Lifelong Wellness Center Counseling, PLLC

06/17/2026

https://forms.gle/5DrDcArt71ndCdp59

06/11/2026

ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS
(Children, Teens, and Adults)

Specializing in Play Therapy, Melissa Lawrence is a Licensed Professional Counselor, National Certified Counselor, Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor, Certified School Counselor, Perinatal Mental Health Certified Clinician, and fully trained in EMDR.

Lifelong Wellness Center Counseling, PLLC
www.lwccounseling.com
[email protected]
203-470-5028

*Note: Availability is subject to change.

06/11/2026

Happy International Day of Play!

10/31/2023

AMAZING alternative to Elf on the Shelf.

Also check out the Kindness Elves!

02/01/2023

ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS!

Please direct referrals to Lifelong Wellness Center Counseling, PLLC at 203-470-5028 or [email protected] as we are currently growing our team of clinicians and accepting new clients in person in Monroe, CT and via telehealth. Husky clients are able to be seen most readily at the moment!

We serve clients across the lifespan, specializing in children and families, with clinicians trained in play therapy and EMDR, as well as experience in substance use, domestic violence, foster and adoption, and divorce/separation.

Lifelong Wellness Center Counseling, PLLC Individual, Child, and Family Therapy CONTACT USGET STARTED Child & Adolescent Therapy When little people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it’s our job to share our calm, not join their chaos. ~L. R. Knost Play therapy is to children what talk therapy is t...

11/23/2022

If you only knew the amount of anxiety and shame that comes out of the mouths of babes (and caregivers!) from the work I do in psychotherapy as a result of the dreaded "ELF ON THE SHELF," you would think twice about buying into this tainted toy and it's trickery.

EVERY CHILD (not an exaggeration) that speaks of this pesky menace is always uneasy. To an untrained eye, fear is mistaken for excitement. They seem excited for it to come because it is a funny looking interactive toy but they are equally if not more nervous about what this doll seems to empower in being able to see all and to change the trajectory of a holiday season and, ultimately worse, how their caregivers view their true Self.

That being said, I know a lot of people put a spin on this so as not to send the same message it intends to declare, and BRAVO! For those of you who are not aware, however, please consider how it affects children in the following ways and use an alternative like KINDNESS ELVES, which you can DIY TOGETHER. Here are just a few reasons to consider ditching this detrimental disciplinary tradition.

#1 "ELF ON THE SHELF” FOCUSES CHILDREN ON GETTING RATHER THAN GIVING. “Be GOOD or else!" This threat, dealt daily year-round as is, leads to focusing on doing what's best for themselves rather than helping others as well as increasing the black-and-white thinking that children are either good or bad. FYI there is no such thing as a BAD child! If a child hears that they must be good though, they automatically assume the only concrete alternative is that they are a bad child.

#2 “ELF ON THE SHELF” ENCOURAGES CHILDREN TO BE DECEITFUL and leaves opportunity to create situations where children think they’re “getting away with something." It hinders them from remaining authentic and feeling safe in their ability to share mistakes they may have made with their caregivers.

#3 “ELF ON THE SHELF” DECREASE CHILDREN’S MOTIVATION. It undermines a child’s natural intrinsic motivation to do their best and offers an extrinsic motivator instead as a reward, this is a threat to believing in their and caregivers' unconditional love and worth.

Create a new tradition with The Kindness Elves, for example, and place the focus instead on positivity and character-building. Modeling love, kindness, and gratitude to raise kids who move away from external motivation and into internal motivation.

https://theimaginationtree.com/alternative-elf-on-shelf-tradition-kindness-elf-kindness-elves/

(SIDEBAR: PARENTS CAN STOP WASTING TIME COMING UP WITH NOVEL IDEAS AND SPEND MORE TIME WITH THEIR CHILDREN WITHOUT COMPARISON TO OTHERS... MORE SHAME)

08/27/2022

08/26/2022

AAT is the best with Mazey

02/13/2022

8 Domains of Wellness :)