explore thoughts and feelings that may not be in the awareness. Many different figures and items are displayed for the person to pick from to create images in the sand. This helps with expressing one self and helps create more of a personal awareness. Sand Tray is a powerful technique that helps create healing in people of all ages. Many people love doing Sand Tray, even though they may feel kinda awkward at first. It is a fun, engaging process. The first few pictures are of the adult/teen miniatures/objects with the sand tray on the floor. The last picture are items in the Play Therapy room for younger kids. Sand Tray is usually a directed activity and it is a form of Play Therapy. There are several categories such as animals, fantasy, super hero, household, people, trauma items, vehicles, holidays, family, etc.

02/07/2026

Life goals! Some days are easier and some days are harder. You got this!

Some days, our children remind us of lessons we adults spend years trying to master.
A 4-year-old choosing not to “let the bad parts win” is more than cute — it’s emotional intelligence in its purest form.
Kids see the world with a softness we often lose, and their perspective is a quiet invitation for us to slow down, breathe, and choose joy with intention.
A gentle reminder: sometimes the smallest voices carry the biggest wisdom. 💛

02/07/2026

It’s all about balance. Play is needed for proper brain development.

Toy Story 5 may have just delivered one of the clearest warnings about modern childhood. The villain isn’t a monster or a scary figure; it’s a tablet. This reflects a growing concern among parents and scientists: screens are quietly taking over the time, attention, and imagination that used to define childhood.
Today, kids spend 5 to 7 hours a day on devices. Free play, outdoor activity, and pretend games are shrinking. Screens provide instant images but remove problem-solving, reduce pretend-play, and collapse attention spans. The average toddler now expects new stimulation every 7 to 12 seconds; this isn’t curiosity, it’s overstimulation.
Hands-on toys and real-world play remain crucial. They build motor skills, spatial awareness, creativity, and problem-solving. Screens, no matter how interactive, cannot replace the three-dimensional, multi-sensory experiences that form strong brains.
Even the connection suffers. Eye contact, shared smiles, joint attention, and emotional mirroring are all critical for wiring the social and emotional brain. Screens often steal these moments without parents even noticing.
Disney’s message is bold but necessary: protecting childhood means prioritizing play, imagination, and human connection over glowing screens. It is a reminder that real childhood happens when hands, minds, and hearts are fully engaged.

02/06/2026

Another Play Room we have is the sensory room. Here we can work on releasing trauma and feelings that get stuck in the body. Trauma gets stored in the body and is a disconnection from the body and self. Through sensory play reconnection and healing can happen. An outside natural play therapy/healing garden area is being worked on that we should be able to use this summer. Healing through play is powerful. It’s working through and processing things that affect us so we don’t carry them into adulthood. Happy Play Therapy Week.

02/05/2026

Play Therapy lets kids act out their thoughts and feelings. As a play therapist, I in turn can reflect with them, helping them process and work through those feelings. Such as this first picture of a child who is feeling like they are not being heard and their feelings are not bring validated. This is important information to help parents understand how to help their child heal. As parents we try our best but it’s easy to miss things. Information is never to judge or shame, but to help bridge gaps. Happy Play Therapy Week! Have you done something playful today?