Individual Art Therapy provides an opportunity to explore and express your unique story(both verbal/nonverbal) and gain insight into your experiences. Through creative expression, clients are able to gain a better understanding of themselves and their relationships with others. The Expressive Therapy Continuum will help you to explore and heal your emotional challenges with different levels of human information processing , allowing you to access unprocessed feelings in a safe and supportive
environment.
ADHD Support for Children, Teens, and Families
Helping Children Build Regulation, Confidence, and Everyday Skills
At Your Journey Art Therapy Studio, we support children and teens who have been diagnosed with ADHD, as well as those who are showing attention, impulsivity, emotional regulation, sensory, or behavioural difficulties but have not yet received a formal diagnosis.
A diagnosis is not required to begin therapy.
We understand that ADHD is not something that can be resolved through a few quick strategies or short-term behaviour management. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition that may affect attention, impulse control, emotional regulation, executive functioning, sensory processing, relationships, and everyday routines.
Every child’s experience is different. Some children have a clear ADHD diagnosis, while others may display similar symptoms related to anxiety, trauma, disrupted attachment experiences, family transitions, learning difficulties, sensory needs, sleep concerns, or other developmental and environmental factors.
For this reason, we do not focus only on stopping a behaviour. We work to understand what the child’s behaviour may be communicating and what kind of support the child needs to function more successfully in daily life.
How Art Therapy Can Help
Our goal is not to change who a neurodivergent child is. Our goal is to help the child understand their needs, develop practical regulation skills, strengthen confidence, and participate more comfortably in home, school, and community life.
Therapy may support children who experience:
Impulsivity
Emotional outbursts
Difficulty waiting or taking turns
Challenges following instructions
Difficulty completing tasks
Sensory seeking or sensory overwhelm
Frustration and low tolerance for mistakes
Difficulty transitioning between activities
Anxiety and negative self-talk
Social and relationship difficulties
Challenges with planning, organization, and executive functioning
Through consistent therapeutic support, children can begin to recognize their internal cues, understand their emotional and sensory needs, and develop healthier ways to respond.
Our Therapeutic Approach
We use an integrated, child-centred model that may include sensory-motor art therapy, therapeutic play, clay-based activities, cognitive strategies, psychoeducation, and caregiver support.
Sensory-Motor Art Therapy
Sensory-motor art therapy gives children opportunities to work with movement, touch, pressure, rhythm, texture, resistance, and visual expression.
These experiences may help children:
Slow down and notice their bodies
Release physical tension safely
Improve sensory awareness
Develop impulse-control strategies
Increase their ability to pause before reacting
Practice emotional regulation
Build tolerance for frustration
Feel more organized and grounded
For some children, talking alone is not enough. Art materials, movement, and sensory experiences provide another way to process feelings and practise regulation.
Play-Based Therapy
Play is one of the primary ways children communicate, learn, and make sense of their experiences.
Through therapeutic play, children can explore relationships, practise problem-solving, express difficult emotions, build flexibility, and experience healthy boundaries in a safe environment.
Play-based therapy may be especially helpful for children who struggle to explain what they are feeling or why they reacted in a particular way.
Cognitive and Educational Support
We also help children understand how their ADHD-related symptoms affect their daily lives.
Children may learn:
How to recognize emotional and physical warning signs
How to pause before acting
How to break tasks into smaller steps
How to use visual reminders and routines
How to manage frustration
How to ask for help
How to recover after making a mistake
How to work with their ADHD rather than feeling ashamed of it
The goal is not only to reduce short-term impulsive behaviour. We want children to develop long-term awareness and practical skills that they can continue to use as they grow.
Progress Through Consistent Support
Change often happens gradually.
In our clinical experience, some children who previously experienced frequent impulsive or emotionally intense incidents have shown meaningful reductions after participating in regular sensory-motor and play-based therapy.
For example, a child who previously experienced several significant impulsive incidents each week may gradually begin to experience fewer incidents as they develop stronger sensory awareness, emotional language, and regulation strategies.
Each child responds differently, and no specific result can be guaranteed. However, we have seen many children become more aware of their emotions, more confident in communicating their needs, and more capable of managing everyday challenges.
Progress may include:
Fewer or less intense emotional outbursts
Improved ability to pause and think
Better communication of needs
Increased tolerance for transitions
Improved participation in routines
Greater confidence at home or school
Stronger awareness of sensory triggers
Improved ability to recover after frustration
More positive relationships with caregivers and peers
Parent and Caregiver Coaching
Children make the strongest progress when the adults around them understand how to support them consistently.
For this reason, parent and caregiver coaching is an important part of our ADHD support model.
Our team of therapists can help caregivers better understand:
ADHD and neurodivergent development
Emotional and sensory regulation
The difference between misbehaviour and dysregulation
How to give clear and manageable instructions
How to set healthy and predictable boundaries
How to respond to impulsive behaviour calmly
How to reduce shame and power struggles
How to create supportive routines at home
How to encourage independence and responsibility
How to recognize and build on the child’s strengths
Caregiver sessions may be offered alongside the child’s therapy or as separate coaching sessions.
A Collaborative Model of Care
Art therapy can be an important part of ADHD support, but it does not replace medical, psychological, or educational assessment.
When appropriate, families may also be encouraged to work with:
Family physicians
Nurse practitioners
Pediatricians
Psychologists
Occupational therapists
School support teams
Teachers and educational professionals
Speech-language pathologists
Other mental-health professionals
We believe children benefit most when families, therapists, medical professionals, and schools work together.
Who We Support
Our ADHD and neurodivergent support services may be appropriate for:
Children and teens with a formal ADHD diagnosis
Children waiting for an ADHD assessment
Children showing impulsivity or emotional dysregulation
Children experiencing sensory-processing difficulties
Children with both ADHD and anxiety
Children with ADHD and autism
Children whose trauma-related symptoms resemble ADHD
Children struggling with family transitions
Children experiencing executive-function difficulties
Parents seeking practical support and guidance
Our Philosophy
We do not believe that ADHD children are lazy, intentionally difficult, or unwilling to listen.
Many children are doing the best they can with the regulation and executive-function skills currently available to them.
Our role is to help children understand themselves, develop new skills, experience safe and supportive relationships, and discover ways to live successfully with their unique nervous system.
We focus on strengths, dignity, connection, and meaningful growth.
Begin Without a Diagnosis
Your child does not need a formal ADHD diagnosis to begin art therapy.
Families may contact us when they first notice concerns, while they are waiting for an assessment, or after a diagnosis has already been made.
Services are available for children, teens, and caregivers through Your Journey Art Therapy Studio.
Locations: Humboldt, Saskatoon, Melfort, and online across Saskatchewan
Approaches: Art Therapy, Sensory-Motor Art Therapy, Therapeutic Play, Clay-Based Interventions, Psychoeducation, and Parent Coaching
Book a Consultation
Contact Your Journey Art Therapy Studio to discuss whether our ADHD and neurodivergent support services may be appropriate for your child and family.