Allannah Reed Counselling

05/27/2026

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05/25/2026

New blog posted 💥

There was a time when I didn’t fully understand what meaningful support for autistic people could look like. Over the years, that understanding has shifted through experience, continued learning, reflection, and most importantly, through listening to autistic people speak openly about their lived experiences.

This has become work I feel deeply connected to. The more I learn, the more I find myself moving away from simply looking at behaviour on the surface and becoming more interested in the experience underneath it. This blog post reflects a lot of that ongoing learning for me. It explores masking, burnout, and the importance of creating support that begins with listening and understanding.

To read the entire post www.allannahreedcounselling.ca/blog

05/15/2026

Long weekends don’t have to be perfectly planned to matter.
Sometimes connection looks like slowing down, following your child’s curiosity, and sharing a quiet moment together. And if alongside the sweet moments there’s dysregulation, some overwhelm, or exhaustion well that counts too. Parenting can hold both. 💚

Happy May Long Weekend.

05/11/2026

Therapy doesn’t always look the way people expect it to.

Sometimes there are tears. Sometimes there’s laughter. Sometimes there’s silence, fidgeting, pacing, doodling, or talking about things that don’t seem important at first. And often sessions look like slowly building trust before ever touching the hard stuff.

In relationship-based and nervous-system-informed therapy, the focus is not on “performing” therapy the right way. Healing happens through conversation, connection, curiosity, humour, co-regulation, reflection, and feeling safe enough to let your guard down a little at a time.

Because often, the therapy is the relationship itself. Experiencing what it feels like to be met with consistency, compassion, safety, and authenticity in a space that is all yours.

Working with children this often looks like games, movement, creativity, or play. With adults, we can find ourselves sitting with a cup of coffee while untangling patterns, emotions, relationships, or the parts of yourself that learned how to survive.

Therapy is not about having the perfect words or showing up with everything figured out. Often, it begins with simply having a space where you don’t have to hold everything alone. 🤍

05/07/2026

Have you ever wanted to understand yourself on a deeper level?

I like to practice from an IFS-informed lens to help people better understand the different parts of themselves that show up throughout life, the parts that overthink, people-please, stay busy, shut down, avoid, react quickly, or try to keep everything under control.

Maybe your manager part works hard to stay organized, prepared, or emotionally guarded to prevent hurt. Or your firefighter part jumps in fast with anger, numbing, scrolling, withdrawing, or distraction when emotions feel overwhelming.

More often, underneath those protective parts, are younger parts carrying hurt, fear, shame, or unmet needs.

Rather than asking, “What’s wrong with me?” this work invites curiosity around, “What happened to me, and what is this part trying to protect?”

If you've been wanting to bring curiosity to these parts, or want to explore more - therapy might be the right place to start. 💚

05/05/2026

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May 5 is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ People, also known as Red Dress Day.

The commemoration began with the “REDress Project,” an art installation created by Métis artist Jaime Black in 2010. The project features red dresses hung in public spaces to symbolize the thousands of Indigenous daughters, sisters, mothers, aunties, grandmothers and two-spirit family members and friends who have been victims of violence - abducted assaulted or murdered without adequate investigation or justice. This day serves as a powerful reminder of the need to recognize and address that Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit, and gender-diverse people continue to go missing and are murdered in an unabated and ongoing epidemic of violence.

If you, or someone you know, is experiencing signs of distress, don’t hesitate to reach out to services available:

• Hope for Wellness Help Line (Indigenous-centred): 1-855-242-3310
• Crisis Services Canada: (Canada-wide) 9-8-8
• National Family and Survivors Circle: 1-844-413-6649
• Talk 4 Healing (for Indigenous women in Ontario): 1-855-554-4325
• Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868
• Native Youth Crisis Line: 1-877-209-1266

Family members of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (women, girls, men, boys, and 2SLGTBQI+ people) can access Ontario’s Family Information Liaison Unit (FILU) for confidential, culturally responsive, trauma-informed and victim-centred assistance. Support is available to you no matter how much time has passed since losing your loved one. More information is available here: https://www.ontario.ca/page/family-information-liaison-units

05/04/2026

The way a child feels today shapes how they see themselves tomorrow.

Today marks the beginning of Children’s Mental Health Week 2026 💚 Children’s mental health is something I hold near and dear to my heart.

The early years shape how a child understands emotions, builds relationships, and copes with stress. And at the heart of all of it is one thing: connection.

When children feel safe, seen, and supported, they’re better able to move through big emotions. When that connection is strained or missing, struggles often show up in other ways... like behaviour, anxiety, or withdrawal.

Mental health is just as important as physical health.
And connection doesn’t have to be perfect to make a difference. We can stay connected by showing up, staying curious, supporting through the hard and good moments, and creating safety to show up authentically as themselves 💚

05/04/2026

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04/23/2026

Therapy isn’t always talking… Sometimes it’s taking turns &
each of us adding something to the equation.

A number. A symbol. A small shift. In that back-and-forth, we’re practicing something bigger: waiting, noticing, sharing space… and staying connected.

Turn-taking becomes co-regulation. A steady rhythm we build together, using what they already love.

No pressure. Just connection, building felt safety, and growing between the numbers.

04/14/2026

Emotional regulation in children is often misunderstood. It’s not about them always being calm, listening right away, or managing their feelings independently.

Children learn regulation through relationships. When a child is overwhelmed, their nervous system isn’t in a place where they can reason, listen, or “make better choices.”

They need support before skills. This is where co-regulation comes in! Your presence, your tone, your ability to stay grounded (even when it’s hard).

Over time, these repeated experiences help shape their ability to manage emotions on their own. Not perfectly. But more confidently, more safely.

If parenting in these moments feels hard sometimes you’re not alone in that.