Services
What we offer at Valley Art Therapy
Therapy really is for everyone. While we specialize in trauma, we can provide support for a wide range of issues and concerns.
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ADHD
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Addictions
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Anger management
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Anxiety
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Behaviour Issues
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Chronic Pain/Illness
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Depression
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Eating Disorders
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Grief/Loss
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Intimate Partner Violence
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Mental Illness
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Parenting
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Relationship issues
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Self-Esteem
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Stress Management
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Suicidal Ideation
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Trauma Resolution
Our therapists are informed in a variety of modalities and theories to best support you in your therapeutic work.
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Art Therapy
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Attachment Theory
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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
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Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Informed
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Expressive Arts and Play Therapy approaches
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Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
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Focusing
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Internal Family Systems
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Mindfulness Approaches
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Polyvagal Theory
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Sandplay Therapy
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Somatic Experiencing
We are approved service providers for the Compensation for Victims of Crime program in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
Counselling/Psychotherapy
Counselling/Psychotherapy promotes positive growth, well-being, and mental health, with sessions designed to help you better understand yourself and communicate with your world. The work we do is person-centered, based on each person’s strengths, and the approaches we use are designed to meet your needs. So, despite our Valley Art Therapy name, this means that not every client we see does ‘Art Therapy’, as there may be other approaches that are more comfortable or a better fit for the client.
Individual therapy is available for children, teens, adults, and seniors. Sessions are typically 50-minutes once a week, although bi-weekly or monthly session may also be appropriate. We are currently offering sessions in-person and online.
Check out Our Team page to learn more about our therapists and find the right fit for you.
Art Therapy
Art therapy combines art-making and psychotherapy to promote mental health and well-being in a way that supports the integration of our mind and body. In Art Therapy, creativity and art-making processes facilitate healing and encourage the development of insight into life situations and traumatic experiences. Art therapy begins with the therapist working with the client to create a safe, healing environment and a trusting relationship. Clients are encouraged to use art materials to explore memories, experiences, and transform conflicts or crises into healthy solutions and perspectives. Through the creative process, clients can safely express what may be too difficult to talk about, while gaining greater self-reflection, insight, and understanding.
Absolutely no artist talent is required to engage in art therapy. It is the process of creating, not the final product, that allows us access to our inner world and promotes healing. In art therapy, the therapist doesn’t analyze or diagnose. It is the client who makes meaning from their creative work.
Art therapy is for all ages, and is offered both in-person and online. Sessions are typical 50-minutes long, although longer sessions can be arranged.
Our Art Therapists: Dana
Our Art Therapy Students: Robyn
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
EMDR is well known for the treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and has also been used to effectively treat a wide range of mental health issues, like anxiety and panic attacks, depression, phobias, sleep problems, complicated grief, and addictions.
EMDR is an 8-phase process, which begins with client history, and building safety and self-regulation. As the reprocessing of EMDR begins, the therapist and client identify a specific problem to be the target, or focus of treatment. The client brings the disturbing experience to mind, sharing the image of what happened, as well as the thoughts and beliefs that they have about themselves. The therapist uses bilateral stimulation of the brain, through eye movements or tapping, while the client focuses on the difficult memory. Then the brain and body do the work. The eye movements continue for a short time, and then stop. The client attends to thoughts, feelings, sensations, and shares what they notice as the therapist checks in. Very little talking happens about the event or the details. Sets of eye movements are continued until the client finds the memory less disturbing. Intense emotions and body sensations can be experienced during the session. But through the EMDR process, there is often a significant reduction in the client’s level of disturbance, and the memory tends to shift in intensity, simply becoming a neutral memory of a past event. With EMDR, the client is always in control, alert, wide awake, and can stop the process at any time.
EMDR can be used with all ages, although the process looks slightly different for children. Sessions are typically 90 minutes, although longer or intensive sessions may be appropriate for some clients. The number of sessions required is unique to each client.
For more information about EMDR, check out https://www.emdria.org/about-emdr-therapy/
Our EMDR therapists: Dana
Somatic Experiencing
“Traumatic symptoms are not caused by the event itself. They arise when residual energy from the experience is not discharged from the body. This energy remains trapped in the nervous system where it can wreak havoc on our bodies and minds.”
— Peter Levine
Somatic Experiencing (SE) was developed by Peter Levine to address the impacts of trauma, and helps people to move through where they may be stuck in processing a traumatic event. This is a body-focused therapy that supports nervous system regulation, integrating difficult experiences at a pace that feels safe. Rather than focusing only on thoughts and emotions, SE expands to include our natural body responses. Through the use of SE tools, we work together to engage your body awareness, and attune to and track your nervous system in a way that helps create shifts and return you to a more self-regulated state.
https://traumahealing.org/se-101/
Our Somatic Experiencing Therapists: Dana (SE Advanced I)
Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP)
The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) is an auditory intervention designed to reduce stress and auditory sensitivity while enhancing social engagement and resilience. The intervention uses prosodic vocal music that has been filtered to train the middle ear muscles to focus in on the frequency range of human speech. Once human speech is properly perceived, the portal to social engagement has been opened. The sense of safety that is achieved by better understanding the fluctuations in human voice calms your (or your child’s) physiological state. Once your system has been primed and your state is calm, further therapy is enhanced and behavioral regulation is improved.
The SSP has shown significant benefits for people with:
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Social and emotional difficulties
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Auditory sensitivities
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Anxiety and trauma related challenges
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Inattention
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Behavioural acting out
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Anger
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Relationship difficulties
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Sleep problems
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Learning difficulties
The SSP consists of 5 hours of music, which is played through headphones on audio equipment in a quiet and safe environment. The length of each listening session is dependent on the client's needs. Teenagers and adults complete the SSP under the supervision of the therapist. Children under 13 years old can also complete the listening program at home with the support of their caregiver. The child having the SSP intervention is accompanied by their parent or other safe and supportive grownup. During the listening, the two will not engage in any conversation, but they may choose to engage in a number of creative activities, either separately or together.
Studies suggest that following successful completion of the intervention, children will be better able to focus in school, therapy, and everyday life, and experience a calmed emotional and physiological state. Skills such as attention, state regulation and the ability to engage socially will be enhanced