Re-Introducing KS Therapy Services
It’s Kathleen here, the owner of KS Therapy Services. After over four years of providing music therapy and psychotherapy in our community, we are expanding our resources available to you. We are starting off by launching a blog, in which our therapists will write helpful articles for you! Is there something in particular you want to know more about, related to mental health? Let us know in the comments! We want this blog to be about providing you with the support, resources, and information that you want and need.
I’m starting off our first blog by introducing myself, the clinic, and what we are all about.
About Kathleen & the Creation of KSTS
After working in a hospital and crisis care for the first few years of my career, I realized my core values as a clinician just didn’t jive with the traditional medical model. There was a lot of focus on what was wrong, to the point where we might see people as a set of symptoms and diagnoses as opposed to who they actually are - people. In crisis work, our clients are in a vulnerable place and deserve to be treated with the utmost care and respect.
Our mental health system is fragmented in so many ways, leading to long wait times, inaccessible care, and difficulties using our resources in the best way possible. I loved working with my clients, but felt I couldn’t be the therapist I really wanted to be in this setting. This lit a fire in me and I wanted to start something that really aligned with what I believe to be important.
In 2020, I launched KS Therapy Services, ready to take this fire and passion into serving the community. Since then, the clinic has grown to a team of over 10 therapists. Every therapist brings their own set of experiences and specialities, with the clinic’s core values tying us all together.
KSTS Values
Putting the Person First
At KSTS, we believe that the people we work with are the experts in their own lives. You know you best and we always want to honour that. The therapists bring their own expertise from our training and experience; therapy in a partnership that combines both these sets of expertise. This also means you are in the driver’s seat when it comes to what you want to work on and the goals you want to set in therapy.
Collaboration also fits under this core value. We don’t want therapy to feel like a “one-size-fits-all” experience and will adapt our approach based on what you need. This could start from the very first consultation, during which we try to pair you with the therapist whose approach and speciality will be the best fit for you.
Finding Creativity
I’m a big believer in the healing power of creativity. There is so much science to show the benefits of engaging different areas of our brain involved in creative processes. New research has shown that engaging in creative activities can help to complete what are called “stress response cycles” and communicate to our body that we are safe. This means that something like making music, drawing, or dancing can literally discharge stress and help us regulate.
We have several music therapists on our team (myself included) that are specially trained to bring music into psychotherapy sessions. So many people have told us this has helped them work through things that felt inaccessible or too daunting in traditional talk therapy.
What creativity means to us goes beyond the use of creative therapy approaches. It also means being able to think outside the box with how we go about treatment, troubleshoot when things aren’t working, and be flexible in how we work together. If you’ve been in therapy, you might know that coping strategies don’t always go according to plan. And they sure don’t go according to our textbooks. Being creative in how you use and adapt coping strategies can make all the difference.
Increasing Accessibility
If you are familiar with our mental health system, you probably know there are many barriers to accessibility. It might be long wait times, scheduling issues, financial barriers, or other things in the way of getting the support you need. When first launching KSTS, I knew it was important to me to address whatever barriers we could.
One of the key efforts to increase accessibility was launching our affordable therapy program. Private therapy is costly and is often not financially accessible without benefits. Our affordable therapy program offers a “pay what you can model” and we work with all our clients to find what rate is sustainable, down to $20 per session.
In addition to this, we ensure that we always have clinicians actively accepting clients, so there are no waitlists. We offer a variety of scheduling options, including evenings and weekends. Our online booking system allows you to control your own schedule.
Finally, we have prioritized creating a team that has a variety of specialities and niches. That means you are more likely to find the RIGHT support, with someone who has the expertise in whatever issue you are looking for help with. This includes offering music therapy in addition to talk therapy, since talk therapy isn’t for everyone. Our highly trained music therapists can incorporate both music and verbal counselling, adapting to what will work best for you.
Stay tuned for other resources, including trainings for therapists and book recommendations.
