We have a brand new addition to our staff, Tamsyn Morison. She’s doing a lot of new things with the child therapy room, and we’re excited to have this fresh face at Vogel. We asked her a few questions about herself and what she’ll be working on in therapy sessions with the kids.
Tell us your story, where are you from? Where’d you go to school, What’s your degree in?
I have had the unique opportunity of living on three different continents. I was born in South Africa and at the age of three I moved to England. While I was growing up in England, I realized I really enjoyed working with children and was interested in pursuing a career where I could help people. In 8th grade I moved to The Woodlands, Texas where I completed high school. After graduating I went to Texas A&M (Whoop) where I got my bachelor’s in psychology and minored in business administration. After graduating from A&M in May 2017, I started my master program at UNT in August. While at UNT I received my master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with an emphasis on Play Therapy. I am currently a Licensed Professional Counselor Intern (LPC Intern) working toward being fully licensed.
How did you learn about Vogel, what interested you about joining us?
It was whilst looking for my first job that I came across Vogel. I knew that I wanted to work with children who had experienced trauma and I felt passionately that all children should have access to mental health care. However, I knew that children from low socio-economic backgrounds often do not have access to counseling. Working for Vogel, I realized that I could help close the gap by offering play therapy to the students here. I also enjoy empowering parents to become therapeutic change agents in their children’s lives and loved how Vogel offered many different learning opportunities for parents.
What are you going to be doing for our kids here?
I will be conducting weekly play therapy sessions with children at Vogel and any of their older siblings who are referred. I will also be consulting with teachers and parents, offering any additional support as well as providing parenting with tools and skills. I will also be assisting teachers in the classroom should they request my help.
What are you most excited about?
I am excited to get to know all the kiddos at Vogel. I am excited to spend time with them both in the classroom and in the play therapy room. I am also excited to learn about all the different services Vogel offers to their families.
Tell me about the new toys and redesign in the therapy room?
I believe that a child’s first natural form of communication is playing, meaning their language is play and their words are toys. Therefore, it is important that there is a range of different toys in the playroom so a child can easily communicate with the therapist. I have stocked the playroom with toys in the following 5 categories;
- expressive toys (craft supplies, easel & paints)
- aggressive toys (weapons, toy soldiers, foam bat and ball)
- fantasy toys (doctor kit, cash register, dress up clothes, puppet theatre)
- scary toys (reptiles & dinosaurs)
- nurturing toys (dollhouse, babies, kitchen)
Through the use of these toys, children will be able to play out different situations in their life that are causing them concern.
What do you look forward to about living in Dallas?
I am looking forward to living closer to my friends and being surrounded by community. I am also excited to explore different neighborhoods and find my favorite go-to restaurants as well as getting plugged into a church and finding ways to serve the people of Dallas outside of my job.
