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Mindful Connections Counseling, PLLC

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Austin, TX
Mindful Connections Counseling, PLLC

A place to share mental health resources and support �

10/11/2025

When beginning therapy, we find that several people wonder:

🧠 “What coping skills can help me now?”
⏳ “How long will this take?”
💬 “Will therapy just be talking?”

These questions are incredibly common — and valid — questions. Unfortunately, the answers aren’t always immediate.

Therapy isn’t one-size-fits-all. Therapists use different approaches, and each client brings their own unique history, needs, and goals. It often takes 4–5 sessions for a therapist to fully understand what’s going on beneath the surface and create a treatment plan that’s truly tailored to you.

✨ Here's what you can expect early on:
✔️ A personalized treatment plan designed around your goals
✔️ Clear insight into your therapist’s approach and how it can support you
✔️ A safe, collaborative space where the relationship itself is a key part of healing
✔️ Room to go at your pace — no pressure, no rush

Therapy is a process — and it unfolds in layers. You’re allowed to bring your questions, your hesitations, and your hope. And a good therapist will meet you right where you are.

10/10/2025

✨ Meet Gina! ✨ Gina is a compassionate and experienced therapist who works with children, teens, and adults to support growth and healing around anxiety, depression, self-esteem, stress, and more. Her warm, motivating presence naturally welcomes a sense of empowerment and comfort with her clients.

Gina draws from a range of evidence-based approaches, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Attachment-Focused Play Therapy, Child-Centered Play Therapy, and Solution-Focused Therapy — all tailored to meet each client’s unique needs and goals.

With a background as both a school counselor and teacher, Gina brings deep insight and understanding to her work with children, parents, and families. She currently has availability for both in-person and virtual sessions, and offers limited sliding scale spots. If you would like to learn more or schedule a phone consultation with Gina, visit the link in our bio today!

10/09/2025

As caregivers, the words we choose can shape how children see themselves, their internalized messages, how they handle emotions, and their sense of safety and confidence. Saying "I love you" is a natural, common form of connection and love that we often share with our children. But what if we can continue to provide unique and special opportunities through our words that reinforce a sense of connection, love, and acceptance to our children?

These simple, powerful phrases help children build emotional resilience, feel deeply seen and heard, and strengthen their bond with us. They aren’t just kind words — they’re anchors. They teach children that emotions are safe to feel, that love isn’t conditional, and that growth takes time. They remind kids that their relationship with us is a safe space where they’re accepted exactly as they are.

Let’s keep these words close and repeat them often, even (especially) when it’s hard. Because over time, this is how trust is built, how emotional intelligence grows, and how lifelong connection is nurtured. ✨

10/05/2025

In trauma therapy, therapists often incorporate parts work which involves exploring various aspects of yourself, especially younger parts that carry painful past memories. This type of approach in trauma therapy can be so powerful, as we take the time to heal younger parts that developed protective responses that may no longer be helpful as an adult (more on this later).

One part that your therapist may explore with you is your inner child. In therapy, supporting your inner child involves reconnecting with the younger parts of yourself—especially those that didn’t get the safety, love, or validation they needed. By offering those parts compassion and understanding, we begin to heal old wounds and create space for growth. 🌱

These gentle reminders are a way to start that process. By thinking about younger (child) you and repeating these gentle reminders, you begin to make small shifts in building safety within your nervous system, changing harmful core beliefs, and creating new and healthy neural pathways in the brain.

09/30/2025

Hi there! 👋🏼 It’s been quite a while since I introduced myself. My name is Rosalie Piedra and I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor and Registered Play Therapist Supervisor. I also happen to be the one behind our account and founder of our practice 💗

In my former professional life, I was an elementary school teacher and school counselor- so I’ve always had a deep passion for working with children and parents! As we enter into this upcoming season (and our practice’s 4th birthday in October), I’ve been reflecting on how grateful I am for our community and the wonderful team that works alongside me! Whether you’re new here or you’ve been following us for a while- thank you for supporting us 🤗💙

I hope to continue sharing support, insights, and tips for those seeking play therapy and/or trauma informed therapy. And of course, highlighting the amazing team of therapists that make MCC so special ✨

As a side note- It’s always interesting looking back at old photos at various points in my life. You’ll see a very blurry photo of my teaching days and my last day as a school counselor (COVID mask and all)! My younger teacher self and school counselor self hold so much pride and gratitude 💗

09/29/2025

Parents often ask us what the first couple of sessions in play therapy may look like. While each play therapist has their own unique style, theory, and approach, the beginning phase of play therapy often looks like:

✨ A child being introduced to a room full of toys - specifically selected by the play therapist to facilitate play therapy.
✨The play therapist not directing the child's play and instead, giving children the space and choice to play with any of the toys they would like. This allows the child to communicate to the play therapist on their own terms, in the most developmentally appropriate way!
✨The play therapist attuning to the child by reflecting their emotions and verbalizing the child's play and themes. This will help children gain insight into their feelings and events that they are processing.
✨The play therapist joining in, if the child invites them into their play.
✨The play therapist bringing in directive play based interventions to learn more about your child and begin building rapport.
✨ Setting goals! While many play therapists are non directive, we always have goals that we keep in mind and share with parents, to ensure we're all on the same page with progress.

The beginning phase of play therapy can feel quite different — and sometimes uncertain — for families. Truthfully, when I think back to my early years as a play therapist, being fully present in the playroom was one of the most challenging parts. A play therapist's role is not simply to observe the child or even to talk to them about their problems. Our role is about experiencing the play alongside our child clients through being attuned, offering intentional and supportive responses and interventions, and staying grounded in the therapeutic goals — all while building connection.

The beginning phase may seem simple on the surface, but we're building a powerful foundation for trust, safety, and healing. 💛

09/18/2025

With fall just around the corner (yes, in 4 days! 🤯), consider this your gentle reminder:

🍁 It’s okay if you don't feel like you're thriving right now.
🍁 It’s okay if you're still adjusting, holding on, or simply making it through one day at a time.

Personally, I have to remind myself of this often — especially this time of year. I always expect the start of the school year to bring instant structure, routine, and motivation ... but the truth? It usually takes weeks, maybe even months to settle in. And that’s normal.

This fall, let’s move with a little more ease.
Let’s make space for rest, reflection, and slow starts.
Thriving will come — and in the meantime, we continue to move day by day. 🧡

Address

8700 Manchaca Road, Suite 706
Austin, TX
78748

Opening Hours

Monday	12pm - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	12pm - 5pm

Telephone

+17372979110

Website

http://mindfulconnectionstx.com/, https://mindfulconnectionstx.com/groups/

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