Videos
Occupational Therapist Lydia Hagerty shares what OT looks like at Creative Family Counseling.
Occupational Therapy Insights from Lydia Hagerty, OTR/L:
Occupational Therapy addresses many aspects of our body mechanics and how we move within the world around us. While this video only shows a few things that can be addressed in OT, this is by far not the only things addressed in an OT session, as a session is oriented to the client individually. Occupational Therapy can work on oral motor skills, such as controlling our breathing, pursing our lips, strengthening our oral-facial muscles and more. This helps one with eating, grooming (such as brushing teeth), sensory sensitivity around the mouth and more. Visual skills are important; working on scanning our environment, strengthening the eye muscles, finding objects in a busy or cluttered environment (such as in a desk or backpack or junk drawer), or for reading and writing. Sensory regulation is Occupational Therapy’s specialty with assessing how an individual’s brain perceives sensory information from all eight sensory systems and working with a client if it’s affecting their life in a way in which it is impeding living life to its fullest. More to come on this topic! Occupational Therapy also works on handwriting, development of appropriate and functional grasp, finger isolation, tactile awareness and more! (And often are doing it in a super fun way- like with shaving cream!) And lastly, here at Creative Family Counseling, we provide neurodiverse affirming and gender affirming care, as these are closely tied to a person’s lived experience and how they interact within the world. Occupational Therapy treats the whole person and supports them to live a full and independent, meaningful life, as defined by each individual. Interested in occupational therapy or learning more? Give us a call today!
Occupational Therapy Insights from Lydia Hagerty, OTR/L:
Using a mirror during play- both inside and outside of Occupational Therapy- has fantastic benefits! Some people have decreased body awareness which can make it difficult to identify where their body is in relation to their environment and other parts of their body, such as doing a yoga pose or brushing teeth or completing fasteners such as zipping a coat. Doing these tasks in front of a mirror gives additional visual feedback to the brain to reinforce what the movement feels like within the body. It can also help with much more as seen in the video. Give it a try next time, like placing a mirror on the table while eating dinner if mealtimes can be tricky. Or playing with a shatter proof mirror while in the tub for washing hair. Are you curious about other items we use in Occupational Therapy? Or how Occupational Therapy can help you? Give us a call today for a free consultation!
Occupational Therapy Insights from Lydia Hagerty, OTR/L:
This fun TikTok dance trend includes moves that cross the midline of the body; as if your body is invisibly cut down the middle. As we grow and develop as humans, we must learn to use our right and left arm and leg together to coordinate movement (bilateral coordination) as well as working in midline and then crossing midline. Think of using both sides of our body together to dress, write, cut, eat, hug, etc. And crossing midline to do the same and more. This can be a challenge for many in development or after injury and can greatly cause frustration or difficulty keeping up with peers. This is one of the many skills Occupational Therapy observes and assesses during an evaluation and then addresses in therapy sessions in super fun ways! Contact us today for a free consultation.
Occupational Therapy Insights from Lydia Hagerty, OTR/L:
Our vestibular system in our bodies is an important sensory system that isn’t talked about often. It is housed in our inner ear and it perceives where our body is in space. It sends signals to the brain to help our body best understand if our body is upright, falling, laying down, spinning, etc. Some vestibular systems are more sensitive than others, therefore things like roller coasters have some that love them and some that would rather not ride. Some ways in which the vestibular system is activated include using a slide, swinging, use of a scooter, jumping, rolling, bouncing, hanging upside down and so much more.
When looking for a Therapist to treat trauma or PTSD, there are certain things to look for. Here Lacey Ryan, LMFT, RPT-S offers suggestions on how to determine if a therapist is a good fit for treating your trauma related challenges.
If you’re dealing with challenging and frustrating behaviors after your family’s holiday travels and celebrations, this video can be a resource for you. Here, Lacey Ryan, LMFT, RPT-S offers 2 reasons why children misbehave and a practical and easy-to-implement way to deal with it!
Erica Adams, LPCC-S, ATR-BC, LPAT is a Therapist at the Lyndon Creative Family Counseling practice and she specializes in working with clients in crisis. Listen here to learn how and why the melding of art and communication through crisis are so healing.
For families who are moving, here are some great books to help kids feel understood, see how others experience moving, and feel validated in their many emotions on the subject. By reading together and then discussing afterward, parents can provide space for support and understanding for their children.
In our last video in the Connection Series, Bridget Morgan, LMFT explains how to increase connection and belonging by allowing your child to feel special. Watch to learn how!
Connection Rituals are consistent, intentional rituals parents can do to proactively meet your child’s needs for connection. Join Bridget Morgan, LMFT as she explains!
Follow along with Bridget Morgan, LMFT to learn about the biological need children have for a strong parent-child connection and how you can foster this with your child.
Leading up to the first day of school for your kids, you may notice feelings of concern, fear, and nervousness or even anger and irritability. The first day and even week of school, you may notice behavioral changes in your children. Here are 4 things you can do to support your child.
Let’s talk about spanking – how and why it works and the damage it causes, leading not to respect, but to fear.
Every voice matters, and the expression of voice varies. Children express through behavior and play. The ability to express their emotions through words, such as in traditional talk therapy, isn’t possible until about ages 8-10 and older, and this is based on their brain development.
Nora Gardner, LCSW takes a few moments to talk about her therapeutic specialization in Trauma Focused Therapy. Nora walks us through how she works with clients to create a plan for untangling past trauma.
Life Transitions are tough for everyone but there is a way to prepare for transitions with our team members who offer a new service – Transition Prep Action Planning. In this brief, solution-focused planning, conversation and activities are focused on removing obstacles, solving challenges creatively, preparing for change and helping the transition go as smoothly as possible. Examples of transitions include preparing for a family change or loss (divorce/ separation or the terminal illness of a family member), preparing for the school year, preparing for summer break, and preparing for the holiday season. Let us help your family eliminate challenges with a proactive approach!
We love books at our house and any time we can find a book that connects to an upcoming family transition, we check them out from our local library. Here’s what we’re reading right now to prepare for Kindergarten in a couple weeks.
The Creative Family Counseling Leadership Team was interviewed by Jessica with The Connected Nation, to provide insight into how the COVID19 pandemic has impacted the mental health of children, teens, and families, as well as how these clients have had access to services with limited in-person appointments and dependency on accessibility to technology and services which allow for telehealth or teletherapy.
What’s with my Kid’s BIG Reactions to BIG Feelings and How Can I Help Them Without Losing it Myself? Here, Lacey talks about the science of what is happening in our brains when we lose control of our feelings and “flip our lid.” She also addresses how parents can help their children develop the skills of emotion regulation with something called “co-regulation” and introduces some Positive Discipline Parenting Tools parents can use to accomplish this.
Mental Health Lou’s Shannon Gonter interviews Creative Family Counseling’s Founding Director Lacey Ryan, LMFT, RPT-S to answer an important question: I know what kind of parent I DO NOT want to be, but what other parenting approaches are out there?
What is the Positive Discipline Foundational Parenting Package? Learn more about the self-paced parenting video package available for purchase on our site!
Who will benefit from the Positive Discipline Foundational Parenting Package?
A Message from our Founder: Why I love using and teaching Positive Discipline
It’s Holiday Season! Positive Discipline Parent Educator, Bridget Morgan, invites parents to use caution in giving away all their parenting authority to Santa and visiting Elves (Elf on the Shelf). The Parenting Connection is a short video series focused on Creative Family Counseling’s social media accounts. Check us out on Facebook and Instagram!
Positive Discipline Parent Educator Lisa Howard Cardwell, LMFT helps parents identify strengths in their children, even through challenging behaviors. How are you focusing on your child?
Dealing with BACK-TALK in your home? Positive Discipline Parent Educator Leslie Cashion, shares how to help address this behavioral challenge with Positive Discipline Tools on The Parenting Connection, Creative Family Counseling’s free video series, located on the CFC Social Media accounts. Check us out!
Positive Discipline works with children AND teens! Rebecca Street, LMFT and Positive Discipline Parent Educator, shares how to help teens learn the skills of emotion regulation with the Positive Discipline Tool the Positive Time Out. We are all about equipping parents with helpful positive parenting tools. This one is easy to use and incorporate!
Megan McCarty, Positive Discipline Parent Educator, shares how to help children learn the skills of emotion regulation with the Positive Discipline Tool the Wheel of Choice. If you’re looking for more guidance on increasing your parenting toolkit with positive parenting tools, head on over to the Parenting Package tab to check out our newly released Positive Discipline Foundational Parenting Package! Yay!
Struggling with a certain transition or routine in your home? Perhaps a Routine Chart will be helpful! Routine Charts are especially helpful for young children as they learn to fully complete tasks and transitions. Here Founding Director Lacey Ryan, LMFT, RPT-S describes success in her home with Routine Charts!
Increase your child’s problem-solving skills and autonomy by asking Curiosity and Motivational Questions, a Positive Discipline Tool. Here, Bridget Morgan, LMFT invites parents to respond to their children’s obstacles in a way which encourages growth of long-term skills our kids can use into adulthood.
One of our favorite Positive Discipline Tools is Connect and Redirect! Here Bridget Morgan, LMFT explains to parents how to use this helpful tool. If you’re looking for more guidance on increasing your parenting toolkit with positive parenting tools, head on over to the Parenting Package tab to check out our Positive Discipline Foundational Parenting Package!
We’ve been socially distancing at home for quite some time now! Parents and children alike are experiencing anxiety and fearfulness of venturing out of the home, which brings up new challenges with the upcoming return to childcare and school. Creative Family Counseling Founder Lacey Ryan, LMFT, RPT-S offers some helpful ways to prepare children for this transition. Check out the blog version here!
EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It is a powerful neuro-therapeutic technique that is proven through decades of research to be helpful in treating depression and other mood problems, anxiety and panic, trauma and PTSD and more! Here Lacey Ryan, LMFT interviews Dawn Pendleton, LMFT about this powerful therapeutic tool offered at Creative Family Counseling.
Masks are now a part of our every day lives, which may be challenging for kids to get used to. Our Founding Director, Lacey Ryan, LMFT, RPT-S has some helpful suggestions on how to help children get used to wearing masks on a regular basis. Check out the blog version here!
Parents have suddenly and unpreparedly been thrusted into parenting, teaching, and working from home…alllllll at once! Here, Bridget Morgan, Positive Discipline Parent Educator, offers some tips on how to manage these roles.
Covid-19 has swept across the USA and families are having a challenging time adjusting to all that is happening from home nowadays. Bridget Morgan, LMFT offers some helpful tips on how to create a schedule for at-home learning and working during these challenging times.
Animal-Assisted Therapy is a powerful intervention our Certified Therapy Dogs, Lola and Archer, offer at Creative Family Counseling. Rebecca Street, LMFT explains how therapy dogs can be used in the counseling setting.
Struggling with insomnia? Marriage and Family Therapist Associate Leslie Cashion offers some suggestions which may help!
Nugget, our Therapy-Dog-in-training, has been sheltering at home due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. He misses working at Creative Family Counseling with his clients and has a message for them!
