Family Therapy Services
Family Therapy Services provides a variety of supports through therapy, consultation and training. Parents/caregivers are the most important people in their children’s life and can expect to be actively involved in therapy.
To be eligible for services, the parent/caregiver requesting support must be actively parenting their child/children (i.e. their child/children are living in their home OR if their child is in care, they have weekly contact and are working towards reunification)
All therapy and consultation services are free of charge. Due to a high demand for therapy, there may be a waitlist for services. Families are eligible for up to two (2) years of service or 50 sessions.
Referrals are accepted from all families who reside in Manitoba. Services can be delivered in-person or virtual.
1. Therapy & Consultation:
Family Therapy
Therapy for families/caregivers who need help addressing issues such as their child(ren)’s challenging behaviour, separation/divorce, co-parenting/couple conflict, loss, grief, and general parenting difficulties.
Our therapists use a wide range of trauma-informed and attachment-based interventions to meet the specific needs of each family. This can include: play therapy, Theraplay, sand tray, EMDR, Circle of Security (COS) and Mindfulness.
Brief and drop-in therapy is available for families while they are on the waitlist.
AGE
All ages
LOCATION
Winnipeg
CONTACT
HOW DO I ACCESS THIS SERVICE?
Family Therapy Services
New Directions for Children, Youth Adults and Families
3rd Floor 717 Portage Ave.
Winnipeg Manitoba, R3G 0M8
Families Affected by Sexual Assault (FASA) Program
Therapy for families when a child (under the age of 18) has been sexually assaulted by a non-family member.
Therapy focuses on processing the assault in age-appropriate ways that are sensitive to the child’s trauma.
To be eligible for services:
- The sexual assault disclosure must be recent (within 1 year).
- The assault must be reported to Child & Family Services.
- The child is under age 18 and is not in care.
There is no waitlist for FASA services.
Problematic Sexual Behaviour (PSB) Program
Consultation for families of children under the age of 12 who are concerned about their child’s problematic sexual behaviour.
Problematic Sexual Behaviours are behaviours that are developmentally inappropriate, or which cause harm to the child or others.
Our therapists work with families and other service providers to meet your needs, and provide the appropriate resources for your family to address concerns regarding your child’s problematic sexual behaviour
There may be a waitlist depending on current demand.
2. Parent Groups
Groups provide a space for parents/caregivers to come together to learn and share about common topics and experiences.
Groups are offered each Fall, Winter and Spring and run for 6 – 8 weeks. Our re-occurring groups include:
3. Professional Development
Family Therapy Services provides a range of learning and consultation opportunities for external groups to build capacity in supporting the needs of children and youth.
Our trainings are intended for community organizations, schools, Childcare Centres and service providers from many different sectors.
Current workshops include:
- Using an Attachment Lens for Child Welfare Practice
- You are the Strategy (for care providers, foster parents, frontline and support staff)
- Strategic Engagement: Creating a More Meaningful Focus with Families
- Beyond Coping in Relationships
- Understanding Adolescents: Using Attachment to Support Adolescent Development
- Barriers & Pathways to Connecting with Adolescents
- Decoding Difficult Behaviours
More detailed descriptions of the above trainings can be found on the Workshops page.
Depending on the nature of the request, there may be a fee associated with professional development and training requests.
Workshop Fees:
- Full-day: $80.00 per participant (to a maximum fee of $2,400.00 per group)
- Half-Day: $45.00 per participant (to a maximum fee of $1,350.00 per group)
We are open to developing additional trainings specifically geared towards the needs of your group. For more information and/or to request a training, please contact familytherapyservices@newdirections.mb.ca
Training:
Resources
Meet Our Team
Barb Wood
Family Outreach Facilitator
Carolin Vesely, MMFT
Clinician
Cheyanne Weyman
Resource Administrator
Cori Reimer, RMFT-S
Clinician
Gerardo Acebo
Resource Assistant Coordinator, CARE
Heather Robertson, RSW, MMFT
Clinical Lead
Janelle Hebb, RMFT-S
Clinician
Jayne Van de Zaag, RMFT-SM
Clinical Lead
Jenna Seguin, MMFT
Clinician
Joanne Brown, RSW
Coordinator, Children Attachment & Relationship Education (CARE) Program
Joanne Brown has been a clinical social worker for close to 30 years, 26 of those at New Directions, always working with families who are struggling to overcome past trauma, current functioning struggles and parent all at the same time. Joanne has trained extensively in many modalities of attachment, in particular, Circle of Security, and volunteers her time to co-chair the Attachment Network of Manitoba. Joanne is often called upon to give workshops or talks to various groups on attachment, trauma, parenting and such. Her work in Family Therapy Services is to liaise with child care centres and families involved in daycare who are struggling.
Karen Taylor, ECE III
Family Outreach Facilitator, Reaching Out Program
Kate McGinn, M.Ed
Clinician
Kim Chute, MSW
Clinician
Kristine Pau, RMFT-S
Clinician
Kristine Pau is a clinician with the Family Therapy Services Program at New Directions. She has a Bachelor of Science from the University of the Philippines and a Master of Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Winnipeg. Kristine uses an Attachment and Trauma-informed approach in her work with individuals, couples and families. She has taught and supervises graduate students from the University of Winnipeg.
Megan McEwan
Intake Administrator
Rebecca Matias
Resource Lead, Family Therapy Services & MACC
Samantha Suche, B.H. Ecol
Intake Facilitator
Sandy Fotty, MMFT
Clinician/MSOT Facilitator
Tereza Gomes, MSc., MA, CCC
Clinician
Tereza Gomes brings a passion to her teaching and years of learning from her many life teachers. She has taught in all 3 levels of the 21-week Family Systems Training offered to Child and Family Services Workers, has been a Family Therapist at New Directions since 1995, and has worked as a Child Protection Worker.
Tereza supervises Master’s level Practicum students and teaches at the University of Winnipeg. As the owner of Sunkuyu Counselling, Training & Consulting, she has partnered with local and international, educational, social service, mental health, and health agencies to train their staff. Some themes of the training have been Grief and Loss, Befriending Anger, Co -Creating Well being, Celebrating the Body & Accessing its Wisdom and Mindfulness.
Tereza has designed and led groups, including Mindfulness based groups since 1998 for sexually exploited youth and women, high school students, parents of high-risk youth, and adolescent parents. She has also designed and facilitated an annual group for teenagers, – “Befriending Anger, Becoming Kinder” for 18 years at New Directions.
Bernie Klippenstein, BA (Hons), MSW
Clinician
Bernie Klippenstein began his career as a childcare worker and mental health therapist and has been a family therapist and clinician with New Directions for 30 years. He has offered ongoing training for front line workers and child welfare workers for the duration of his time at New Directions. His clinical work with families is rooted in an eclectic use of a number of family therapy models. He approaches training with the view that much of the clinical work that happens in social work agencies occurs In contexts that create unique challenges in working therapeutically. He works to bridge therapeutic principles with clinical opportunities that present themselves in various social work roles, such as case management.
Related Services
FASD Family Support, Education and Counselling Program
