Hello, my name is Bev Redekop

I am a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist as well as a Registered Clinical Counsellor.

I work from a trauma-informed lens. What does this mean? I help people who experience anxiety, grief, depression, despair, confusion, trauma symptoms, etc. If you are feeling overwhelmed, stuck and struggle with anything. I will meet you where you are.

I work with people of all ages. Kids, adolescents, adults. I have specialized training in working with **NSST.
This modality is a truly revolutionary way of working in the Sand Tray with roots in traditional Sand Tray methods and Satir Transformational Systemic Therapy. It weaves together the latest neuroscience of right brain to right brain attunement and epigenetics. (outlined below)

Ways I facilitate change

Current research shows all humans’ nervous systems benefit greatly by shifting to a state often referred to as: ‘REGULATED’. This shift is one of THE most essential links to a place of authenticity and wellbeing.

You may wonder, as I did, how the heck a person goes about shifting a nervous system? Interestingly enough, our bodies are actually THE main informant when it comes to shifting our nervous systems.

Neuroscience confirms it is the RIGHT brain (not the left brain) which connects with the body in order to facilitate this shift.

How does it work?

Creating safety is key, as our bodies can sense a secure environment and safe presence. I companion you in a safe & secure non-judgemental way so that you may explore coping states that are no longer useful.

You, as the client, choose figurines from the shelves and make a picture in the Sand Tray. I begin to ask guiding questions of the figurines. The questions are important and integral to the *NSST process of change.

Imagination blooms as the figurines open up new possibilities. Gifts which our coping states have given us are also transformed into a more integrated authentic state.

Wherever each session leads in the Sand Tray, whether age 3 or 83, you will find yourself shifting to a new and different place. The scientific name is called moving into a ‘ventral vagal’ state.

The ventral vagal state helps us to feel safe, secure and enables us to communicate & connect with others. It’s a process of shifting from a stuck place to a new location where one can sense the joy of connection or sense of being alive. Or perhaps...less anxious or depressed. When our bodies and right brain connect, it leads towards new places.

“This change is lasting and profound. Opening up people’s imaginations is a critical part of trauma treatment.”
~ Dr. Madeleine De Little

More on working with children and adolescents

Trauma is a word we hear a lot these days. It fits for many of us because one of its meanings is a state of disconnection. Trauma can happen when we experience a big rupture in safety & the repair does not match the original wound.

The latest research is showing that talk therapy can only go so far in treating trauma.

Very early on in life, we all begin to create inner protections to help us cope with the many obstacles or roadblocks which lead to disconnected states. These inner protective states are often very resilient and also very strong, sometimes in unfit ways, or stances that no longer serve us well.

Play is a child’s form of work. Defenses such as bullying, refusal to attend school or activities, needing to control surroundings, tantrums, etc. are a few examples of stances that are resolved through play.

The child or client recognizes her or his presenting behaviour (s) (that the child’s nervous system perceives as ongoing) & works to transform the lack of safety which has occurred.

In the Sand Tray, integration takes place & a sense of safety is built so that the traumatic experience or disconnected-ness can be put in the past, where it belongs. Children can return to a place of joy, connection and a sense of belonging, of feeling alive.

“Changing the way we feel, and the way we see ourself and the world starts with how we have been keeping secure and safe. When we begin to appreciate how we needed to keep safe and all the gifts it gave us, then transformation is quick, profound, and lasting.”
~ Dr. Madeleine De Little

~ Dr. Madeleine De Little (founder and creator of *Neuroscience and Satir in the Sand Tray, author of WHERE WORDS CAN’T REACH, Madeleine M. DeLittle, PhD., 2019)

Website: wherewordscannotreach.ca

**NSST is a revolutionary way of working in the sand tray with roots in traditional sand tray work and the Satir Transformational Systemic Therapy along with the latest neuroscience of safety in attachment.