There have been many tragic events that have impacted our world and local Austin community as of late. As I write this, our community has just experienced the loss of several individuals through gun violence. Some days are just hard and our hearts feel exceptionally heavy. More and more I have caregivers ask if they should be discussing tough topics in the news with their child -- and if so, how?

Safety is always at the forefront of a caregiver’s mind. We openly discuss safety with children such as: don’t cross the road without looking both ways, don’t talk to strangers, wear a helmet when you ride your bike, don’t run with scissors, and on and on. Discussing consent and bodily autonomy with your children should be as discussed as reminding them to put on sunblock.

At Ensemble Therapy, we care deeply about the “why” behind our practice of counseling. We believe there is not a “one-size-fits-all” approach to counseling; each therapist views the counseling process and their clients through a unique lens formed from years of education and experience. This means that as a client, you can choose the counselor who is the best fit for you or your child. While this freedom to choose the best-fit may sound nice at first, it can be difficult to know how to choose when there seem to be so many ways to do therapy. Not only are there lots of theories on how to practice counseling, often the language behind counseling theories is difficult to understand and apply without any previous background knowledge.