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Way Back Home™ Odyssey

Our signature comprehensive program, inspired by Homer's epic journey. Just as Odysseus faced challenges, found allies, and discovered inner strength on his voyage home, your child will embark on their own odyssey. It is one filled with play, discovery, mess, breakthrough moments, profound growth, and ultimate homecoming.

Phases

Note: your child may move back and forth between them, or experience elements of multiple phases simultaneously.

Phase 1: Establish Home

Duration: 4 - 8 weeks (Typically)

Everything centers on creating a secure base, a "home" within the therapeutic space where the child feels safe enough to begin exploring. This phase is about connection before content, relationship before intervention.

For the Child

  • Getting to know the therapist and the playroom

  • Testing boundaries and establishing trust

  • Beginning to express themselves through play

  • Learning that this is a space where all feelings are welcome

  • Experiencing consistent, attuned responses

For the Family

  • Comprehensive intake and history gathering

  • Collaborative goal setting

  • Education about the therapeutic approach

  • Initial parent workshops introducing key concepts

  • Building trust with the therapist as a partner

PHASE 2: HEART OF THE ODYSSEY

Duration: 3 - 9 months (varies)

Sessions look messier, louder, and more intense than Phase I. It is where the transformative work unfolds. Children dive deeper into exploring their inner worlds, working through challenges, and building new capacities. This is often the longest and most intensive phase.

For the Child:

  • May revisit the same themes repeatedly through play, working through experiences from different angles.

  • May have bigger emotional reactions as they feel safe enough to show their real struggles.

  • Developing regulation strategies

  • Trying on new behaviors and ways of being

  • Decreased frequency or intensity of target behaviors

  • Children learn to:

    • Notice sensations in their body that signal different emotions

    • Name feelings with increasing nuance and accuracy

    • Use strategies to return to calm when overwhelmed

    • Ask for help when they need it

For the Parents:

  • Can be quite challenging for parents. As children begin processing difficult material in therapy, they may show increased dysregulation at home—more meltdowns and testing of limits (positive sign towards progress).

  • Parent support is intensified during this phase to help them understand what's happening and offer effective strategies for managing temporarily dysregulated behaviors.

  • Parent Workshops Deepen:

    • Recognizing your own needs and developing strategies to stay regulated so you can support your child.

    • Learning about the neurobiology of stress, trauma, and regulation to make sense of your child's behaviors.

    • Exploring attachment styles and practicing connection-building strategies that strengthen your parent-child bond.

    • Learning to follow your child's lead in play, creating special time together that rebuilds trust and joy.

    • Reframing behaviors as communication and developing compassionate, effective responses.

PHASE III: Consolidation & Transition

Duration: 2 - 4 months (typically)

All about consolidation, generalization, and gradual transition. Sessions often feel lighter and more playful. The child has worked through the most pressing issues and now plays with more ease and joy. Therapy becomes less about processing pain and more about practicing competence. Sessions are intentionally spaced further apart to give the child and family opportunities to practice independence.

For the Child:

  • Generalization of skills:

    • Child demonstrates mastery of regulation strategies, navigates transitions with increasing ease, and handles ruptures and repairs smoothly

    • Child's play shows resolution of earlier themes

    • Ability to advocate for own needs appropriately

    • Parents report consistent use of coping skills at home and school

    • Improved peer relationships and social confidence

For the Parents:

  • Stronger parent-child connection and trust