DE PERE (NBC 26) — A De Pere play therapy clinic is helping families bond and heal — including those who have fostered and adopted children.
At Empower Play, therapists use toys and games to help children express emotions they struggle to put into words.
"In traditional therapy, you're asking a child to come into your world as an adult," explained founder Katie Szerkins. "In play therapy, we go into their world."
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Szerkins founded the clinic after fostering and adopting several children herself, an experience she says lit a fire in her.
"I call it the igniter. That was the igniter in me," Szerkins said.
She realized families needed more support than they were getting, support that traditional therapy wasn't always providing.
Rebecca Sanford, whose adopted son struggled in traditional therapy, turned to Empower Play 6 months ago. Sanford says the results have been significant, for her son and for her.
"He has really learned to open up to me at home, and I feel like that's huge," Sanford noted. "My stress as a mom has come way down."
For Szerkins, experiences like Sanford's are exactly what the clinic was built to encourage.
"That to me is success," Szerkins said.
To reach more people, Empower Play launched a nonprofit this year that will help families on Medicaid access the resource. Therapists say they are looking forward to continued growth.
