u/almaguinpychotherapy

Real talk... Life with 4 neurodivergent children.

I am a mama bear to 6 children. I have 2 adult children that moved down south for University. My husband and I had 4 more children between 2016-2021. They are amazing and have made me grow in ways I never could have imagined. They have received various diagnoses... ADHD, ASD level 2, and selective mutism. Our one son spent most of his life moderately deaf and medically complex. Our twins had been asked to leave many public places: the EarlyOn, evening children groups, public libraries...

As a Registered Psychotherapist (Q), I love working with children, youth and adults with ASD and/or ADHD. I also am a fierce advocate for my clients that experience discrimination and hardships related to their neurodivergence. As a mom I have seen firsthand how it feels to be excluded from society because my children were "too much".

If you are a parent of a child that has similar struggles, I SEE YOU 💓. And you are not alone.

Real talk... Life with 4 neurodivergent children.

I am a mama bear to 6 children. I have 2 adult children that moved down south for University. My husband and I had 4 more children between 2016-2021. They are amazing and have made me grow in ways I never could have imagined. They have received various diagnoses... ADHD, ASD level 2, and selective mutism. Our one son spent most of his life moderately deaf and medically complex. Our twins had been asked to leave many public places: the EarlyOn, evening children groups, public libraries...

As a Registered Psychotherapist (Q), I love working with children, youth and adults with ASD and/or ADHD. I also am a fierce advocate for my clients that experience discrimination and hardships related to their neurodivergence. As a mom I have seen firsthand how it feels to be excluded from society because my children were "too much".

If you are a parent of a child that has similar struggles, I SEE YOU 💓. And you are not alone.

In 2018, while pregnant with my son John, I lost my mom (Sylvia Alida). Losing my mom was not a grief that I could learn about in a book. It was a pain that I feel deeply in my soul and that will stay with me always. The book Motherless Daughters made its way to my hands following her passing and I found some comfort in its pages.

In Respect-Focused Therapy, I learned about the "Flashlight Metaphor". RFT involves the therapist and the client holding the flashlight together in the dark to better understand the pain, which often reduces its intensity. There is something important about being able to honour someone's pain and being comfortable with sitting in it with them. Therapy isn't always about "fixing". Sometimes it's about having someone hold the pain with us so it feels a little less heavy.

Almaguinpsychotherapy.ca