About Christine Michailides

Background

Christine is a Registered Therapeutic Counsellor with a specialization in neurodiverse children and families. She is an avid advocate for neurodiversity rights, accessibility, inclusion, and accommodation. She does not see neurodiversity as a deficit but rather a different way of experiencing the world that is just as valid and beautiful. Adults must first identify and challenge how the environment and their own value systems may be contributing to a child's difficulties before placing the responsibility for change upon the child.

Christine has extensive experience working with children struggling with social-emotional challenges. Her craft is deeply intuned with the "differently sensitive differently skilled" approach to improved the quality of life for her clients and empowers them to grow in authentic and meaningful ways.

Autistic Cultural Competence

Autism is a natural variation of neurological processing and autistic people have always been an integral and essential part of human civilization and development. Autism is a disability following the social model of disability where the environment has a disabling effect on the autistic body. Autistic individuals are not deficient in social communication but rather they are the victims of the double empathy problem. Autism is a cultural identity where autistic people have shared cultural experiences. The culturally responsive and socially just framework is the ethical foundation of Cherish Clinic.

Christine has combined the most up-to-date studies and research-based information into an individualized, dynamic, and multidisciplinary method of connecting and supporting children. The therapy offers clients authentic, fun, and empowering experiences, where they explore sensory integrated and meaningful ways of interacting with the world.

Supporting children and families with pathological demand avoidance is one of Christine's specialties.

Approaches:

Sometimes, children cannot bring themselves to talk about particular issues, and Christine helps them discover ways to express and form meaningful connections and find their inner resources and strength. Then she supports parents to explore their unique strengths and gently walk them through the hard stuff together.

This also includes the use of augmented adaptive communication (AAC). Although talking or conversation may be a part of this experience, no verbal response is required from the child.

Neurodivergent Affirmative Complaint
Expressive Arts Therapy
Play therapy
Cyclical Relational Psychodynamic
Sensory Somatic Integration
Self-Reg by Dr Shanker
Advanced Collaborative & Proactive Solution by Dr. Greene
Applied Suicide Intervention Training (Assist)
Post-Suicide Counselling and Recovery (Suicide to Hope)
Trauma-Informed Care
Safety Planning

Online counselling has become a surprisingly effective and therapeutic modality for many children. As long as the child has the developmental ability to sit and play a video game for 45minute, Christine is able to provide productive counselling service through Zoom, Minecraft, and other interactive platforms.