The Blue Couch

08/26/2026

As parents and caregivers, it can be hard to know what to say or do when your child’s feelings seem to take over.

Join us for When Big Feelings Take Over: What to Do in the Moment—a practical, play-therapist-informed workshop designed to help parents feel more confident navigating challenging moments while strengthening connection and building emotional regulation over time.

You’ll learn how to:
✨ Recognize the difference between dysregulation and disrespect
✨ Understand what may be happening underneath challenging behavior
✨ Know what to say—and what *not* to say—when emotions are high
✨ Understand why consequences can sometimes backfire in the moment
✨ Reconnect, repair, and teach after the storm has passed

We plan to continue to expand this workshop series. As this is our initial event, we are offering participants an introductory rate to begin gaining tools in their parenting toolbox. 💙

08/04/2026

Some kids can't wait to go back. Others may be feeling nervous, overwhelmed, or unsure, and they may not have the words to tell us.

Instead of asking, "Are you excited?" try asking:
What are you looking forward to?
Is there anything you're worried about?
What do you think might be the hardest part?

Sometimes the best thing we can do isn't solve the worry, it's simply make space for it.

Wishing all of our students, families, teachers, and school staff a smooth and gentle start to the new school year. 💙

06/22/2026

🌟 Meet Alicia Sifuentes, MS, Clinical Trainee! 🌟

We're excited to introduce Alicia, one of the newest members of The Blue Couch team!

Alicia brings a thoughtful, playful, and compassionate approach to therapy, creating a space where children, teens, and families can feel safe, understood, and supported. She believes clients are the experts of their own lives and works collaboratively to help them explore challenges, build resilience, and strengthen relationships.

Alicia has experience supporting youth and families impacted by foster care and adoption, complex trauma, grief, emotional and behavioral concerns, and blended or separated family dynamics. She also has a special interest in working with pregnant and postpartum families as they navigate bonding and connection with their baby. Her training includes DC:0-5, Adlerian Play Therapy, and Sandtray Therapy, and she enjoys helping clients process their experiences through play, creativity, and connection.

When she's not in the therapy room, Alicia enjoys hiking, traveling with her family, playing video games, and trying new foods.

Please join us in giving Alicia a warm Blue Couch welcome! 💙

📍Mankato, MN
📧 [email protected]

06/15/2026

💙 Meet Laura McCord, MS, NCC, LPC 💙

We're excited to officially introduce Laura, who is now seeing clients at our Sioux Falls 18th Street office!

Laura brings more than 12 years of experience supporting children, teens, and families. Before joining The Blue Couch, she spent many years as a school counselor, helping students navigate everything from anxiety and self-esteem challenges to life transitions, grief, school concerns, and family changes.

Outside of the therapy room, Laura is a wife and mom of four, so she understands firsthand how busy, overwhelming, and beautifully messy life can be.

Please help us give Laura a warm Blue Couch welcome! 💙

06/10/2026

💙 A little Blue Couch update...

One of the best parts of growing The Blue Couch is finding people who genuinely care about helping others and bringing them onto our team. Lately, we've been fortunate enough to do that three times!

We're excited to welcome three new team members to The Blue Couch, two who will be serving clients in Mankato and one who will be serving clients in Sioux Falls at 18th Street. Each of them brings their own personality, experiences, interests, and strengths, and we truly couldn't be happier to have them here.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be introducing them one at a time through these fun "About Me" posters so you can get to know the people behind the therapist title. We want each of them to have their own moment in the spotlight because they're all pretty wonderful humans.

For now, here's a sneak peek at our newest team members. We can't wait for you to meet them and see the heart they bring to their work every day.

06/02/2026

Summer can bring more sunshine, more freedom… and sometimes more emotional overwhelm for children and teens.

As routines shift, many families notice changes in behavior and emotional regulation:
• Increased anxiety or irritability
• Difficulty with less structure and predictability
• Friendship changes or social stress
• More sibling conflict and family tension at home
• Sleep schedule changes and emotional exhaustion
• Big feelings surfacing once the school year slows down

For some children, summer creates more space for emotions that were held together during the busy school year.

It can also be a meaningful time to begin support.

Therapy during the summer months can help children and adolescents strengthen emotional regulation skills, process transitions, build coping tools, and feel more supported before entering a new school year.

The Blue Couch currently has upcoming openings at our Mankato office and Sioux Falls 18th Street office.

Learn more or request an appointment: www.thebluecouchcounseling.com

05/18/2026

Busy seasons can quietly wear down a child’s nervous system. 🛋️✨

Between sports, activities, school demands, and packed family schedules, some children begin showing stress in ways we don’t always immediately recognize. Sometimes, what looks like “behavior” is actually overwhelm. Children don’t always need more pressure to perform or push through. Often, they just need spaces where they can slow down, feel understood, and reconnect.

A Small Tool for Tonight: The "Quiet Couch" Minute
If you notice your child spinning out or hitting a wall, try pausing the schedule for just five minutes.
1. Find a soft spot (like your own favorite couch) 🛋️
2. Remove the pressure: Sit together without phones, TVs, or expectations to talk about what's wrong
3. Just co-regulate: Offer a gentle touch, a deep breath together, or simply say, "We don't have to do anything right now. We can just sit here together."

Shifting a child's nervous system out of "fight or flight" doesn't require a perfect, grand gesture. It just requires a safe place to land.

White flags are okay, parents. You're doing a wonderful job navigating the rush. 💙

04/29/2026

We had to share this one! 💙 Haley brings so much intention, care, and steadiness to the kids and families she works with, and this is a reflection of that.

We’re really lucky to have her at The Blue Couch 💙

Haley M. Michel, MSW, LCSW-PIP, RPT, Sioux Falls, South Dakota

02/03/2026

🎉 Happy International Play Therapy Week! 🎉

At The Blue Couch, we celebrate play as children’s natural language and connection as the pathway to healing. This week, we honor the power of play therapy to help children express what they cannot yet put into words, build emotional resilience, and experience safe, attuned relationships that foster growth.

We are proud to stand alongside children, families, and fellow clinicians who believe that play changes lives—one small moment, one shared experience, one regulated nervous system at a time.

💙 Here’s to imagination, safety, repair, and connection.
💙 Here’s to the clinicians who hold space with care and intention.
💙 Here’s to the kids who show us every day how healing unfolds through play.

Happy International Play Therapy Week from all of us at The Blue Couch 🛋💙