Creative Family Counseling, A Louisville Based Play Therapy Practice, Expands Their Team and Offers Additional Therapy Services and Specialties

Creative Family Counseling, a well-established therapy practice in Louisville, Kentucky that offers counseling services to children, teens, adults, couples, and families of all ages, is excited to announce that two new therapists and a new therapy dog have joined the team. The fast-growing counseling group, founded by Owner and Clinical Director, Lacey Ryan, welcomes the new team members who have opened up more opportunities to provide an expanded selection of therapeutic services to clients in Louisville. Creative Family Counseling now has six therapists, including new team members counselors Bridget Morgan and Leslie Cashion, as well as Archer, a sweet female Doberman Pinscher.

Bridget Morgan brings a decade of experience in therapy with her as she joins the Creative Family Counseling staff. She graduated from Georgetown College in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology before earning her Master's Degree in Social Work and Marriage and Family Therapy in 2007 from the University of Louisville. Since obtaining her graduate degree, Bridget has worked in residential treatment, private practice, and within school systems. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist as well as a Certified Positive Discipline Parent Educator. Her specialties include counseling children, adolescents, and families, but she also works one-on-one with women of all ages. When asked why she chose a path in family therapy with a specialty in positive discipline education, Bridget said that she "believes that parenting is the toughest job in the world and it is important that [parents] approach training [their] kids with love, mutual respect, and patience."

Marriage and Family Therapy Associate, Leslie Cashion, is the second therapist to recently join Creative Family Counseling. A graduate of the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Leslie uses ingenuity in her collaborative and client-centered approach to help clients focus on their goals, what they need, and the best way to establish a treatment plan to succeed. She enjoys incorporating a variety of art forms including play therapy, sand play, and expressive art to make therapy sessions fun and formative. Leslie works with clients of all cultures, ages, and backgrounds, focusing on helping meet the goals they bring to each therapy session. She offers a non-judgmental, open-minded, and open-hearted space for people of all ages to share their fears, anxieties, and struggles. With an approach to practice that is trauma-informed and research-based, Leslie's therapy sessions are beneficial to clients looking for a collaborative, creative, client-centered therapy experience.

The third addition to the Creative Family Counseling team is four-legged Archer, a female Doberman Pinscher, certified through Pawsibilities Unleashed. Archer is a sweet dog with a penchant for snuggles, but while she does enjoy relaxing on the couch at Creative Family Counseling, she spends her free time playing at home or going on adventures. Her gentle temperament is not the only quality that makes Archer a great therapy dog. Archer's presence in the practice helps clients stay grounded as they discuss strong feelings or painful memories and work through difficult emotions. She seems to have an affinity for sensing when people are anxious and is able to provide them comfort which makes her a great addition to the Creative Family Counseling team.

In addition to the news surrounding their growing practice, Creative Family Counseling is also pleased to announce they are expanding their services. The Louisville-based therapy group is now offering Parent Support services with a specialization in Positive Discipline Parenting Education.

Parent Support is something a lot of parents, first-timers and experienced alike, can benefit from. While parenting is a joyful time, it is also a challenging responsibility that takes a lot of patience and can bring up completely unexpected issues. Even the most "well prepared" parents can struggle with finding the best way to react to some of their children's emotions and outbursts. At Creative Family Counseling, Parent Support is available to help parents navigate through those tough times in their children's lives when they may be running out of coping mechanisms and low on patience.

Parent Support is also available to help parents who feel that the parenting approaches they were raised by are not effective in raising their own children. Creative Family Counseling's team of experienced therapists offers support to parents in various forms of therapy. Some parents may find that incorporating Parent Meetings into Family Therapy sessions helps them get past the difficult periods they are going through. Other parents may find that parenting dredges up painful childhood memories and they benefit from Individual Therapy sessions to work through their own childhood experiences. The therapists at Creative Family Counseling work with parents, individually and together, to discover a parenting style and approach that is healthy for everyone involved and fits their family's needs.

With the addition of the new Parent Support services, Creative Family Counseling is also incorporating Positive Discipline Parenting Education into the practice. Positive Discipline Parenting Education is available for parents who find themselves doubting the methods they are using to distinguish between right and wrong in their children's lives. Positive Discipline was developed by Dr. Jane Nelson and is designed to help parents guide children to be responsible, respectful and resourceful. Some of the tools and concepts that are introduced through Positive Discipline include:

The use of mutual respect that addresses both the needs of the situation at hand and the needs of the child.

The recognition that there is a belief behind behavior and it is more important to change beliefs than correct behavior.

The ability to effectively communicate and use problem-solving skills with children.

The knowledge that when discipline is necessary, it teaches instead of punishes.

The use of encouragement instead of praise and the practice of finding solutions instead of punishments.

For parents interested in learning more, Creative Family Counseling's very own Bridget Morgan, LMFT will be leading a one-day intensive workshop on Positive Discipline Parenting Education. The workshop is scheduled for Saturday, October 12th, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Creative Family Counseling. During this one-day workshop, parents and caregivers will learn new methods to deploy in their parenting approach. The methods explored during the workshop will help strengthen the parent-child relationship and keep the lines of communication open. During the workshop, the team at Creative Family Counseling will cover the philosophy of the Positive Discipline Parenting Approach and offer tools that can immediately be applied to parenting. The one-day workshop costs $50 per person with additional caregivers able to attend for $10 each. To register for the event, visit the Creative Family Counseling website today.

About Creative Family Counseling
Creative Family Counseling opened in February 2019 to serve children, teens, families, and adults throughout the Louisville, Kentucky-area using a caring, personalized and integrative approach. Since opening, the practice has continued to expand service offerings which include: therapy for kids, therapy for teens, individual therapy, couples and family therapy, Parent Support, Positive Discipline Parent Education, and MFT supervision. With six therapists and two therapy dogs on staff, Creative Family Counseling is well equipped to help clients with a variety of tools and knowledge, so each person is able to develop creative solutions to manage their problems. For more information on the practice, the staff, and the services offered including specialty areas visit the Creative Family Counseling website today.