Kalie Rae, MSW, welcomes you to Creative Therapy Montréal - a therapeutic space where you can express yourself through the arts. Enjoy a light-filled, calming environment where you will be soothed by the sounds of the fountain, and greeted by Kalie’s genuine warmth in a playful atmosphere. Located above the Westmount Florist on Victoria Avenue in Westmount, with easy access to street parking, Creative Therapy Montréal serves adults of all ages and specializes in children and families.
Services
Children (ages 4-12)
Cherishing the belief that your child is not the problem, the problem is the problem, Kalie focuses on what skills and abilities your child already possesses so they can put their own hard-won knowledge to work. Issues become less overwhelming when children are included in the process of finding proactive solutions.
Your child is invited to paint, draw, sculpt, create a story, act it out, bang on a drum, or choose toys or puppets that can depict their situation or emotions. Externalizing the problem through the expressive arts can convey powerful feelings - sometimes better than words - and enables a safe process of playful exploration.
Specializing in childhood anxiety, Kalie offers the SPACE treatment that helps parents shift how they respond to their child’s Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Social Anxiety, Phobias, Selective Mutism, and other anxiety-related issues in order to loosen its grip on the entire family.
She conducts school observations and works collaboratively with your child’s teachers, school counsellor or psychologist to decrease emotional and behavioural obstacles that impede learning and social development.
However you choose to get help for your child, parents are an integral part of any changes you hope to make.
Families
Through collaborative forms of art and play, families are encouraged to find creative solutions to family problems. Whether it is working through grief and loss, illness, developing healthier ways of communicating or trying to tame reactive behaviour dragons, Creative Therapy Montréal can help you connect, laugh, and work towards a common goal.
Parent Coaching
We could all use some guidance on keeping calm while juggling a million other responsibilities. Creative Therapy Montréal helps you identify your own triggers so that when emotions run hot, you can keep your cool. Whether you are dealing with your child’s behavioural problems, anxiety, sleep or eating issues, or wanting to create a united front with your partner or other caregivers in your child’s life, Kalie can help you learn strategies to work toward a more peaceful home environment.
Kalie also offers the SPACE treatment - a program to help decrease behaviours associated with severe childhood and adolescent anxiety by changing how parents and caregivers interact with the child.
Adults
Individual counselling for adults of all ages for issues ranging from job-related problems and burn-out, anxiety, depression, relationship and family troubles, life transitions, illness-related challenges as well as working through past trauma, grief and loss, are safely explored in a calm environment. Creative arts modalities can be incorporated to externalize the problem when a bit of distance may be helpful. You are also welcome to invite others into the sessions if you need the support or want to address a relational situation or problem.
School Workshops
Creative Therapy Montréal designs classroom interventions and workshops to address student needs. Developing empathy, emotional literacy and teaching children how to evaluate the size of the problem so it matches the size of their reaction are just a few of the workshops that can be offered at your school. Launch a school-wide kindness campaign or schedule a workshop on nurturing healthy relationships. Anti-bullying presentations have shown students how to talk the talk, but when it comes to everyday interactions, how can we raise their awareness to walk the walk? Investing in social-emotional learning now will positively impact all aspects of a child’s life for years to come. Fostering resilience, self-esteem, a sense of belonging and self-worth can make a world of difference at home and at school.
Kalie also facilitates presentations and workshops for teachers and parents; Understanding Behavioural Issues, Collaborative Problem-Solving and The Importance of Play, are just a few. Hour-long group wellness sessions for staff are also available in-person or virtually. Contact us for more details.
Therapeutic Groups
Creative Therapy Montréal offers small groups that address common childhood issues. From developing social skills to managing anxiety, children are encouraged to connect through collaborative art and therapeutic play. Groups can be offered in schools or at the Westmount location.
Consultations
SCHOOLS
Schools may reach out to us for consultations regarding classroom management or student concerns. Classroom or student observations (with parental consent) may be conducted in order to be provided with concrete strategies for classroom behaviour management strategies or workshops designed to meet the social-emotional and developmental needs of your students.PARENTS
Parents may contact us to book a session to discuss concerns. We may then schedule an observation of the child in different settings (school, extra-curricular activity, summer camp, etc.) in order to provide a social functioning evaluation with recommendations.