Playtime Incorporated Into Children's Counseling At Del Ray's Wonderologie

ALEXANDRIA, VA — At Del Ray's Wonderologie, counseling for kids doesn't look like the traditional office where patients will speak to their therapist from a sofa or sit around a circle for group therapy. Instead, children will find an age-appropriate, play-focused environment with toys.

"We're not sitting in a circle, talking about the hardest day of our life," said owner Karin Purugganan about how she runs children's group therapy. "It's a lot more. I mean, I have like stuffed animals that we throw into bins that are labeled with different emotions, right? It's a lot more age appropriate."

Purugganan, an Alexandria native and mom of five, started Wonderologie in May 2021 after 15 years working in neonatal pediatric critical care at a hospital. Upon feeling burned out, she went back to school in 2017 to get a counseling degree and then worked in a school and private practice.

But as Purugganan encountered "constraints" and bureaucracy" of helping children with their mental health in school, she decided to work on her own.

Enter Wonderologie, which provides counseling to children from age 4 to young adults as old as 20 at 2312 Mount Vernon Avenue above Pork Barrel BBQ. Purugganan is a licensed professional counselor, and she has another licensed professional counselor and resident in counseling on staff. Individual and group therapy are offered.

"I think it's nice to feel like kids have a space that they can go to that's not a space for adults," said Purugganan. "It's very kid centered, do a lot of playing. I am an adult, but I think they see me and use me a little differently than adults at school or adults in their everyday life. I'm lucky that I love what I do.

Wonderologie is filling a need for child therapists, as Purugganan says the area does not have enough to meet the demand.

"All have waitlists, we all have to really communicate with each other really well about who has an opening when and if there's an appropriate kid that we could get in somewhere," said Purugganan. "Because if not, kids wouldn't be seen. That is a little upsetting."

The good news is that community members have reached out expressing interest in pursuing careers in counseling.

Purugganan compares the reward of counselors helping kids to Taylor Swift on her Eras Tour inspiring fans to be kind to each other.

"I'll never be Taylor Swift, right? But I do feel like when you're in this role, you become a Taylor Swift for one kid," she said. "I know that there are kids who I have made feel better, or they have made themselves feel better with my help."

At Wonderologie, one of the offerings is anxiety groups, including drop-in groups and a six-week program. Purugganan says play is incorporated into these sessions and gives children tools to manage anxiety, especially when it ramps up during the school year.

"So in the course of six weeks, I tried to give you like a full overview, like what anxiety is how it feels in your body strategies that you can use to manage it," said Purugganan. "And then I keep in close communication with all the parents in the group when we're doing that so that they have tools as well to help their kids."

One of the trends Wonderologie has tackled was the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's behaviors.

"Definitely since COVID, I think those interpersonal skills that that kids learn just by being exposed weren't happening because they were at home or virtual. Or if they were in person, there was a mask and maybe much smaller class, you're dealing with a little less conflict," said Purugganan. "So I feel like conflict between friends has become something I'm hearing a lot more in session than we used to. You know, 'Sally said this, I heard about it. I don't know what to do, my feelings are hurt, I'm angry at them,' all of the kind of stuff."

Purugganan said older children are also more self-aware about learning gaps they're experiencing, which can cause stress.

"So I have a few high schoolers now that are like, 'Oh, I really didn't get math concepts in middle school because we were virtual. And so I'm now only in this struggle math as a sophomore, I'm not going to get to this level of math by the time I graduate, am I going to have the appropriate level of math for my SATs?'" said Purugganan. "So you see that kind of stress like, and again, they're just a little bit more self-aware of the whole pandemic itself."

Another common discussion topic for children is "unrealistic parental expectations." When children feel their parent may be angry or disappointed in them about something, Purugganan says that may not always be how parents really feel. But counselors can help children determine if their perceptions are valid by exploring ways to communicate with their parents.

Sometimes, parents may be brought in to the counseling sessions to talk through concerns.

In general, Purugganan does parent sessions with families about every six weeks on average.

"That's usually to touch base for me to find out what the parent is seeing at home, if behaviors are continuing, or if they've been mitigated a little bit so that I can kind of steer our goals a little bit," said Purugganan.

Purugganan attended Mount Vernon Community School as a kid and now loves working two blocks away. She also loves working in Del Ray, where the Del Ray Business Association puts on frequent community events and gives back to local nonprofits.

So where does Wonderologie fit into this community? Purugganan believes parents getting support for their children's mental health only makes for a better community.

"I do think you know, the more community you have to support you on your parenting journey, the better" said Purugganan. "And how nice to have some experts in this area who are very willing to help you."