About Me
Michelle Kwapis, MA, RCC, is the director and lead clinician at The Nest. She is a Certified Play Therapist and has over 15 years experience working with children and families in various community settings, including: schools, non-profit agencies, out patient mental health clinics and treatment centres, and private care centres.
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Michelle works from a client-centred, attachment-oriented and strengths-based perspective, to build a genuine relationship with each client and to support them in personal healing and wellness, and interpersonal growth.
Specializing in Child and Family Counselling
Play Therapy for Children & Teens
Child psychotherapy/ Play therapy is a counselling approach that helps children and adolescents process their feelings and thoughts in a safe and comfortable play-friendly space. By using play and toys, children are able to freely explore their values and beliefs at their own pace and gain a sense of mastery of life's difficulties.
Christian Counselling
Child and family Christian counselling uses faith-based principles and psychological practices to help individuals work through, manage and resolve issues in their lives. Heart issues are seen as the root of many challenges and applying Scripture in a way that gives resolution and life is the focus of the counselling process.
Parent Support & Coaching
Parenting is an important job that comes with many challenges, and parent support can be helpful in addressing some of the relational concerns as well as any unresolved issues or unmet needs that have been triggered from childhood. Compassionate support and guidance along with practical tools can make all the difference in shifting the dynamic at home.
Perinatal Mental Health Counselling
Every mother wants to be the best version of herself as she shows up for her child(ren), yet no one knew motherhood was going to be this hard. Using a trauma-informed lens and a client-centred approach, Michelle provides gentle, empathic and supportive counselling to ensure that all moms feel heard and validated as they begin their journey into motherhood.
Family Counselling
Family therapy uses the strengths and resiliency of each family member to create healing and positive change in the whole system. Some goals may include: to improve communication and problem-solving, understand and negotiate expectations, and create a more connected and loving home environment where all members can be seen, heard, acknowledged and accepted for their uniqueness.
Postpartum Doula Support
Postpartum doula support is an invaluable resource for new mothers as they enter into and strive to figure out the intricacies of the first few months of living life with a new and unique baby. A doula can be a social, emotional, physical and practical support and can shine a light on the beauty of your parent-child bond and help it grow and develop from the early days and onward.