Mariam Jensen, LCMFT, RPT - Joyful Heart Therapy, LLC

11/04/2025

💛 In the Play Therapy room, healing doesn’t come from trying to “fix” a child — it comes from being with the child. When a therapist sit beside a child in their play, their pain, or their joy, the therapist shows the child that who they are in this moment is enough 🌿

It’s in that shared presence — not solutions or advice — that trust, safety, and growth begin to develop 🌷

11/02/2025

Sometimes, what a hurting heart needs most isn’t advice—it’s presence 💛

A gentle hug, a quiet moment, or a listening ear can say more than words ever could 🤝✨

Empathy begins when we choose to feel with someone, not fix them 🌙💐

10/31/2025

Just a Play Therapist chilling with her Feelings while giving out candy 🍭🤩

10/31/2025

Therapist Humor 😆! In all hindsight, the Nervous System is AWESOME!
Happy Halloween and stay safe everyone! 🎃

10/20/2025

On Childhood Mistreatment/Abuse and Attachment 💔

Many people think that when a child is mistreated by their parent/caregiver, it’s natural for the child to stop loving the parent/caregiver…
But the truth is exactly the opposite.

Why doesn’t a child hate their parent/caregiver despite the harm?
In the book The Body Keeps the Score by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, he discusses a very important point:
In the first years of life, a child sees their parents or caregivers as the only source of both authority and safety.
So, if those same people harm them in any way, the child really has no alternative authority or safe place to turn to for protection or rescue.

How does a child cope with this situation?
To keep going and survive this painful reality, the child’s mind starts protecting them in different ways:
• Denying or ignoring the abuse as if it never happened.
• Justifying it, believing they “deserve” the punishment or mistreatment.
• Suppressing feelings of anger and fear because they can’t confront or object.

This happens because the child is programmed for complete loyalty to their source of care.
Even if that source of safety is also the source of harm, the loyalty and attachment grow instead of decreasing.
This creates intense emotional confusion:
How can the same person who hugs and protects them… be the one who scares and hurts them?

The painful result:
Children in these situations don’t stop loving their parent/caregiver…

But they start to stop loving themselves, feeling worthless or undeserving of love 😢

Our children are not blank pages we can write on and erase whenever we want.
Every word, every look, every action… is stored inside them and stays with them for years, and shatter their self-image. This creates anything but Secure Attachment: Anxious Attachment, Avoidant Attachment, and Disorganized Attachment.

Humiliation is not discipline, verbal or physical violence is not correction, and breaking a child’s spirit with hurtful words is not the path to their success…

What builds a healthy child is Secure Attachment, through genuine love, acceptance, listening, and safety.
When a child makes a mistake, we need to teach them—not break their spirit.
When they’re afraid, we need to comfort them—not add to their fear.
When they’re angry, we need to help them understand—not punish them for their feelings.

Our children are a trust to protect, not to harm 🫂

10/12/2025

Hey Friends,

I’ve created a YouTube Channel that I’ll be sharing mental health resources on, as well as other content and topics! It’s still in its baby phase, but I have some ideas for it!💡
All of the videos posted to this page are currently on there, in one spot, so you don’t have to dig through the page to find them here 😊

If you would like to give it a subscribe, here is the link:

This is a channel for all things Play Therapy, by a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, who is also a Registered Play Therapist. I believe that “a Joyful Heart is Good Medicine” for the soul, and hence the name Joyful Therapy :)

10/09/2025

A little bit over 5 years ago, and after 3 years working in the community, I started my own private practice, to serve children and families in the Wichita area. This journey has been very humbling and inspiring for me. I strived and continue to strive to do the best I can, to get more trainings and be grounded in the field of Play Therapy, for better serving the psychological and emotional health needs of children.

Looking forward to the next 5 years, and more emotionally healthy children and families 💛🤗🎉

10/08/2025

😔 Disorganized Attachment 😢
Attachment Series - Part 5

Disorganized attachment develops when a child experiences both fear and a need for closeness with their caregiver. They may show confusing behaviors—wanting comfort but also pulling away, or engaging in behaviors that push the caregiver away—sometimes because their earlier experiences with the caregiver feels both safe and unsafe. This adaptation is the child’s way of surviving an unpredictable or frightening environment, whether it is abuse, neglect, foster care with frequent changes in caregivers, or a significant life event such as medical trauma, or grief and loss of a significant attachment figure.

Good News: Attachment adaptations are NOT set in stone! Attachment adaptations can shift and change if we put the work to heal them and have healthier ways to relate and attach to ourselves and others. With consistent, nurturing relationships, these children can slowly feel safe to trust and connect.

Secure Attachment is the attachment adaptation we all aim to reach as much as we can, throughout our life. Yet, no matter how much our parents have nurtured us, or how much we nurtured our children, no one develops 100% secure attachment. In healing our attachment adaptation journeys, we aim to be as close to the 100% as possible, but because we are not perfect, we cannot attain a 100% secure attachment.

10/06/2025

😏 Avoidant Attachment 😎
Attachment Series - Part 4

Children with Avoidant Attachment often appear independent and self-reliant, but this is just an illusion, not true or healthy independency, that is age and developmentally appropriate. The child has learned to hide their needs and feelings to avoid rejection or disappointment, and to help the caregiver feel better, and therefore keep the caregiver close and available.

Good News: Attachment adaptations are NOT set in stone! Attachment adaptations can shift and change if we put the work to heal them and have healthier ways to relate and attach to ourselves and others. With consistent, nurturing relationships, these children can slowly feel safe to trust and connect.

Secure Attachment is the attachment adaptation we all aim to reach as much as we can, throughout our life. Yet, no matter how much our parents have nurtured us, or how much we nurtured our children, no one develops 100% secure attachment. In healing our attachment adaptation journeys, we aim to be as close to the 100% as possible, but because we are not perfect, we cannot attain a 100% secure attachment.

10/05/2025

Anxiety Mini-Series - Final Part 5 - Reassuring the Worry

Why reassuring anxiety doesn’t help—and can actually make it worse over time?
Many of us as parents and caregivers instinctively try to soothe anxious thoughts with reassurance, but this often backfires: The child learns to rely on reassurance instead of learning to manage their worry.

There is an important distinction, though: Comforting a child who feels anxious is very different from reassuring the anxiety itself. By comforting your child, allowing them to feel the worry, face it, and challenge it, all while you are PRESENT with them, holding their hand or offering a hug, you help them build confidence and resilience. Over time, this approach can actually reduce anxiety, rather than fuel it.

💡 There is a difference between enabling anxiety and supporting your child’s emotional growth— Rely on strategies that truly help them feel calmer and more capable in the face of the worry 💪

10/04/2025

😥 Anxious (Ambivalent) Attachment 😥
Attachment Series - Part 3

Children with Anxious (Ambivalent) Attachment often feel unsure if their caregiver will be available and responsive, leading them to cling tightly and seek constant reassurance. They may become very upset when separated and struggle to feel comforted, even when the caregiver returns. This pattern develops when a caregiver is inconsistent—sometimes attentive, other times distracted or unavailable, due to the caregiver’s own stress and anxiety— leaving the child anxious and uncertain about love and safety.

Good News: Attachment adaptations are NOT set in stone! Attachment adaptations can shift and change if we put the work to heal them and have healthier ways to relate and attach to ourselves and others. With consistent, nurturing relationships, these children can slowly feel safe to trust and connect.

Secure Attachment is the attachment adaptation we all aim to reach as much as we can, throughout our life. Yet, no matter how much our parents have nurtured us, or how much we nurtured our children, no one develops 100% secure attachment. In healing our attachment adaptation journeys, we aim to be as close to the 100% as possible, but because we are not perfect, we cannot attain a 100% secure attachment.

10/03/2025

Anxiety Mini-Series - Part 4 - Externalizing the Worry

Anxiety can feel heavy and so big—like it’s a part of who you are, making you feel heavy or stuck. But that’s not true: You are NOT your worry. 🌱 Externalizing anxiety—seeing it as something outside of you—can help you feel lighter, freer, and less weighed down. Giving your anxiety a name or drawing a picture of what the worry looks like —like imagining it as a tiny creature—can help kids and grownups, feel lighter and more in charge 🌈 When you separate yourself from the worry, you reclaim your power to respond instead of being controlled by anxious thoughts 💭💡✨ When you put the worry outside of you, it’s easier to talk back to it and take brave steps forward 💪

Stay tuned for Part 5, the Final Episode, of the Series, coming soon! 😊