Rick Kelly

Rick is a mental health professional who provides psychological services under the supervision of a registered psychologist.

Based on my work and by building on my own experiences as father of 5 children and having lived through a variety of family situations (married, widowed, single parent of two girls for 5 years, remarried, living in a blended family) I and my partner Yvonne decided to take our own experiences and interests and apply it to other people’s situations who were similar, but in need. We thought the blood, sweat and tears of our shared life might be of great help to others.

Step and blended families are increasingly more common. There are unique challenges and dynamics which are often not understood by the general public or by many trained professionals. A common refrain we hear from our clients (and others ) is that "no one seems to understand". This certainly was our own personal experience when we began to seek help to find more effective ways of dealing with our own step and blended family.

My own particular concern and interest is the impact of family changes on children. They are often not consulted when the adults in their lives decide to "get together". Many of these children can be carrying a background of loss and/or split loyalties. The stage of development that the child or adolescent is going through contributes to the child’s coping. Add to the mix a child who is designated with "special needs" and you have a powerful set of ingredients that leads to anything but the "Brady" bunch. However parenting must continue despite all these factors.

Yvonne and I utilize a coaching approach in our work with Step and Blended families. By supporting the development of new family related skills based on a deeper understanding of step and blended family dynamics we help couples frame their challenges as problems to solve. We feel that some of the keys to success lie in:

• Developing couple strength
• Understanding the competing dynamics and loyalties of biology and sex
• Developing skills and approaches for "parenting in step"
• Establishing the 4 R’s (Rules, Roles, Responsibilities and Respect) for their new family

When working with children and youth I use a variety of creative approaches. These include: play, art, story telling, writing modern fairy tales or just feeding the animals and playing ping-pong in the barn.

Depending of the needs of the services required we can provide counselling and support in our home office, in the homes of families or via phone.

You can arrange appointments to see Rick and/or Yvonne Kelly by contacting the office at 1-888-245-5516

 

Location:

Tottenham

Ontario, L0G 1W0

Hours:

evenings, weekends

Directions:

15 Minutes west of Hwy 400 along Hwy 9 and then north on Tottenham Sideroad

 

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