Sound Youth Counselling

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Canada
Parry Sound, ON
Sound Youth Counselling

We are a trauma-responsive, inclusive, strengths-based counselling practice for children and youth (ages 5+ years-old) parents, and families.

We also facilitate community education programs and professional development trainings. BLM ✊🏿 MMIW 🌈 LGBTQ2S+

Services are currently being offered in-person (outside) and virtually. We hope you will take advantage of the flexibility this offers. Areas of support, include: anxiety; depression; eating disorders; emotional regulation; anger; grief; trauma; gender identity; sexual orientation; self-esteem; bullying; relationships; and life transitions.

12/29/2025

As the new year approaches, here are a few ideas of how you may choose to take the opportunity to remember:
✨ your wins...
✨ the things you figured out that you didn't think you would be able to...
✨ the people who helped you..
✨ the most important things you learned...

Perspective can be a beautiful thing.

What else will you choose to remember?

12/26/2025

a blanket of snow...

quiet,
gentle,
the teller of secrets of morning explorers,
the cloak of protection for little burrowers,
an invitation to play,
or a reason to rest.

what will you do with your blanket of snow?

12/24/2025

from our families to yours, happy holidays.
SYC

12/22/2025

❄ may your holiday season hold protected opportunities for presence ❄

during the holidays, we can spent a lot of energy navigating expectations, commitments, and emotions, so here are some gentle ideas to help guide you through:

🫶 be present.
a successful, meaningful holiday is not determined by the number or cost of presents; presence is a gift.

🫶 be protective.
when you need to, say "no," slow down, adjust your plans.

🫶 be proactive.
plan ahead, give yourself (and your family) breaks and downtime.

12/19/2025

Holiday traditions - do we love them or dread them? Or fall somewhere in between?

🥰 love them 🙋‍♀️
there is a beautiful generational connection that happens with continuing traditions, and if you have ones that are special to you, we hope you are able to prioritize them.

😕 dread them 🙋
our energy is too valuable to be spent doing things that aren't important to us or no longer fit our values.

If you find yourself doing something "just because," it might be the perfect opportunity to re-evaluate your holiday plans.

If you decide to do things differently this year, that can be fun! But stay strong 💪 if you find yourself facing some resistance. You might try saying things like:
💬 "I'm not doing that this year."
💬 "we're going to do that differently."
💬 "I'm trying something new."
💬 "no."

Holiday traditions - you've got this!

12/17/2025

If big emotions and meltdowns have been a part of your holiday experience, here are some ideas that might help you this year!

Holidays can hold big expectations (anticipation, excitement, a change in routine, visits with unfamiliar family members, time away from friends...) and, sometimes reality falls short of our imagination
(post-present let down, anyone!?).

Growing brains can struggle with social and family holiday expectations:
😓 “give so-and-so a hug.”
😓 “say thank you / hello / good-bye.”
😓 “you need to stay at the table until we’re done eating.”

🫶 Be patient. Be clear. Be fair. Here are some ideas👇
👉 plan ahead of tricky times.
👉 protect downtime and unscheduled times.
👉 remember, it's (probably) not about you - regardless of the energy we put into making the holidays special, we can't always meet the level of anticipatory excitement that builds up for young people.
👉 AND remember, big emotions may be inconvenient and challenging, but they communicate need - and you can help with needs!

Want some more ideas? We've got them, give us a shout (info@soundyouthcounselling.ca).

12/15/2025

Sometimes, our holiday preparation can be so heavy on WHAT we need to do (meals, travel, gatherings, gifts) that we can overlook the priorities of HOW we spend our time.

So as you create your "holiday to-do" list, you might want to add on "ask immediate family members:"
✅ are there are any special activities you want to make sure you get to do?
✅ what are you hoping to do with your family?
✅ what are you hoping to do with your friends?
✅ are there are any important events you/we have to go to?

What other questions would you add to the list?

Need some ideas? We've got more, let us know!

12/12/2025

🔊 Exception Seekers - Strength and vulnerability: Lessons from the herd with Carmen Theobald 🔊

This podcast episode features a deep, reflective conversation with Carmen Theobald, the Founder and Director of Horse Sense North. Carmen shares how horses provide a grounded, non-judgmental presence that helps people reconnect with safety, embodiment, and authentic emotion. The discussion touches on the creation and impact of their newly launched equine-assisted program for first responders, the importance of community and relational safety, and the program’s growing support (including full funding for Ontario Provincial Police members and emerging pathways for others).

Carmen also opens up about her own journey: following a nontraditional path as she left Montreal, struggling to trust her instincts, and finding profound meaning in her relationship with horses. She touches on surviving a traumatic event in a classroom, the way that proximity to death reshaped her sense of purpose, and how this informs both her life and her work.

This episode is about courage, strength, vulnerability, and living in alignment with one’s deeper truth. We hope you'll have a listen!

👉 https://tinyurl.com/42827s89

🫶 *a gentle vulnerability warning that Carmen speaks briefly about a school shooting that happened while she was at College in Montreal*

12/10/2025

🌊 Riding the wave of an emotion. It's an important thing to learn, but how do we learn to do that?
How do manage an uncomfortable emotion?
How do we ✨ make it through without making it worse ✨?

We have some ideas 👉 take a scroll.

Want more ideas? 👇 drop us a note.

Like what we're putting out? SHARE 👍 LIKE 🫶 FOLLOW

12/08/2025

🌲Stand still.🌳 The trees ahead and bushes beside you are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here.
- David Wagoner

A beautiful reminder to pause and notice. And nature helps 😊

12/05/2025

Navigating social relationships, conflict, and friendship dynamics can be really tricky, and it's one of the most common topics that kids and teens want to talk with us about.

We often hear things like:
"what do I do if I don't like how someone treats me?"
"I don't think this is a good friendship, but it's better than not having a friend."
"they say they're my friend, but then they leave me out of stuff."

These kinds of feelings can create such internal conflict - our body may be in protection mode and telling us to not be around the person, but our brain might be trying to figure out if that's a good idea or not (especially if there is the risk of social isolation). And if you're an older person reading this, you'll know that these types of experiences don't end with the start of adulthood!

Here are some reflective ideas to help you (or a young person you know) navigate some of these situations.
😊 choose with intention: think about who you spend your time with and what you spend your time doing (*especially if conflict is happening at school*). Is there a way to spend more time with people who respect and celebrate you in the evening or on weekends? Is there a way to build in more time doing things you love?
⏳ find space when you need it: we might not want to complete cut off a relationship, but stepping back for a bit of a break (and choosing others to spend time with) can be really helpful for perspective and our nervous system!
✨consider the ideal scenario: if there were endless friend-possibilities, and no consequence to pausing a friendship, would you still want to spend time with that person? why? why not? how do you feel after being with them?

If you're looking for more ideas or new perspectives on a situation you're struggling with, let us know.

12/03/2025

Winter reminds us that slowing down and protecting our energy is important. "There is an instinctive withdrawal for the sake of preservation..." - Haruki Murakami

Address

Parry Sound, ON
P2A1T4

Website

http://www.soundyouthcounselling.ca/

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